The Latest News About Morgan Lewis's Rescue Of Bingham McCutchen Lawyers
How many legal professionals from Bingham are being allowed aboard the Morgan Lewis lifeboat -- and on what terms?
Yesterday we raised a question about the fate of incoming full-time or summer associates at Bingham McCutchen: what would happen to these individuals in the wake of the “mass lateral hire” of 226 current Bingham partners by Morgan Lewis? Shortly after our story appeared, these folks received good news: offer letters for them would be forthcoming from Morgan Lewis.
Today we have more good news to share. It concerns the benefits being offered to current Bingham McCutchen associates with offers to join Morgan Lewis & Bockius, which initially generated some complaints….
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In our last story, we mentioned that 225 Bingham associates would be receiving offers to join Morgan Lewis. We have since learned that Morgan Lewis has offered continued full-time employment to more than 300 legal professionals at Bingham (a figure that includes paralegals as well as lawyers). This figure of 300 represents the vast majority of non-partner legal professionals at Bingham.
Remember also that not everyone at Bingham necessarily wants to join Morgan Lewis (typically due to client conflicts or personal preference). A small number of current Bingham lawyers already had planned departure dates before the announcement of the Morgan Lewis deal or will join MLB on a short-term basis before moving on to other employment. For example, as noted in this recent American Lawyer piece, former IP litigation counsel Brandon Stroy is joining the San Francisco office of Maynard Cooper & Gale, and litigator John Pernick is now of counsel at San Jose-based Bergeson LLP.
Now what about the Bingham lawyers with offers to join Morgan Lewis that they might want to take? We recently heard some complaints about the benefits package on offer. For example:
The disability and parental leave benefits being offered are a bad deal. No credit is being given for time worked at Bingham. For example, there is no short-term disability unless employed for three months. So if a ninth-year Bingham associate gets in an accident tomorrow, there is no benefit under the Morgan Lewis policy.
If you are currently pregnant, you get no parental leave unless employed for a year at ML, even if you have worked at BM for longer than one year. This is unfair to women associates who are either currently pregnant or who plan to have children this year. Also unfair to couples who plan to adopt. Paternity leave is also affected — you get none unless you have worked there for at least a year — so this is not just an issue that affects women/primary caregivers.
Morgan Lewis — which is run by a woman [Jami Wintz McKeon, featured in this prior ATL post] — should be more concerned. Harsh treatment of associates who, unlike typical laterals, did not seek out this job. All we want is recognition of the time we have put in at BM already. Deadline is Friday to decide.
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But a source close to the firm states that this information is incorrect. According to this source, for purposes of short-term disability and parental leave, Morgan Lewis will grant prior service credit to Bingham lawyers for those benefits.
This claim seems to be at odds with what several of our sources noted in the materials they were given about their Morgan Lewis offers. Perhaps ATL’s digging around prompted a change of heart at Morgan Lewis? If so, it wouldn’t be the first time that public scrutiny from ATL has caused a firm to do the right thing. Bingham associates: you’re welcome. 😉
Finally, what about the fate of Bingham’s big back-office operation down in Lexington, Kentucky? A source close to Morgan Lewis insists that no decision has been made to close the Lexington facility. This seems a bit hard to square with the reports we’ve received from Lexington sources saying they are getting termination notices (with end dates ranging from the end of this week to the end of June 2015). But one thing noted by an MLB source is that, until the Morgan Lewis/Bingham deal actually closes, the Lexington facility does not technically belong to Morgan Lewis. So any actions being taken with respect to Lexington staff right now are essentially Bingham rather than Morgan Lewis decisions.
If you feel a little confused by the latest developments, you are not alone; many questions remain unanswered. We will continue to monitor this situation closely — with your help, of course. Please email us or text us (646-820-8477) with any information you might be able to share. Thanks.
Bingham, Edwards Wildman Partners Defect, Plus More Lateral Moves [Am Law Daily]
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