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.

Troutman Sanders couldn’t give us any additional detail about whether the performance evaluations will account for factors other than associate hours.

The salary cuts keep on coming. We will of course keep you posted.

Earlier: Mystery Meeting at Troutman Sanders
Prior ATL coverage of salary cuts

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.

[Ed. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks. Law Shucks has done excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker.]

Speculation was that last week’s relatively low bodycount (100 lawyers, 253 staff) might have been a result of the Easter and Passover holidays, but that trend continued into this week. With just 131 layoffs confirmed at major law firms this week, four of the last five weeks have been among the slowest this year. Is the tide turning? The pessimist in us suspects we’ll see another wave as first-quarter results are finalized.

Layoffs slowed in the broader markets as well, with first-time claims dipping slightly, but continuing claims keep breaking records. So even though the pace of layoffs may be slowing, there still isn’t any significant hiring to offset the job losses.

The big story in law firm layoffs this week was Skadden’s deferral program, mostly because it was picked up by the New York Times. They’re far from the only firms doing so, though, so check the ATL Start Date Round Up.

Of course, deferrals only apply to associates. Staff attorneys need not apply - msnbc.com has the story of Frank Scudere. Skadden gave Frank a break and didn’t fire him when the firm cut a host of other staff attorneys on January 16, but only because he was still drying off after being on the plane that crash landed in the Hudson River. His luck didn’t last long, though. He lost his father a week later and his job last month. Scudere’s tough breaks qualified him for ATL’s (Laid-Off) Lawyer of the Day on Friday.

After the jump, we analyze layoff and other cost-saving activities this week.

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.

Earlier: Mystery Meeting at Troutman Sanders
Nationwide Layoff Watch: Pillsbury’s Voluntary Departure Numbers
The Deadliest Sin?

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.

This week brings more law firm merger news. These two deals are hardly earth-shattering, but they are noteworthy (and coincidentally both involve firms with “Sanders” somewhere in their name — the Colonel would be proud).

One of them may create a new Am Law 100 firm, as noted today by the American Lawyer:

The recently merged Husch Blackwell Sanders has merged once again, this time with Chicago-based intellectual property litigation boutique Welsh & Katz, the firms announced Monday. If ranked today, the combined firm, now called Husch Blackwell Sanders Welsh & Katz, would place 88th on The American Lawyer’s Am Law 100 list, according to their combined gross revenues.

Firm co-chair David Fenley says the gross revenue will “be a smidgen beyond $300 million” in 2008, which, if ranked today, would place it above Pepper Hamilton’s current $297 million, the firm with the 88th-highest revenue in 2007, and below Littler Mendelson’s $305 million, which placed 87th.

The shops sound well-matched:

Both their personalities and the firm cultures meshed, adds [managing partner A. Sidney] Katz. For one, neither firm maintains any debt. And both firms focus on attorneys’ quality of life above profitability, he explains. Further, profits per partner at both firms are in the $600,000 to $700,000 range and Husch agreed to take on all of Welsh’s 14 equity principals (the firm is organized as a corporation) as equity partners.

Ah, the elusive “quality of life.” Our second featured merger, combining Troutman Sanders (Am Law #75) and Ross Dixon & Bell, led one tipster to express concern on that front:

It just seems a little alarming that all the mid-size and smaller firms are getting gobbled up. Makes me wonder if it’s even possible to have a smaller “quality of life” firm (which is how Ross Dixon billed itself when it spun off from Hogan). (See also Kelley Drye buying out Collier Shannon Scott in DC).

From this morning’s press release announcing the deal:

The law firms of Troutman Sanders LLP and Ross, Dixon & Bell, LLP announced today they will merge, creating a 750-attorney firm with national and international reach and unparalleled depth.

The merger, approved by the partnerships at both firms and effective Jan. 1, 2009, combines Troutman Sanders’ multi-faceted corporate, finance, litigation, real estate and public policy practices with Ross, Dixon & Bell’s exceptional insurance, professional liability and commercial litigation practices, among other synergies…. The merged firm will be named Troutman Sanders LLP and will remain headquartered in Atlanta. It will have about 1,700 employees.

More opinions on the Troutman Sanders / Ross Dixon combination, plus links to articles and press releases, below the fold.

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.

Kilpatrick first-years join the $145K club [Fulton County Daily Report]

Earlier: Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Kilpatrick Stockton

The dominoes are falling in Atlanta. Last night, Troutman Sanders made its associate pay raise announcement.

From the Fulton County Daily Report:

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.

The day that many of you have been waiting for has arrived. Today ATL goes to ATL: the fair city of Atlanta!

Based on NALP forms and prior news articles, it seems that starting salaries in the Big Peach generally range from $130,000 and $145,000 (similar to Philadelphia).

At $130K: Alston & Bird; Arnall Golden Gregory; King & Spalding; Kilpatrick Stockton; McKenna Long & Aldridge; Morris, Manning & Martin; Paul Hastings; Powell Goldstein; Smith Gambrell & Russell; Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; Troutman Sanders; Womble Carlyle.

At $135K: Jones Day

At $145K.: Dow Lohnes; Hunton & Williams; McGuireWoods; Schiff Hardin.

At $160K: Fish & Richardson (IP work).

Feel free to discuss associate compensation, or any other hot issues in Hotlanta, in the comments. Thanks.

New lawyers’ pay puts public sector to shame [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Alston & Bird Raises First-Year Pay Yet Again [Fulton County Daily Report]
Hunton raises first-year salaries to $145,000 [Fulton County Daily Report]

Related: Open threads focused on Denver, Hartford, Philadelphia, Seattle, New Jersey, Phoenix, Charlotte.

A few more confirmed announcements of associate pay raises have rolled in. We collect and reprint them after the jump, where you should also feel free to continue the discussion from yesterday’s open thread. Thanks.

Update: If you read the earliest version of the post, please note that we have added quite a bit of new material to it since we first published it. Refresh your browser to see the latest additions.

Not a heck of a lot going on today. A few announcements, but this was the only one that was even mildly interesting:

* Monty Wilkinson to Troutman Sanders (of counsel), from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. He was executive assistant U.S. attorney for management since 2001.

It’s the Friday afternoon before Labor Day weekend. What the heck are you still doing here?

[Legal Times (subscription)]