Biglaw

More Associate Salaries Slashed At Am Law 100 Firm

Plus 'confusing' furloughs at the firm.

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We are now several months into the COVID-19 health crisis, and it’s increasingly clear there’s no solution on the immediate horizon. Faced with the prospect of even more economic uncertainty caused by the novel coronavirus, Biglaw firm are making tough choices to cut costs and maintain, as much as possible, their cash flow.

The latest firm making these COVID-19 austerity measures is Locke Lord, ranked 76th on the most recent Am Law 100 ranking. But as we’ve seen over and over, even historically successful firms have deemed it prudent to start making cuts now.

So what is going on at Locke Lord? According to Above the Law tipsters, they’re doing a 10 percent cut in associate salaries that began May 1 and are anticipated to continue through the end of the year. (And tipsters say this move is “in addition to the 15 percent of associate salary tied up in ‘automatic bonuses’ that get paid out Dec 31 at the 2050 hours threshold.”)

Plus, sources at the firm say there have been some staff furloughs that were initially described as folks who could not do their jobs remotely. However, tipsters describe the situation as “confusing” and they’re learning exactly who was let go “by getting automatic bounce back emails.” Not exactly the model of transparency one might hope for.

UPDATE: Another tipster wrote in to share they have a different perspective on how the staff layoffs are proceeding:

I disagree with the lack of transparency comment. We were given a floor-wide email when a staffer was let go. Unless they do a firm-wide notification when anyone gets fired, how are people going to know someone gets fired until they try to contact them? We also had firm-wide calls with Q&A time and the offer to answer emailed questions privately, so any confusion seems to be the result of the unpredictable nature of this crisis, not the firm’s response.

We reached out to the firm for comment, but have yet to hear back.

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If your firm or organization is slashing salaries, closing its doors, or reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477).

If you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the layoff alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each layoff, salary cut, or furlough announcement that we publish.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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