Legal Pad

Associate Deferrals Proved Positive for Public Interest Groups

[Cynthia Foster]

According to a new report (.pdf) published by the Pro Bono Institute, the public interest deferment program instituted at many big firms to combat the recession have experienced success, at least on the public interest side.

There were some doubts about whether or not such programs would work. The report, however, would seem to indicate that they have. Over 97% of non-profit respondents reported that they would accept deferred associates again in the future.

Vivia Chen, over at sister publication The Am Law Daily's blog The Careerist, calls the programs a success, and that this success is a "no-brainer."

The participating firms, however, might be a bit more reserved in their judgments. According to portions of the law firm survey, many firms believe it is too soon to accurately judge the impact the deferment programs will have on their businesses.

Deferred Associate Stays Upbeat, But Shows Some Wistfulness

[Cynthia Foster]

When Andrew Andinger was deferred from Orrick, he entered into the "whirlwind process" of finding a public interest outfit where he could spend the year. He landed at the Public Interest Law Project in Oakland and has been blogging about his experience over at The Am Law Daily.

Andinger is a pretty upbeat guy, judging from his posts, and has a positively rosy outlook on his experience. In one post, he mused on the contrast between Orrick and PILP, but settled on calling them both "great work environments... both comfortable, interesting spaces populated by cool, creative people."

This week, though, I got the impression that he might be feeling a little left out of the biglaw buzz, especially when talking to his non-deferred friends.

"Over coffee and lunch, or at the occasional happy hour, they’ve told me about big research projects, drafting intricate documents, fast-paced deals that go late in the night, and helping a team prepare for trial."

Andinger's column is ongoing, and I've found it to be a sweet read and probably particularly interesting to those who are deferred themselves.

Covington Raises Salaries in California

[Cynthia Foster]

Over at Above the Law, check out the news that Covington has "thawed" associate salaries in the Golden State. Check out the item here and this excerpt from the firm's statement:

After reviewing market conditions in California, we recently decided to adjust our base associate salaries there to assure that our compensation package is fully competitive in that market. Our approach is to maintain salaries at a competitive level in each market, and we are persuaded that we are achieving that objective.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? You're In Demand For Contract Lawyer Jobs

At Robert Half Legal, the legal staffing division of Robert Half International, one Bay Area recruiter tells us that the outlook for contract jobs is looking up.

Monica Tobin, a Robert Half Legal recruiter who places all levels of lawyers, says that from where she sits, law firms of all sizes are super focused on clients. “They are in a mode where they need to preserve all their clients,” Tobin said. “They basically have been able to retain a lot of work through being very flexible.” And she’s seeing that flexibility translating into higher demand for contract attorneys -- partners and associates alike -- than for permanent lawyers. (Though she notes some bright spots she's seeing for the latter, too, below.)

How speaking German, or other languages, fits into the picture, after the jump …

Latham: We’re Gonna Pay You Like 2009 Never Happened

Forget the revolution in associate compensation, lockstep is just fine down at Latham & Watkins.

The firm is unfreezing salaries and spicing up bonuses, according to Above the Law.

Looks like Latham had a decent year, and its 19 percent reduction in headcount last year paid off.

The firm confirmed this new good-’ol-days salary scale, which associates at all but a handful of firms would drool over nowadays.

Weigh the scale after the jump.

The Pros and Cons of Toiling Away in Your Own At-Home Sweatshop

So this New York Times story has nothing to do with lawyers, except we thought it interesting that the writer chose to compare associates to the well-paid/overworked entrepreneurs on Etsy, that Web site where the arts-and-crafts inclined hawk their toilet paper cozies. (A brief aside: That was the first absurd tchotchke to come to mind so we went with it -- but we were quite pleased to discover, with just one Google, that even the stuff we spout off the top of our head turns out to be incredibly spot-on.)

Anyway, here's the part of that NYT story that caught our eye:

Ms. Gibran, who is in her 30s, had been selling her hand-knit scarves and accessories on the site for less than a year when she decided last November to quit her day job at a copy center in Atlanta. Thirteen months later, she would seem to be living the Etsy dream: running a one-woman knitwear operation, Yokoo, from her home and earning more than $140,000 a year, more than many law associates.

