Biglaw

Attorneys Are Fleeing Norton Rose, So Telling Everyone They're 'Evaluating' Raises Doesn't Exactly Inspire Confidence

A nod toward transparency may have only made things worse.

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The stream of departures from Norton Rose over the last few months are truly staggering when you take them together. From associates to partners, lawyers seem to be running from the UK giant. And while a firm with 4000 attorneys is more than big enough to deal with some defections, losing whole departments like this has some of us wondering if there are bedrock problems with how the firm handles its foray into the US market.

As one source put it, senior attorneys in the American offices have, “next to zero confidence in current management.”

This certainly isn’t going to help.

On the one hand, at least they’ve offered some transparency. Firms like Latham and Baker McKenzie are sitting out there having offered zilch to their worried associates. On the other hand, given so many large players still sitting on the sidelines, Norton Rose could have easily kept mum until they worked this out, rather than draw attention to the firm’s fecklessness in the face of mounting pressure.

As we’ve said, whatever the merits of the 2016 salary bump, any firm that adopted that scale has to follow the present cost-of-living adjustment or let the world know they overstepped two years ago and can’t hang with the big kids.

If Norton Rose lands in the latter camp, expect more departures sooner rather than later.

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Earlier: After All These Attorney Departures, Does Anyone Still Work At Norton Rose?
Norton Rose’s Problems Run Way Deeper Than Losing Abbe Lowell

HeadshotJoe 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.

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