Shook is cutting partners’ next draws by up to 90%.

Wow
https://abovethelaw.com/2020/04/biglaw-firm-cutting-salaries-for-all-employees-and-furloughing-staff/

There are two kinds of firms: those focused on the short term, and each group’s short-term P&L without thinking strategically, and those focused on the long term.

Dewey was a short term firm.

The long term firms are the ones that will survive this without cutting staff, because they planned for it by not having very unequal partner pay.

Firms with open comp are typically better placed to survive downturns because they don’t pay their top partners ridiculous more than everyone else.

Yeah I don’t think any summer associates who were slated to start in the Fall will be joining us.

Weep for this year’s 2Ls.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm at a mid-sized law firm in Northern CA. We've been having firm-wide meetings (separated into section leaders, COVID Team, partners, staff) via Webex almost once a week.

Things are changing multiple times a day, and we keep changing policy to adjust. Nobody has been laid off, and there have been no pay-cuts. Right now, only our coffee attendants and some of the copy room has been furloughed.

This is gross.

The money is there, pay your staff.

+1,000. Wow, just wow. Big-shot lawyers making well into the six and seven figures, so they furlough the people who make an hourly wage. You are everything wrong with this country.

This is what's happening for ages. Highly paid lawyers don't share their $ss. No wonder lawyers along with politicians are very low on the moral compass.

Anonymous wrote:Also: clients aren’t paying right now. All
The work is to figure out how To get out of contextual obligations. They also don’t want to oy their lawyers. Or they will wait until the end of this and negotiate a better rate. The whole pipeline is not paying up.

So soon? That was quick. There are some clients still doing well out there, depending on the industry.

Contract obligations ^^

Also: clients aren’t paying right now. All
The work is to figure out how To get out of contextual obligations. They also don’t want to oy their lawyers. Or they will wait until the end of this and negotiate a better rate. The whole pipeline is not paying up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm at a mid-sized law firm in Northern CA. We've been having firm-wide meetings (separated into section leaders, COVID Team, partners, staff) via Webex almost once a week.

Things are changing multiple times a day, and we keep changing policy to adjust. Nobody has been laid off, and there have been no pay-cuts. Right now, only our coffee attendants and some of the copy room has been furloughed.

This is gross.

The money is there, pay your staff.

Same poster adding that this will get out and it will cost you clients.

This is truly disgusting. This whole situation is disgusting. Law partners sitting in mansions on zoom waiting for instacart while poor people wait in miles-long lines for food banks. But save the rich grandpa's over all else. Let them eat cake.

I am sure big law partners have a different perspective than yours and believe theirs are right.

Most firms will lay off before they cut comp.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a tough one to predict. I could see how firms with robust employment law practices would be swamped. When the alarm bell rang from clients asking wtf do we do, those are the attorneys who got the call.

Employment isn’t where the big money is made though.

No, but last month's hours were off the charts, so they better have some love for us now.

That’s not how it will work. They have been carrying the rest of the time because at most firms your work can’t command the same rates and yet you are paid, at least as an associate, the same as others in more profitable practice areas.

Not an employment lawyer but you're missing the point that law firms have employment groups for a reason. The clients that we do bet-the-firm litigation or mergers or restructuring for expect us to be able to handle their employment concerns too. It's a matter of client support and loyalty, and cross-selling; it's not the case that management looks at employment as a drag or charity case.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My firm (20-30 range) has a global town hall today. Partners didn't get a draw this quarter and I'm thinking this will be layoffs, but I'm stupidly optimistic they'll start with paycuts.

Update: partner comp reduced by 20% for first half of year, hiring freeze, summer program will get dialed back (but not canceled), no salary reductions for associates or staff. Caveat re: layoffs/pay reductions - this is the absolute last resort; don't want to get there, but we really don't know how long this will last or how bad it will get so no blanket promise to never do so.

At the very least, reviews are going to get a lot tougher and there will be more “performance” terminations. No one wants to be the one to admit to Latham-ing associates, although Latham sure seems to have survived just fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a tough one to predict. I could see how firms with robust employment law practices would be swamped. When the alarm bell rang from clients asking wtf do we do, those are the attorneys who got the call.

Employment isn’t where the big money is made though.

No, but last month's hours were off the charts, so they better have some love for us now.

That’s not how it will work. They have been carrying the rest of the time because at most firms your work can’t command the same rates and yet you are paid, at least as an associate, the same as others in more profitable practice areas.

Anonymous wrote:My firm (20-30 range) has a global town hall today. Partners didn't get a draw this quarter and I'm thinking this will be layoffs, but I'm stupidly optimistic they'll start with paycuts.

Update: partner comp reduced by 20% for first half of year, hiring freeze, summer program will get dialed back (but not canceled), no salary reductions for associates or staff. Caveat re: layoffs/pay reductions - this is the absolute last resort; don't want to get there, but we really don't know how long this will last or how bad it will get so no blanket promise to never do so.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm at a mid-sized law firm in Northern CA. We've been having firm-wide meetings (separated into section leaders, COVID Team, partners, staff) via Webex almost once a week.

Things are changing multiple times a day, and we keep changing policy to adjust. Nobody has been laid off, and there have been no pay-cuts. Right now, only our coffee attendants and some of the copy room has been furloughed.

So the partners and associates are still making full comp, but the lowest paid people at the firm have been furloughed?

Lovely. And by lovely I mean disgusting.

At my AmLaw 50 firm, the equity partners have been the first, and thus far only, people to take pay cut.

Heard that Morgan Lewis did the same thing: cut equity partner pay and kept all associates and support staff at the same level.

That’s what firms should be doing. Any firm that cuts support staff and leaves the equity partners the same is basically demonstrating that their corporate culture is broken and that they have major “Dewey and LeBoeuf” risk.

I’m happy to report that this is what our firm did. Comp cuts are starting at the top.