Attorney Layoff Alternative: Temporary 10% Pay Cut at Much Shelist
Amidst the latest news of law firm layoffs and salary restructuring announcements, a Chicago-based business law firm has temporarily imposed a 10-percent pay cut on partners and associates.
The measure will be in effect until May 31, when the fiscal year ends at 80-attorney Much Shelist Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Although the firm has let four staff members go, the only attorney layoff was not for economic reasons, says chairman David Brown. However, he makes no promises for the future: “I don’t think there’s any business out there that can tell what next month is going to look like with any certainty,” he tells the newspaper.
Lawyers who aren’t busy are being encouraged to spend a few hours at client offices without billing for their time, he says, describing the plan in military terms as “embedding ourselves.”
Other law firms in the news because of changing compensation schemes include Patton Boggs and Thompson Hine, which, in addition to recent layoffs, has also cut associate pay, notes the Am Law Daily.
WolfBlock also cut associate pay by 10 percent recently.
Related coverage:
Above the Law: “Nationwide Pay Freeze Watch: Pillsbury Two-Step”
