Cravath's announced bonuses are a lot lower than the pre-bust bonuses. they range from $7.5K to $30K. bonuses at the end of 2007 were 45K to 110K. but still any bonus is better than no bonus.

Boy did that turn out to be a mistake. They have a lot of leverage: it's almost worth making noises about going under to renegotiate the lease, but who knows how many clients they would lose in the process.

Didn't I mention the Cravath lease at the last meet and greet thing? Yeah, they can always renegotiate.

7500 is BAD, they must be trying get people to leave

Re bonuses - only bad compared to what they used to be. Associates are still compensated pretty well (perhaps not well enough for the amt of stress/work, but...). If Cravath wants someone to leave, they aren't going to give them a $7500 bonus ;)

I can't believe no one took lovells. dibs on that

no response from aboutready who has never found a law related thread she didn't pontificate about?

and don't be too impressed by all that managing partner stuff. she throws it around like he's a big swinging dick but he's a pretty junior partner in a big firm. the job is probably much more administratrive partner than managing if you think managing menas being everyones boss including much more senior partners. they probably give the managing partner title to a solid young partner who everyone likes and who has future in the firm. then he can do all the admin BS as "managing partner" of the office that the more seniro guys don't want to be bothered with

rumors are swirling about massive firings this coming month at my firm and a bunch of others. What a great time to be a lawyer :)

my sister in-law is a state attorney and was just laid off last week. cc is right though, it's not just lawyers. times are rocky.

So Above the Law has a law firm dead pool going. Only about 2 years after 30yrs started this one, but whatever.

http://abovethelaw.com/2012/06/inside-straight-dewey-know-whos-next/
I’ve watched Dewey’s collapse only from a distance, as have most lawyers. And I’m no student of law firm finances or management. But this struck me as I read the news:

Dewey: 2012.
Howrey: 2011.
Thelen: 2009.
Heller: 2008.
Coudert: 2006.
Brobeck: 2003.

And I’m probably overlooking other recent collapses of prominent firms, since I cobbled together that list from the names that came to mind unprompted.

This history suggests that another large, well-respected firm will collapse next year, and it’s a near certainty that a firm will collapse within the next two years. Who will it be?

...

Well, those willing to make predictions 2 yrs ago were...how shall i say it...totally wrong.

Big firms have always come and gone.

There're more than 21,000 Manhattan lawyers with the top 100 firms, plus hundreds more with US/NYS/NYC government.

Of the 476 at Dewey, those worth picking up will get picked up. It's just a blip in the annual movement.

"Well, those willing to make predictions 2 yrs ago were...how shall i say it...totally wrong."

Huh? Sidelinesitter had Dewey on his short list.

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/06/04/dewey-bankruptcy-docket-report-next-up-stephen-dicarmine/
http://abovethelaw.com/2012/05/dewey-have-underfunded-pension-plans-feds-say-yes-stepping-in-to-pay-the-shortfall/2/

"The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation will take responsibility for three pension plans that cover nearly 1,800 people sponsored by Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, a law firm based in New York City. ... PBGC will pay guaranteed benefits up to about $56,000 a year for a 65-year-old retiree."

Wondering, are those pensions taxable? Does the $56k limit represents a big cut for most retirees? Cause maybe they weren't getting close to $56k anyway. The biggest cut might be that it's not inflation-adjusted and health care benefits are gone.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204571404577258082978298056.html

At some of the country's top firms, younger lawyers will foot the bill for deluxe pension plans that could drag down their own earnings for years to come.

These pensions are largely unfunded: there is no money saved to pay retirees. Instead, most law firms with such plans pay the benefits as they go, using a portion of their current profits.

Partners at some elite firms are often entitled to between 20% to 30% of their peak pay after retirement—in many cases, for life, according to partners and law firm consultants. For the most profitable firms, that could mean payments of $400,000 to $600,000 a year per retired lawyer.

For instance, some blamed the 2009 collapse of the Philadelphia firm Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen LLP—which followed a failed merger attempt in 2008—in part on its leadership's refusal to scale back their unfunded pension plan.

At Gibson Dunn, partners who serve there for 20 years get a retirement benefit at age 60 that pays out 20% of their top compensation. At current profits, that could amount to $500,000 a year for eight years or life—whichever is longer. Surviving spouses would get the remaining benefit should a partner die before the eight years are up.

Top firms with unfunded pensions include Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP; Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP; Debevoise & Plimpton LLP; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP; and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, according to data compiled by the American Lawyer magazine. Those firms declined to comment.

According to one estimate by law firm consultant Peter Giuliani, the current pension liability at a typical large New York firm with an unfunded plan could amount to $200 million—if the firm had to make the total payout today.

======================================================

Poor young lawyers! They not only have the SS ponzi through wages. Their own company also makes them victims of another pay-as-you go unsustainable system. Meanwhile, they are basically on their own for their retirement as both will be in shambles when they hit 65 themselves. Add to that much more expensive tuition, housing and healthcare than those they are working for (the already retired) had to face. Not cute!

Wouldn't it be optimal for the best of the young to opt for a law firm that doesn't have these liabilities? Like the car companies, the best go to work for Toyota or Honda, not for the big 3 cause the pension burden makes their own jobs unstable. It's not only about the hit to their wages, but higher chances of being fired.

See the movie Interstate 60.
It's a cute metaphysical comedy that includes Gary Oldman, Christopher Lloyd, and Amy Smart.

There's a section of the movie where the lead character ends up in a town called Morlaw. Every citizen of the town is a lawyer, and every traveler to the town ends up a defendant in one way or another and does every other municipal job the town needs to pay off their legal fees. It's over the top and comedic manner doesn't dilute the glaring undercurrent of the legal world we actually live in.

> See the movie Interstate 60.

i will!!!

it's free for those w/ amazon prime in case anybody is interested:
http://www.amazon.com/Interstate-60-James-Marsden/dp/B0000AOX0J

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-29/big-law-firms-are-in-crisis-retired-lawyer-says
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-02/howreys-bankruptcy-and-big-law-firms-small-future - Business Week Cover, "What do you call 176,000 lawyers lying at the bottom of the ocean?"

aboutready
about 3 years ago
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Is it just the most likely, or all of the most likely? If it's the most likely right now I favor White & Case. Then, in no particular order, Latham, DLA Piper, Cadwalader, Orrick, Mayer Brown, Baker & McKenzie, Morgan Lewis, Kirkland & Ellis, Millbank Tweed, Katten Muchen, Clifford Chance US, Sidley & Austin. Etc., etc.

Litigation is, or can be if there's any GD money in the system, countercyclical. The vast majority of large shops tilted heavily corporate over the last ten years. Some firms are doing just fine. The problem is that stink spreads quickly in a large firm. Which is why White & Case tops my list.

aboutready
about 3 years ago
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30yrs, i totally forgot shea & gould. couldn't have happened to a more assholic firm. (OK, maybe cadwalader, but that's personal on my part. i interviewed there and i can honestly tell you i've never met nastier people at a large law firm in my life.)

You WERE wrong. Your cogent arguments didn't amount to anything worthwhile.

You named 13 firms. Did a single one of them go out of business?

>So what? None of us knew at the time what the fed would do.

That's your excuse?

>I wouldn't be surprised to see more problems in the future.

You've learned ... be more vague, this way you can't be proven so wrong.

I'm sorry but the last 6 posts provided no tie to NYC real estate and had no analysis. Not great. Not meaningful.