Are More Biglaw Firms Planning To Defer Their Incoming Associates?
Biglaw firms aren't playing 'follow the leader' when it comes to associate deferrals... yet.
Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
Even the firms that have had layoffs have not followed the follow-the-leader path that we typically see in Big Law. In 2020, firms began delaying or shortening summer classes and this resulted in a slew of firms following suit. Right now, it’s been a drip-drip-drip of layoffs and deferments, which is very different than 2020 and the panic we saw during the recession of 2008/2009. Right now, it seems like it’s impacting some firms but not all of them.
— Summer Eberhard, a partner and legal recruiter at Major, Lindsey & Africa, in comments given to the American Lawyer on Cooley’s decision to defer its incoming class of associates shortly after a similar announcement that was made by Gunderson, and whether she thinks any other firms will make the same choice. “Given how low hours have been at many firms, I could see other firms making similar decisions to protect the utilization of the associates they have and to hopefully allow work to pick up to where there is enough work to go around come next year,” Eberhard cautioned.
Staci 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.
