Biglaw Firm Pushes First-Year Start Date To Summer 2021

Oof! Are other law firms considering doing the same thing?

Thanks to the coronavirus crisis, Biglaw firms across the country have delayed the start dates of their incoming associates out of an abundance of caution. While it’s true that a few firms started their first-year associates this fall, the rest have opted to bring in the their new blood in or about January 2021. But now, we’re hearing that some first-year associates will be starting even later than that.

Which Biglaw firm will be punting some of its incoming associates into June 2021?

Sources have told us that Schiff Hardin — a firm that brought in $186,437,000 gross revenue in 2019, ranking 158th on the Am Law 200 — recently made this decision. If you recall, the firm instituted some of the largest associate pay cuts we’d heard about during the height of the pandemic, with attorneys in certain practice areas taking an astonishing 50 percent hit. The firm reinstated those compensation cuts and will make all of its employees whole by the end of December, but these start date delays for first-year associates are a new bump in the road.

We contacted the firm for comment, and received this statement from a spokesperson:

We have 10 first-year associates joining the firm; five are starting on January 4 and the other five will start on June 1. Those whose start date we delayed will receive a stipend from the firm.

When we asked for insight into why the Schiff Hardin decided to defer some of its associates until June 2021, a firm spokesperson told us, “It continues to be part of managing our business prudently through the pandemic.” That being the case, we certainly hope those stipends are generous because these new lawyers are losing almost an entire year of practice with the firm they hoped to call home.

Schiff Hardin is the first Biglaw firm we’ve heard of that’s made the decision to start some of its 2020 incoming associates so late in the game. Is this something that other firms are considering as well? Please email us at tips@abovethelaw.com or text us at (646) 820-8477 to let us know.

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Best of luck to the class of 2020 Schiff Hardin associates who will start their careers at the firm a few months after their colleagues in the same class year and a few months before class of 2021 associates are slated to start theirs. The unique situation these associates face will be interesting, to say the least.


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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