The Great Salary Cut Rollback Tracker: Where Does Your Law Firm Stand?

The latest updates on the salary cut reversals and performance bonuses that are trending in the legal industry.

The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus across the globe has impacted virtually every facet of life. We’re living in unprecedented times. Nothing is normal anymore. We’re living through the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Major law firms immediately reacted to this unwelcome news by attempting to manage their expenses through salary cuts, benefits reductions, furloughs, and layoffs. It appears that some firms, however, were overly cautious in the face of all the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, and now they’ve decided to either partially or completely walk back their austerity measures.

Just as we’ve done in the past when it comes to raises and bonuses, we are compiling a table of all the firms that have announced reductions to their cost-cutting measures in these strange times. Today, we unveil that table so you can see exactly how Biglaw firms are revising their financial remedies, restoring salaries, and offering bonuses amid the coronavirus crisis. We will be updating this table as needed as more news is announced. If you see any information here that is incorrect, let us know.

Help us help you. Let us know if your firm has decided to roll back any prior measures taken to survive during these uncertain times.

As a little reminder, we love covering law firm news, but we need your help. As soon as you find out about the reversal of salary cuts at your firm, please email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Salary Cut Rollback”). We always keep our sources on stories anonymous. There’s no need to send a memo (if one exists) using your firm email account; your personal email account is fine. If a memo has been circulated, please be sure to include it as proof; we like to post complete memos as a service to our readers. You can take a photo of the memo and attach as a picture if you are worried about metadata in a PDF or Word file.

