Thelen Cuts 26 Associates, 85 Staffers

Layoffs

Posted Mar 20, 2008, 06:15 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner has confirmed it will lay off 26 associates and 85 members of its support staff.

Co-chairman Stephen O'Neal told the Recorder and Above the Law that the associate layoffs are in response to the economic downturn, which has cut into its capital markets practice. He also said some of the staff cuts were partly because of redundancies following the firm’s 2006 merger, which combined Francisco-based Thelen Reid & Priest and New York-based Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner.

"We are being prudent businesspeople,” O’Neal told Above the Law. “When you are dealing with recessionary pressures, you adjust your business so you will have—and maintain—a strong level of profitability, notwithstanding those pressures."

At least one associate has been cut in each of the firm’s nine offices. Both junior and senior-level associates are being laid off, mostly in the firm’s business and finance, litigation and construction practices.

The firm is also cutting the length of its summer associate program from 11 to eight weeks and is pushing back the start date for new associates from September to January, the Recorder story says.

Above the Law asked O’Neal if severance packages were the standard three to four months of pay, and he replied the firm is "in that ballpark." Later, a source told the blog that severance packages were in the two- to three-month range.

While some practice groups have been hit by the economic downturn, others are thriving, O’Neal said. Areas doing well include renewable energies, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, the China practice, litigation, and bankruptcy.

"We are anticipating a profitable 2008," O’Neal told Above the Law.

Law firm consultant Peter Zeughauser told the Recorder that this won’t be the last law firm to cut lawyers, and some may cut partners as well as associates. "There's no question about it—you're going to see other layoffs," he said.

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Posted by anonymous - 3 months, 4 weeks, 2 days, 2 hours, 4 minutes ago

I feel bad for you associates with all of your huge student loans. Some of you will be scooped up by other firms and some of you will be sought after by preditor legal recruiters. My advice - check out the legal recruiter first - there are a lot of bad ones. Make sure you interview them first. Do not go with the first one because you feel desperate. Do not go with more than one. Do not let them send your resume all over town. Keep tight control over your resume. Ask them where they have place attorneys and ask them for references from satisfied clients or internal recruiters. Remember they work for you, not the other way around! Do not feel bad about keeping in regular touch with them. If they are not working hard for you then dump them immediately and get a complete list of where, if anywhere they have sent your resume and then demand that they withdraw it from that firm. Also, decide if big firm life is for you. It need not be, consider other options. Medium and small firm life can be very satisfying. Try other ways to handle your debt. Be creative. Get another degree like an MBA or CPA or something totally different that will make you more marketable. Take it from a lawyer that has done just that. Good luck!
Posted by Law Prof - 3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day, 5 hours, 32 minutes ago

The firm says “We are being prudent businesspeople,” Sorry, but you are being pigs. What is sacrosanct about partner’s profits being, say $1.2 per capita instead of $1.1? Those staffers and associates made it possible for the bigpigs, I mean bigwigs, to earn all those profits. They deserve something in exchange, like some job security. You know damn well that law firm business is cyclical and high profitability will return. This is just one of the reasons that there is so much discontent among big law firm associates.
Posted by to anonimous - 3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day, 5 hours, 11 minutes ago

Too bad you gave up on the legal profession. It is clear that you went to law school for a wrong reason. And don’t start the small/medium size law firm BS. All of my friends who were seduced by the “lifestyle” lie of the small/medium size firms hate it there - they work MORE hours than associates in big firms but are paid less. On top of that you have less resources and a-hole partners to deal with (crazy hours, little pay AND abuse...how about that?) I have no doublt that the laid-off Thelen associates will find a job with other big law firms fairly quickly. I don’t think that they need to take advice from a failed lawyer. You need to deal with your jealousy issues in another forum.
Posted by Concerned in Seattle - 3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day, 4 hours, 23 minutes ago

This most recent posting is very disturbing. It shows a lack of respect not only for a fellow attorney, but the legal profession overall. In my opinion, it would be best to focus on the issue, not the person. After all, it’s only one more opinion. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to mind it. And remember, you reap what you sew. You may find yourself on the other side of that fence one day. Oh, and by the way, note the “y” in anonymous.
Posted by Pot Calling the Kettle - 3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day, 4 hours, 11 minutes ago

Lighten up on the grammar lesson...especially when you provide it one sentence after writing “reap what you sew” rather than “reap what you sow” (as in plant, not moving thread through fabric).
Posted by notnycanymore - 3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day, 4 hours, 10 minutes ago

