Dechert to Stagger Start Dates of its Incoming Class
Dechert announced in an internal memo on Wednesday that its 63-member associate class will be split into three groups and be assigned one of three start dates. The first group will start in fall 2009, the second group will start in March 2010, and the third group will start in fall 2010, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported. A Dechert spokeswoman confirmed this plan in an e-mail to the ABA Journal.
Incoming lawyers will be asked about their preferences, and this will help determine which start group individual lawyers will be assigned to. Lawyers starting in March 2010 will receive $17,500, and those starting in the fall of 2010 will receive $75,000. Each deferred lawyer will receive a bar examination stipend and be expected to secure a job with either a public service or a public interest legal organization in the interim.
Dechert has had three rounds of layoffs in 2009. Last month, 63 lawyers and 62 staffers worldwide were laid off, 10 staff attorneys were cut in late Februrary, and 19 associates and of counsel were let go in mid-February.
Related ABAJournal.com coverage:
Is Law Firm Paradigm Shift Ahead? Bring It On, Says Dechert Leader