Firm Measures Taken Who Is Affected?
Baker Botts Salary Cut Reductions
Special Bonuses
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates, Counsel (prior salary cuts — 20 to 30 percent based on salary level for counsel, 20 percent for associates, and 0 to 20 percent based on salary level for staff — will be reduced by 50 percent; special bonuses for exceptional performance of non-partner timekeepers, with special staff bonuses to be awarded later; effective November 1, all salary cuts were eliminated and another round of special bonuses were announced at the same time)
Baker McKenzie Salary Cut Reductions Staff, Associates (prior salary cuts — 15 percent reduction for all U.S. attorneys and business professionals making over $100K and 10 percent reduction for all in Canada — will will end on December 31, 2020; the firm announced the layoffs of lawyers, other timekeepers, and business professionals at the same time as the salary cut reductions)
Blank Rome Salary Cut Removal Staff, Associates, Partners (in April, the firm slashed salaries for all; in October, the firm reversed all of those cuts)
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner Salary Cut Reductions
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates (in April, salaries for anyone making over $40K were cut by 15 percent, and these cuts were supposed to expire in August; in July, the firm extended but  rolled back the severity of the salary cuts, going from 15 percent to 7.5 percent cuts until the end of 2020; effective October 1, all salary cuts would be completely reversed and firm will reportedly issue make-whole payments)
Cadwalader Salary Cut Reductions Staff, Associates, Partners (in March, the firm slashed associate compensation by 25 percent and staff compensation by 10 percent; on top of those cuts, partners and senior counsel chose to forgo distributions entirely; as of August 1, everyone’s prior salaries restored)
Cozen O’Connor Salary Cut Reductions Partners (partner distributions on hold in the spring, but as of July 1, partners’ pay checks were back to normal)
Crowell & Moring Salary Cut Reductions Staff, Associates, Counsel (in April, associates and counsel got a 15 percent cut, and staff making $100K+ took cuts in the range of 5 to 20 percent; on September 1, all compensation will revert to pre-pandemic amounts)
Davis Wright Tremaine Salary Cut Reductions
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates, Partners (in May, the firm made a range of salary reductions and furloughed some staff members; effective September 1, third quarter distribution for partners will be increased, all compensation cuts will be reduced by 50 percent, and a number of furloughed staff will be brought back; the firm announced layoffs of previously furloughed employees at the same time as the salary cut reductions; effective January 1, 2021, all salary cuts will be completely eliminated and all affected employees will receive lump sum make-whole payments by December 31, 2020)
Dorsey & Whitney Salary Cut Removal Staff, Associates, Partners (in May, the firm announced a series of across-the-board salary reductions; effective in October, the firm reversed course, announcing that those cuts would come to an end and that associates would have the opportunity to earn 95% of their salaries (and if they billed enough, they’d receive up to the remaining 5%)
Duane Morris Salary Cut Removal Associates, Special Counsel (effective May 1, the firm cut associate and special counsel salaries by 15 percent, expecting the cuts to last through 2020; effective September 1, the firm rolled back all salary cuts)
Eversherds Sutherland Salary Cut Continuation with Back Pay Staff, Associates (effective May 1, the firm cut salaries for all employees; in September, the firm announced it would be retroactively paying back half of the salary cuts lawyers and staff sustained from May through August, but keeping the salary cuts in play)
Fisher Phillips Salary Cut Reductions Staff, Associates, Partners (in April, associates and salaried staff had their paychecks cut by 20 percent, while hourly staff members had their hours cut by 20 percent, and partners took an unspecified pay cut; salaries will be fully restored “effective in the second half of August”)
Fox Rothschild Salary Cut Reductions
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates, Partners (in May, the firm enacted a tiered salary reduction of between 10 percent and 15 percent for all attorneys and staff making more than $100K would take effect in May, while partners reduce their monthly draws between 10 percent and 20 percent; as of September 1, all of those cuts will be reduced by 50 percent; effective November 1, monthly equity partner draws will be fully restored prospectively, and effective November 5, compensation reductions for all attorneys and staff will be fully restored prospectively)
Hogan Lovells Salary Cut Removal Associates, Counsel, Attorneys, Specialists, Knowledge Lawyers (in May, counsel associates, attorneys, specialists, and knowledge lawyers saw a 10 percent pay cut; equity partners’ monthly draws were slashed by 15 to 25 percent, and they also deferred the payment of profits; nonequity partners and highly compensated senior counsel and specialists got a 15 percent cut; in September, the firm reversed the salary cuts for everyone except for senior counsel, nonequity partners, and equity partners, and offered make-whole payments retroactive to May)
Holland & Hart Salary Cut Removal Staff, Associates, Partners (in May, the firm instituted across-the-board salary cuts; in September, the firm reversed those cuts, restoring all employees to their pre-pandemic pay)
Holland & Knight Salary Cut Reductions