To #4. Note that “sew” should be spelled “sow.” Live by the sword of sniping at others’ spelling and punctuation, and die by it. (I am a former Thelen associate who relocated to another market a few years ago, and am sorry for the staff cuts in particular.
Posted by Anonymous - 3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day, 3 hours, 40 minutes ago

It’s sad to me that no one other than poster #6 has mentioned the staff cuts. As a paralegal at a large international firm, it reinforces the feeling that attorneys don’t care about paralegals and secretaries. You would be nowhere without us. 26 associates firmwide is nothing compared to 85 staffers.
Posted by BIGLAW 1ST YEAR - 3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day, 2 hours, 7 minutes ago

To the anonymous paralegal in Post 7:

You contend that “[attorneys] would be nowhere without [paralegals and
secretaries].” Are you that naive and full of yourself? I know plenty of lawyers who practice law without any support staff. I know zero paralegals who have a job if they aren’t helping an attorney practice law in some respect. Paralegals NEED attorneys, attorneys do not need paralegals.
Paralegals are only hired to help us increase our profitability since we
can’t ethically charge clients our customary rates for clerical and quasi-legal work.
Posted by notnycanymore - 3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day, 1 hour, 15 minutes ago

Gee whiz, #8!! If that’s your attitude as a 1st year, I tremble at the thought of your colleagues and underlings as you progress in your BigLaw career. As I stated above, I am a former Thelen associate, and one of the reasons I feel bad for the staff is that most - if not all - of the other associates I practiced with have ALREADY moved on from Thelen, or become partners. I remain friendly with some partners, but the associate ranks have just about completely turned over since I was there, so the staff are the only ones for me to feel any personal connection to.
Posted by Tiredofit - 3 months, 4 weeks, 22 hours, 38 minutes ago

I regret every time I choose to read any comments from fellow attorneys on here. It really makes me wonder about most people in this profession.
Posted by Ronnie - 3 months, 4 weeks, 21 hours, 30 minutes ago

Like Tiredofit, I don’t know why I read these posts. It can be so disheartening. I just want to make sure that BIGLAW knows that there are plenty of paralegals who make a living doing contract work for attorneys. They do all the draftng, editing, and reviewing of documents, but don’t actually work for them. One was recommended to me just yesterday, but I do all my own work, which is exactly why I’m still at the office now. They can each live independently of the other, and it has nothing to do with being full of oneself.
Posted by Susahn - 3 months, 4 weeks, 20 hours, 45 minutes ago

The world takes a hard view of attorneys, we should try to take a more generous view of ourselves. Not everyone wants to work as hard as attorneys do for so little reward and so much criticism. What other profession does so much free work for the community?
Atty-paralegal is a mutual need and a strong team with the right people.
Most attys work very hard for ordinary incomes. those “big salaries” often cover lots of expenses that others do not consider.
I have a small firm. My associates are paid a reasonable salary and work 9 - 5 daily. their hourly wages are higher here than when they worked huge hours for the big firm. They are happy to be able to work and not worry about marketing, management or payroll .
Posted by Austin Milbarge - 3 months, 4 weeks, 20 hours, 39 minutes ago

Everyone should check spelling and grammar and attitude before posting. Those are three major problems with attorneys across the board.
Posted by LOLOLOL - 3 months, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 25 minutes ago

LOL at posts 1 though 5. Pot / Kettle (wow so true). Anonymous with an “i.” Reap what you “sew” instead of “sow.” And to sum it all up the best, read post 10. I agree, our profession is vicious to each other. Good Lord people. Lighten up already. Take a vacation instead of proofreading people’s grammar on a message/blog site. Good stuff though. :)
Posted by Brief - 3 months, 3 weeks, 6 days, 11 hours, 44 minutes ago

Concur.
Posted by anonymous #1 - 3 months, 3 weeks, 5 days, 4 hours, 59 minutes ago

Support staff is very valuable and I give the same advice to you. As to posting #3 you have no idea what you are talking about - I make more than you associate and and yes I decided small firm life was not for me but not for the reasons you cited. I actually liked it. I went back to school and got another degree that made my JD more valuable and not I work for an employer that values my JD much more than any size law firm ever would. The anger in a lot of these postings just tells me how miserable you big firm lawyers really are. That says it all.

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