Law Firm Chaos

V100 Summary - Reaction to Financial Crisis

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51 comments:

  1. Heller Ehrman dissolved.

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  2. Where does Baker Botts $10,500 come from?

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  3. $5,500 bar stipend and $5,000 graduation bonus... see http://www.abovethelaw.com/2008/05/associate_life_survey_everythi.php

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  4. My roommate is going to BB-Dallas and is only getting $5K grad bonus. I think they got rid of $5500 signing bonus. Not sure about other offices.

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  5. Yeah, Baker Botts got rid of the signing bonus for 2009 grads.

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  6. Arent Fox pays Bar Expenses for 2009 grads

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  7. Bingham McCutchen gives a $10k stipend in addition to bar expenses.

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  8. I believe that Arent Fox is a 5G stipend, not 15G ... the 15G I think was an advance that no longer exists.

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  9. Confirming that Bingham gives a $10k stipend AND pays for bar classes. It also covers moving expenses, for those who need.

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  10. Gibson stipend is $13,333 in non-NY offices. Start dates are 11/16 and 11/30.

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  11. i think you need to differentiate between a bar stipend and a salary advance (loan).

    IE I know that some firms only cover bar exam and bar course costs, and then offer a 10k loan separate from those costs (assuming a typical fall start date)

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  12. Our source characterized the figures as stipends, not advances, but since this is not public information it is possible that there are some errors. If you know of any, let us know.

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  13. Can you guys please add a column for whether or not health insurance is being paid/ subsidized/ not. I know some firms are, some aren't...

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  14. Also -- when firms are paying clerkship bonuses. Some are paying them during the deferral -- some not until the first day. Oh, and are firms paying moving expenses during deferral. Thanks for putting this together!!!

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  15. Covington is not deferred. We could select our state date any Monday after the bar exam.

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  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. Pillsbury Summer Program 10 weeks

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  18. Mintz Levin deferred to January 2010. They offered a $15k loan.

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  19. Baker Hostetler gives you a $10K stipend, not $5K.

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  20. Baker Hostetler has not deferred any start dates. It's still Fall, 2009.

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  21. 1. Hogan & Harston summer associate numbers are off. It's a lot more than 19.

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  22. Baker and Mckenzie are offering zero stipend, just paying for bar prep courses and reimbursing moving expenses

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  23. V&E start date in January
    10k stipend for deferring (on top of bar expenses).

    By the way, this is very, very helpful (if correct and kept updated).

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  24. Bryan Cave: zero stipend; 20k in loans.

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  25. proskauer's stipend is $20K in addition to 10k bar stipend

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  26. Arnold and Porter's bar stipend is 8 grand, not 12.

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  27. Baker & McKenzie has a $0 bar stipend/advance and will only pay for $3,150 of BarBri...

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  28. What office? Some sources say Baker & McKenzie pays a $15,000 bar stipend in the Dallas and Palo Alto offices.

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  29. Your White & Case info is wrong. The $5K Bar stipend is included in the $45K, not in addition to it. That would bring the monthly to $3,750/month for those without the fellowship. Not that I'm complaining.

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  30. dpw start dates were annnounced in feb - they are mid sept, mid oct, and mid nov.
    summer program at dpw is 14 weeks.

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  31. Baker Botts only offers $5000 + bar stipend. The extra $5500 signing bonus was not offered to any incoming associates this year. Also, 3Ls got a letter back in January that start dates would be no earlier than October 1 and no later than November 12.

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  32. Jones Day's start date for all US offices is October 26, 2009. This has been out for weeks. Just FYI as you keep posting on Above the Law that Jones Day's start date is "unconfirmed."

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  33. Your V100 stipend summary needs some work. You fail to acknowledge that the initial bar stipend is supposed to cover 3 months of living expenses (bar study and bar trip, prior to traditional September start dates). Therefore, you need to a 3 months to every single firm. It makes no sense to divide that bar stipend into the number of months the incoming associate has been deferred past the traditional start date, if only because that money will have already been spent regardless of how far the start date has been deferred.
    But in general, good job.

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  34. Yeah, that $5500 Baker Botts signing bonus is long gone. The stipend should only be $5000 (or $833 / month for May - October).

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  35. Heather... Although the bar stipend is meant to cover living expenses during the summer and a bar trip, not all associates will receive a bar stipend. We opted for the stipend per month figure rather than total compensation between graduation and the start date to make it easier to compare the firms. Additionally, the consensus is that some firms would have offered a higher deferral stipend if they did not already have a bar stipend.

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  36. Your Baker Botts info is wrong. The $5000 is not a "deferral stipend." It is a graduation bonus paid in May. Baker Botts has always paid this amount in May. They are not paying incoming 3Ls any more than in previous years to compensate them for the 2-month deferral. So it's not a deferral stipend.

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  37. V&E stipend is 10k if you defer until January.

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  38. ATL commenter says Williams & Connolly start date is mid-August. Anyone able to confirm? What about covington?

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  39. Davis Polk announced - they're starting in November. My friend heard the news last Weds. Kirkland is the only V10 firm yet to announce.

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  40. Irell info wrong - 3L offers were not rescinded. ATL story was debunked for both them and Baker Botts, so both should be updated.

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  41. um, 12:52 is wrong.
    Davis Polk re-confirmed last week that the start dates were Sept, Oct and Nov like every other year.

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  42. Nice work, but not everthing is correct. For Kirkland you have 'Deferral Option One' and under it you have November ($0). It's not zero. We're getting a $10,000 stipend. Kirkland's always given this, even before the economic crisis. But it's still $10,000 we get in the summer. Several months before we start. I'm pretty happy to have it, and I think it should probably be noted here.

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  43. I'd probably agree with the last poster. Even when technically a 'signing bonus,' I think they all should be treated as a deferral bonus for the purposes of this chart. Because few firms are still providing it, and practically, this is exactly what it ends up being when start options are a little later than in previous years.

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  44. We do consider the signing/bar bonus/stipend in the stipend per month calculation, but have been separating the existing signing bonus from the deferral stipend. If Kirkland is offering an additional $10,000 please send the information to tips@lawfirmchaos.com

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  45. I don't know that I agree with the last two posters. If it's a deferral bonus, it's a deferral bonus. If it's a traditional stipend, that's what it is.

    BUT, I think lawfirmchaos should at least add a column on this chart for firms providing stipends. They make a big difference in this economy for 3Ls who are starting later than expected.

    If it doesn't want to do this, I guess it should lump them in with deferral bonuses. It's important to reflect this.

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  46. Sorry, I see now that the $10,000 is listed in the stipend column.

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  47. Is this going to reflect summer offer percentages when all that info rolls in?

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  48. Williams and Connolly pays a starting salary of $180K? Is that right?

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  49. Howrey is $10k signing bonus or $30k zero interest loan. They also have $10k for bar expenses. Starting salary is $125k with a $50k bonus in two years, with a billable hour cap of 700 hours for the first year and 1000 for the second. Start date was pushed back from September 14th to September 28th.

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  50. A-f rescinded on the 24th ...giving a 20K payoff. Looks like they rescinded 50% of the original number of associates, BUT no one knows for sure how many were actually left on the list since some may have jumped ship to other jobs.

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