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates (the firm restored 30 percent to 50 percent of the original 17.5 percent (associates, counsel, and senior professionals), 15 percent (staff making $150K+) or 10 percent (staff making $75-$150K) cuts at the end of June, with all associates receiving a 30 percent restoration of their salaries; in December, the firm announced that all salary cuts would be eliminated and that employees would receive make-whole payments in January 2021)
Husch Blackwell Special Bonuses Associates (associate client development bonus that was supposed to be deferred until January 2021 under the auspices of the firm’s COVID cuts was unexpectedly paid on August 15)
Katten Muchin Salary Cut Reductions
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates (in May, the firm slashed salaries for staff and attorneys making over $100K by 20 percent; in mid-August, the firm walked back its salary cuts, reducing them by 50 percent; all salary cuts will end on December 1, and employees will receive back pay as well)
K&L Gates Salary Cut Reductions
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates, Partners (in April, the firm reduced salaries across the board, with equity partners seeing a 20 percent reduction in scheduled advances, and firm leaders taking even larger reductions; income partners, associates, and allied professionals and staff were subject to a 15 percent reduction in their salary provided their income didn’t fall below a $75K floor; at the end of September, equity partners will see a 15 percent reduction in advances; at the beginning of September, all other employees’ salary cuts will be reduced by 10 percent, with the floor shifting upward from $75K to $100K; the firm announced that effective October 15, the salary cuts would end for all affected allied professionals, associates, and income partners, and that at the end of October, all reductions for equity partners would end as well)
Kelley Drye Salary Cut Reductions
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates (in May, the firm cut pay for staff, associates and special counsel who made more than $100K by 10 percent; now, the firm has halved those cuts, to 5 percent; partners pay cuts remain; all salary cuts will be completely reversed as of January 1, 2021, and all employees will receive make-whole payments on December 31, 2020)
Kennedys Salary Freeze Rollback
Special Bonuses
Staff, Associates (staff were supposed to have their salary reviews in May, while attorneys were supposed to have their salary reviews in September; all employees will now have their salary reviews in November and all bonus commitments will be honored)
Kilpatrick Townsend Salary Cut Reductions Staff, Associates (in April, associates and non-partner salaried employees saw two waves of 5 percent pay cuts (total of 10 percent), while secretaries moved to a 0.8 schedule; associate salaries and secretary work schedules will be restored to pre-pandemic levels on September 1)
Littler Salary Cut Removal Staff, Associates, Partners (in the spring, the firm slashes salaries across the board; in September, the firm announced that its austerity measures would come to an end and that all employees would be made whole for the money they lost during the pandemic, by or before October 2)
Loeb & Loeb Salary Cut Reductions Staff, Associates, Partners (income partners, senior counsel, of counsel, associates, and senior staff had their salaries cut by 15 percent and paralegals and other staff saw 10 percent cuts; those cuts will be reduced by 60 percent on September 1)
Lowenstein Sandler Salary Cut Reductions Partners (after halting partner distributions from February through April, the firm was able to pay higher than usual distributions in May and June)
Mayer Brown Salary Cut Removal Staff, Associates, Partners (effective May 18, salaries for all non-equity lawyers and staff (who make more than $200,000) were cut by 15 percent, and all other staff had salaries reduced on a graduated scale, with no reduction for those making less than $30,000; starting September 21, salaries at at the firm will be reverted to their pre-pandemic levels)
Mintz Levin Salary Cut Removal Staff, Associates, Partners (in April, the firm announced compensation cuts ranging from 5 to 10 percent, depending on employees’ role within the firm, with partners shouldering a great deal of the firm’s financial burdens; effective in the October 23 payroll, the firm will reverse all of those cuts and the firm hopes to offer make-whole payments in the future)
Munck Wilson Mandela Salary Cut Reductions Staff, Associates, Partners (in May, the firm reduced compensation for all employees, while some partners voluntarily deferred the entirety of their compensation for three months; as of July 1, the firm returned all employees back to their standard compensation)
Nixon Peabody Salary Cut Reductions Staff (in May, the firm reduced compensation for all employees (specifically, all staff schedules and salaries were reduced to 80 percent (i.e., a 20 percent pay cut); as announced in mid-August and effective August 31, many staff members were returned to a 100 percent schedule and base compensation; the firm announced the layoffs of many furloughed staff at the same time)
Norton Rose Fulbright Salary Cut Removal Staff, Associates (in April, the firm cut salaries for all employees after conducting a round of layoffs; in September the firm announced the end of those compensation cuts, returning salaries to full, pre-pandemic levels; in mid-December, the firm announced that it would be making partial true-up payments (about 55 percent of any reduction), and would consider additional payment in 2021 depending on billing)
