BRYAN CAVE LEIGHTON PAISNER — MEMO RE: LAYOFFS, SALARY CUTS
Dear Colleagues,
The last few months have been a challenge for everyone, for us as individuals, and as a Firm. We have all adjusted to new ways of working and we have introduced cost-saving measures, and taken prudent steps to safeguard our Firm in order to weather this unparalleled public health and global economic crisis. Your response has been exemplary, we thank you, and we have persevered despite significant headwinds.
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Today, we are pleased to share that our Firm performed better than we had feared during the first half of 2020, and we will be making adjustments to our plans for temporary salary reductions when the current measures expire, which for a large number of you is on July 31, and the majority of the rest of you is some time next month.
We will be halving salary reductions to 7.5% from the current 15%, and we are proposing that these continue through the end of the year. We know and appreciate that these measures still require significant shared sacrifices by all of you.
We have already given our commitment that Partners, both in absolute as well as proportionate terms, will bear the greatest burden in terms of earnings impact during these times, and we reaffirm that today. We will also be creating a bonus pool for colleagues who have contributed highly this year.
The exact size, shape, and speed of global economic recovery remains unclear as we look ahead. In the near term, we do not anticipate a return to pre-COVID-19 levels of economic activity, nor perhaps, even on a more extended basis. Although some pockets of our Firm remain exceptionally busy, our overall capacity is in excess of demand and how we should be structured to best serve our clients.
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All of this together has led to our decision to undertake targeted reductions across some practices to ensure that our talent and resources are best aligned to meet client needs. These reductions will impact a small proportion of our global workforce, including lawyers and business services staff. We will also be tightening our footprint in Asia, where we will be closing our small Beijing office as part of these efforts.
As difficult as this is, we are taking decisive and prudent action now to maintain our strong footing and preserve a healthy business. We are also motivated to provide as much clarity as we can to as many colleagues as possible, during what we know remains an extremely unsettling time for everyone.
For colleagues who will be leaving us, this is in no way a reflection of your contribution to our Firm for which we are grateful. As this is a multi-jurisdictional undertaking, it will take some time to work through all the details as we comply with national and local laws. Severance terms will be calculated on the basis of unadjusted higher salaries. For those who have incurred the existing 15% salary reductions during these past weeks, we will also reimburse those sums before you leave.
We will assist those colleagues impacted in obtaining new employment, including providing outplacement coaching and counseling. We have also asked our recruitment teams and Partners to do what they can to assist, including leveraging their professional networks.
As we have said throughout the year, we are enormously proud of our BCLP community, and these decisions have not been taken lightly. This is the first time we have had to ask people to adopt exceptional measures relating to their employment terms, and it has been many years since BCLP (or our two heritage firms) made a decision to reduce its workforce.
We appreciate that this is a lot of information to digest, and we will do everything we can to help you as we navigate this period. We will now be asking our Leadership Team, PGLs, and OMPs to work with you all on the next, more detailed steps.
We are truly grateful to all who have contributed to BCLP today. While this has been an incredibly difficult course of action to take, we believe that implementing these measures is in the best interest of our clients, our Firm, and our people for the long term.
Lisa and Steve
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