Jealous? How could you not be? Her hobby is her job. But consider this before you quit your day job: at the pace she’s working, she might as well be a law associate.

Unfortunately, though we loved the pose in the photo the NYT chose to run of Ms. Gibran, we were disappointed the paper didn't actually quote any lawyers-turned-arts&crafts moguls. If you're out there, email us. Maybe we'll write about you.

—  Pam Smith

Really, email me

Orrick Associate on New Pay Scale: Coulda Been Worse ...

Orrick announced the salary structure for its new lockstep-breaking associate structure today (we’ve got the details here). We got the firm perspective from Chairman Ralph Baxter, who was enthusiastic about the whole deal.

Orrick diagrams its new pay scale. (Click to enlarge.)

“There’s no doubt what Orrick is doing in the new talent model will save clients money and it will make Orrick more economically efficient,” he told us. “The salaries themselves don’t translate to different pricing. What translates to different pricing is the model as a whole, and what work is assigned to partner-track associates. Number Two: The incentives at Orrick are now all about quality and efficiency.”

Still, often what’s good for the client’s bottom line and the firm’s bottom line isn’t so great for the associate’s, so we asked around to get a front-line perspective on the announcement.

An associate speaks! After the jump!

Like Water in the Desert: Firm Lists Five Associate Openings

We keep hearing about firms hunkering down and waiting out the economic maelstrom.

BETWEEN JOBS An occasional look at how there might actually be decent jobs in this crisis economy.

Looks like San Francisco’s Farella Braun & Martel is not one of them. The midsize business and litigation firm is advertising not one, not two, but five associate positions on its Web site. The openings are in various practices, including real estate, which by many accounts is a dead zone these days.

Jennifer Peneyra, Farella’s recruiting and diversity manager, told us one reason for the flurry of hiring is that the 42 associates now at the firm are stretched. But also, Farella Braun is trying to be opportunistic and take advantage of the market. Between five and 15 resumes come in the door every day, she said — and the firm is actually looking at them. A lot of candidates come in through recruiters, but the firm isn’t eager to go that route, especially in a market flooded with talent.

You don't need a dowser in a flood, after the jump.

Allen Matkins Cuts Pay, Lays Off Associates (Again)

We saw a post on Above the Law today that said Los Angeles’ Allen Matkins had made another cut to associate salaries. Oh, and some layoffs. ATL recaps the rough year the 200-something-lawyer firm has had, but was stonewalled by management when it called for confirmation/response/defense.

Mike Palmer, the firm’s executive director called us back late this afternoon and confirmed that Allen Matkins has cut the salaries of a number of associates at all levels in slow practice areas, primarily real estate and corporate. Some of them had already had their pay reduced in March, but Palmer said it was the first cut for most. He confirmed the reductions ran between 15 and 30 percent of pay and would be effective Nov. 1.

More, after the jump.

Sheppard Mullin's NY Associates Share the Salary Pain

After MoFo on Monday became the first firm we know of to cut California associate salaries, but leave New York the same, we checked in with a couple of other firms to see whether they agreed with MoFo’s thinking on the matter.

Bob Williams, chief talent officer at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, got back to us and said his firm had grappled with the same issue.

New York’s cost of living is higher than that of San Francisco or Los Angeles, he said. But in the end, the firm decided to pay associates in the same year the same salary because New York associates aren’t necessarily more profitable.

“It’s not really the case that New York lawyers are consistently billing at a higher rate and generating more profit,” Williams said, adding that it also not the case that New York associates work only on New York matters.

The firm froze salaries earlier this year, and decided to pay all incoming associates $145,000, regardless of city. When they become second years, they will earn $160,000.

“We were driven to move the first step down to $145,000 because we wanted to give a rate decrease for clients for first years, and I have a feeling a lot of firms will want to do that,” Williams said.

— Amanda Royal
Follow me on Twitter