You know, it was kind of cute when, a week after Cravath kicked this all off, Vedder Price told all its associates to meet for an important announcement and celebratory drinks and then… announced they were promoting new partners and said nothing about raises. Sure it was tone deaf and lame to toy with associates like that — and make no mistake, the firm deserved its shaming — but this was all so new that no one really thought about the significance of the boneheaded move.
Though that must have been an amazing party. There are wakes at Southampton estates that involve less cocktail chatter drenched in passive aggression over the fate of fortunes.
But to do the exact same thing after Vedder already publicly took its lumps, that’s just signaling almost superhuman negligence of what’s going on in the NY market or profound disrespect for associates. In either event, it’s something Kasowitz Benson shouldn’t have done… twice.
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Yes, according to tipsters, Kasowitz Benson has announced partnership promotions twice since the salary storm began with nary an acknowledgment of associate salaries from the firm. Kasowitz has nine offices, and perhaps there are a lot of sticking points when it comes to raising salaries. Fine. No one would have a problem with that. It’s also perfectly acceptable to announce that the firm isn’t prepared to match Cravath — there’s no shame in being in the second-tier of compensation as long as a firm is upfront about it. But to stay silent while parading in front of associates that a number of their colleagues are about to get life-altering raises is tremendously gauche.
Earlier: Law Firm Fakes Out Its Associates Over Pay Raises
Let’s Hear From The Furious Associates At Firms That Haven’t Matched!
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.