Here’s a little fact that’ll make some of our readers feel old: Facebook, the world’s largest social media conglomerate, celebrated its ninth birthday yesterday. Being that it’s almost been around for a decade, the site’s been there with some of our younger readers throughout college, law school, bar exam hell, law jobs (or the lack thereof), engagements, weddings, babies, and more.
In celebration of Facebook’s birthday, the good people over at BuzzFeed did some stalking research on the site’s very first users, all 25 of them. As it turns out, some of them went on to become lawyers. But where did they go to law school, and which firms are they at today?
Let’s do something Facebook would never do — invade their privacy — and find out….
Light years away and in the distant future, perhaps some alien grad student in Defunct Planet Studies will stumble onto the ATL archives. He’ll conclude, not unreasonably, that the legal industry was a sort of oligopoly. That there were only a handful of firms: Skadden, Cravath, Latham, Quinn Emanuel, Tannebaum Weiss, and those few others that get such a disproportionate amount of our attention. And of course, there were only 14 real law schools.
This singular obsession with “prestige,” this mindset that the most elite firms and schools are the only worthy ones, is detached from the experiences of the vast majority of lawyers practicing at the 50,000 other firms and the students at the 180+ other law schools. Back in December, we had a little debate about the effect of prestige in the legal industry. In the spirit of the “prestige obsession is bad” side of that argument, we thought it would be worthwhile to see which firms and schools outside of the very top tiers are, according to insiders, great places to work or learn.
Over the course of 2012, we received close to 10,000 responses to our ATL Insider Survey, where lawyers rate their firms based on compensation, culture, morale, training, and culture, and students and alumni rate their schools based on academics, social life, clinical training, career services, and financial aid advising. Based on our survey, the most highly rated firms and schools also happened to among the most prestigious (e.g., Stanford, Davis Polk), but there is certainly not a correlation between prestige and insider rating.
After the jump, we’ll see which schools outside of the T14 and which firms outside the Vault 50 were rated the highest by their own people….
Earlier this week, we reported that the Troutman Sanders pay cut applied to associates’ entire 2009 salary. We were wrong about that. A Troutman Sanders spokesperson explained to us that the pay cut will only apply to associate compensation from August 1, 2009 through the end of the year.
Why the confusion? Let’s go back to the original Troutman Sanders announcement of its pay cut:
Responding to changing market conditions for associate compensation, Troutman Sanders today announced a 10-percent reduction in the total amount of associate pay that was budgeted for Aug. 1-Dec. 31, 2009.
These reductions will not be made across the board but will be based on each associate’s individual performance evaluation.
Don’t get blinded — as we and some of our tipsters did — by the 10% figure. That’s just the target amount that Troutman wants to save off of all associate compensation between August and the end of the year.
After the jump, the firm explains that individual pay cuts will vary greatly.
Last week, we reported that Troutman Sanders instituted a 10% associate pay cut based on performance. Those salary cuts were supposed to be temporary. The pay cuts apply from August through December — though we don’t know if that pay will automatically bumped up on January 1, 2010.
Notwithstanding the definition of “temporary,” it now appears that the Troutman cuts are retroactive. A tipster explains it this way:
What they’ve neglected to say is that the cuts are retroactive to January 1, 2009. They will be taking the entire ten percent (or in some cases higher percentages) out of the remaining paychecks for the rest of the year. So if Troutman Sanders cuts a first year associate’s salary by 10%, they will not be taking 10% off of each individual pay check, but rather taking out the entire $14,500 in just the last ten pay periods. This is the first firm I’ve heard of to do retroactive cuts like this, and it just seems very disingenuous to present these cuts as only 10%.
We can’t know for sure if Troutman is the first firm that has done its salary cuts this way. But we are sure that this is the first time that associates have squealed about this kind of retroactive pay cut.
Which is not to say that other firms haven’t been trying to creatively get at the same problem. More details after the jump.
This information has been updated and corrected. Please click here for continuing coverage.
