Chadbourne Bids Final Farewell to 11 Deferred Members of Class of 2009
Although the economy seems to be improving, that may not be much comfort to law students who earned their degrees in 2009 in the midst of a global financial crisis and are now seeing junior classmates move ahead to graduate in better times.
In the latest example of the disadvantage accorded to those in the wrong place at the wrong time, Chadbourne & Parke has announced that it does not expect to be able to offer jobs to 11 incoming 2009 first-year associates who were originally deferred to start in 2010 and then told the firm still did not have jobs for them, reports Above the Law.
“Despite improving economic conditions generally and at Chadbourne, our most recent near-term projections led us to conclude that we could not justify increasing the first-year class beyond its current size and that there would be no positions available for the 11 deferred individuals,” explains the firm in a written statement provided to ATL.
The firm said it has made stipend payments totaling $73,000 to each of the 11 would-be Chadbourne associates.
It says the bad news for the 11 deferred first-years will have no effect on the members of the class of 2009 already working at the firm or the incoming associates from the class of 2010.
In response to a call from the ABA Journal, a Chadbourne spokesman declined to comment beyond the written statement.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Will Deferred Associates Idea Backfire for Law Firms?”
ABAJournal.com: “Summer Associate Offers Plummet, Hitting 17-Year Low”