Ogletree Special Bonuses
Salary Cut Removal
Associates (special bonus of $10K for associates who bill 1,700 hours in 2020; associates who bill 1,900 hours will receive an additional $10K on top of the special bonus; associates who exceed 2,000 hours in 2020 will qualify for a bonus based on a percentage of their salary; salary reductions eliminated effective September 1)
Orrick Salary Cut Removal Staff, Associates, Of Counsel (in April, the firm reduced salaries for all employees on a graduated scale; effective October 1, the firm restored salaries for all affected employees prospectively; the firm will make all employees whole for the period of April through September 30, and money will be deposited in November 30 paychecks.)
Perkins Coie Salary Cut Removal Staff, Associates (in June, the firm cut salaries for associates and a staff on a sliding scale depending on salary; effective October 1, the firm reversed all salary cuts and pledged to make full restoration payments to those who received reductions)
Pillsbury Salary Cut Reductions
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates, Counsel (all salary cuts made in May will be reduced (adjusted salary cuts for associates and counsel are now 15 percent, down from 20 percent; for staff making more than $100K, the pay cut is 10 percent, down from 15 percent; for staff making between $75K and $100K, the pay cut is 5 percent, down from 10 percent); all reductions in compensation incurred in the first half of 2020 are being repaid in full; as of October 2, all of the salary cuts officially ended and all pay rebates were made
Reed Smith Salary Cut Reductions
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates, Counsel, Partners (on September 1, for professional staff earning more than $100K, a current 10 percent cut will become a 5 percent cut; a 15 percent cut for associates will remain at that level (it was supposed to increase to a 20 percent cut on September 1); and a 20 percent compensation cut for fixed-share partners and counsel will be reduced to 15 percent; all salaries at the firm will be fully restored as of November 1)
Schiff Hardin Salary Cut Removal Staff, Associates, Partners (in April, the firm slashed salaries across the board, with some facing cuts of up to 50 percent; the firm restored everyone’s salaries for the second quarter in August, for the third quarter in October, and for the fourth quarter at the end of December)
Seyfarth Salary Cut Removal Staff, Associates, Partners (effective May 1, the firm slashes salaries across the board; effective October 1, the firm returned all staff to their full 2020 salaries and restored attorney compensation; the firm will be making retroactive salary payments to all affected employees on December 24)
Sheppard Mullin Salary Cut Reductions
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates, Counsel (in April, the firm cut salaries by 12 percent for associates, special counsel, and staff attorneys, while staff members making more than $90K had cuts of 10 percent and staff members making between $70K and $90K saw their salaries cut by 5 percent; all of those cuts will be reduced by 50 percent starting on August 31; effective September 28, all remaining salary cuts would be fully reversed and employees would receive make-whole payments in their October 16 paychecks)
Squire Patton Boggs Salary Cut Reduction
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates, Partners (in May, the firm cut salaries by 20 percent for associates, while staff members saw a range of cuts, between 10 and 20 percent, depending on salary; effective in October, salary cuts for associates will end, while support staff salary cuts will end if their salary was originally less than $75,000 (for others, their salary cut will be halved); partners will continue to see cuts; the firm announced that it would be making true-up payments for all associates in December)
Stoel Rives Salary Cut Reductions
Salary Cut Removal
Staff, Associates, Partners (current compensation reduction for all associates, staff, and of counsel lawyers will change from 20 percent to 10 percent; staff salaries and schedules will be modified as follows: staff with a 20 percent reduction will change to 10 percent, staff with a 15 percent reduction will change to 7.5 percent, staff with a 10 percernt reduction will change to 5 percent, staff with a 5 percent reduction will return to full salary and schedule; third quarter partner distributions will be reduced by 15 percent instead of the 20 percent reduction in Q2; effective October 12, 2020, all lawyers and staff will have their base pay returned to its pre-reduction level; payments to restore all base compensation were to be made by the end of November)
Taft Law Salary Cut Removal Partners (in April, the firm reduced partner draws by 25 percent, leaving compensation for staff, associates, and of counsel attorneys intact; the reduced pay program remained in effect from April through August, and then all previously reduced partner pay amounts were distributed to partners in October)
Troutman Pepper Salary Cut Removal Associates, Partners (in May, Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton both announced pay cuts for associates and income and equity partners; the firm ended those pay cuts effective September 1, with a “goal to repay all amounts previously withheld before the end of the year”)
Venable Salary Cut Reductions Staff, Associates (in April, the firm announced pay cuts across the board and furloughed some staff; now, the firm is rolling back those pay cuts, but some of those furloughed staff have been laid off)

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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