You know what that graphic means, don’t you?
Yesterday, we told you that there would be a big meeting at Troutman Sanders today. The meeting has concluded and we can now report on the news from the firm. Here is the statement a Troutman spokesperson provided to Above the Law:
Responding to changing market conditions for associate compensation, Troutman Sanders today announced a 10-percent reduction in the total amount of associate pay that was budgeted for Aug. 1-Dec. 31, 2009.
These reductions will not be made across the board but will be based on each associate’s individual performance evaluation.
History repeats itself. Back in March, we wrote in advance about a mystery meeting at Troutman Sanders. At that meeting, the firm announced a voluntary departure program for staff, as well as looming layoffs for lawyers. The firm never provided numbers on those attorney layoffs, but it appears that approximately 28 lawyers were affected.
Troutman tipsters tell us that another mystery meeting / videoconference is scheduled for later this morning (around 11:30 – 11:45 a.m. Eastern time). What will be discussed is not known, but some suggest that additional layoffs and / or salary cuts will be announced. Troutman’s summer program ended last week, so if there is bad news to convey, now would be a logical time. (Expect more firms to roll out such announcements after their summer associates leave the building.)
We’ll keep you posted on the Troutman situation. Have a tip for us about a mystery meeting at your firm? Please email us. Thanks.
Earlier today, we told you that Troutman Sanders was having a firm wide meeting. The meetings are over and we are happy to report that there are no layoffs from Troutman. At least not yet.
Of course, things aren’t exactly great over at Troutman. The meetings did convey some “very important” information to associates and staff. A firm spokesperson gave Above the Law this report:
In response to the continuing economic downturn, Troutman Sanders LLP today announced it is offering a generous voluntary severance package to its staff employees. In addition, it announced it will be implementing in the near future an as yet undetermined number of involuntary layoffs of its staff and associates. Troutman Sanders believes these reductions, while difficult and unfortunate, will help insure that the law firm remains profitable and maintains the highest level of service to its clients.
Pillsbury already blazed the trail on “voluntary” departure programs. Are there really associates and staff who want to be laid off in this economic environment?
We don’t have the information on what “generous” severance is being offered to employees who commit hara-kiri or how it is likely to compare with what people will get if they are “involuntarily” run through.
But one source expects all this to be sorted out in a couple of weeks.
Yes, we live in a world where any firm wide meeting has to be greeted with a sense of “oh, crap.” But that doesn’t mean we can’t still hold out hope that one of these meetings will end up being completely benign.
We just received word that Troutman Sanders has scheduled an all staff meeting for 2:00 p.m. EDT today. Conference rooms have been booked at all of the firm’s offices. The purpose of the meeting was announced via firm-wide email:
Bob Webb is holding a meeting today for all of the US Firm’s staff employees to discuss a very important matter. Your attendance at this meeting is requested and we appreciate if you would adjust your schedules in order to attend. Thank you.
We collect some of our other Troutman tips, and an update about an all associates meeting, after the jump.
We broke the news of the Kilpatrick Stockton pay raise earlier this month. Today’s Fulton County Daily Report has an article about it here.
The Kilpatrick move is old news — it was actually announced before Labor Day — but Meredith Hobbs’s piece does contain a helpful summary of where the big Atlanta firms stand:
Alston & Bird sparked this round of Atlanta pay raises on Aug. 1 when it increased associate pay across the board, starting at $145,000 for first-years and rising to $190,000 for seventh years—the same scale that Hunton & Williams instituted in February during the year’s first round of associate salary increases. At that time, most of the city’s big firms increased first-year pay from $115,000 to $130,000. That followed a similar $15,000 pay increase at the beginning of 2006, also sparked by Alston.
Other firms that have announced they will raise local first-year pay to $145,000 in January include Troutman Sanders, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan and Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker. Jones Day will raise first-year pay to $150,000 at that time.
Troutman Sanders raised associate pay $15,000 across the board in its Atlanta, Washington, Virginia and North Carolina offices Thursday, with the starting salary going from $130,000 to $145,000.
The firm’s managing partner, Robert W. Webb Jr., announced the pay increase to associates at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The raises are effective Jan. 1, 2008, the same date the pay raise that Alston & Bird announced to its Atlanta associates last week goes into effect. Earlier this week, King & Spalding matched Alston’s $15,000 increase in starting pay, also effective Jan. 1, but did not raise pay for more senior associates.
Correction: According to a source at the firm, as well as various commenters, “Troutman’s DC and Tysons Corner offices have starting salaries of $160K as a result of the increase. (Troutman’s Atlanta office is starting at $145K).”
What’s most noteworthy about this raise, as pointed out to us by several tipsters, is that it’s “across the board” — not just for first- or second-year associates. In Atlanta, where salary compression for more senior associates is a serious issue, an across-the-board raise of $15,000 is good news indeed. It’s better than what has been announced thus far by Alston & Bird and King & Spalding.
More discussion, after the jump.
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We currently have a number of active openings for associate roles at US and UK firms in HK / China, Singapore and two new in-house openings. As always, please feel free to reach out to us at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com in order to get details of current openings in Asia, as well as to discuss the Asia markets in general and what we expect for openings later this year. Our Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney will be in Beijing the week of March 25 and Evan Jowers will be in Hong Kong the week of April 1, if you would like to meet them in person.
The US associate openings we have in law firms are in the usual areas of M&A, cap markets, FCPA / white collar litigation, finance, and project finance. The most urgent of our top tier (top 15 US or magic circle) law firm openings in Asia (among many other firm openings that we have in Asia) are as follows:
• 2nd to 5th year mandarin fluent M&A associates needed in Beijing and Hong Kong at several firms;
• Korean fluent 2nd to 4th year cap markets associate needed in Hong Kong;
• 2nd to 5th year Japanese fluent M&A associates needed in Tokyo;
• 4th to 6th year mandarin fluent cap markets associate needed in Hong Kong;
• 2nd to 4th year M&A / cap markets mix associate needed in Singapore.
The last time I flapped my wings your way, I tried to make at least enough noise about your mobile phone to make you more than a little bit uncomfortable. I hope I did. If enough of us become anxious enough about the known and unknown unknowns and knowns in our mobile phones, then we can start making wise decisions about how to manage that information and its resultant investigations.
Today, I’d like to put a finer point on the last installment’s topic by asking a question that seemed to catch most attendees off-guard at a conference panel that I moderated last week: is there discoverable personal information in a mobile app? Our panelists’ answer was a uniform “yes” with one stating that, if he had to choose only one type of data that he could discover from a mobile phone, he’d choose app data. Why? Because there’s simply so much of it and because almost all of it is objective – not just user-created like an email – but machine-tracked like GPS, usage duration, log in and log out times, browsed web addresses, browsed actual addresses. Also, most of us seem to have the idea that data doesn’t actually “stick” to our mobile devices the way it “sticks” to our hard drives. Maybe there’s a disconnect based on the fact that our phones are mobile so we assume the data is mobile to?
The traditional job application and interview process can be impersonal, and applicants often struggle to present themselves as more than just the sum of their GPAs, alma maters, and previous work history. ATL has partnered with ViewYou to help job seekers overcome this challenge. ViewYou NOW Profiles offer a unique way for job seekers to make a personal, memorable connection with prospective employers: introduction videos. These videos allow job candidates to display their personalities, interpersonal skills, and professional interests, creating an eDossier to brand themselves to potential employers all over the world. Check it out today!
Here’s a little fact that’ll make some of our readers feel old: Facebook, the world’s largest social media conglomerate, celebrated its ninth birthday yesterday. Being that it’s almost been around for a decade, the site’s been there with some of our younger readers throughout college, law school, bar exam hell, law jobs (or the lack thereof), engagements, weddings, babies, and more.
