Akerman Pink-Slips 5 Associates Amid Salary Cuts

By Jesse Greenspan

Law360, New York (August 07, 2009) -- Florida-based law firm Akerman Senterfitt has laid off five associates, including two first-years, a spokesman confirmed Friday.

The layoffs were first reported by legal blog Above the Law. When contacted by Law360, a firm spokesman said the Above the Law article was accurate but that he could not comment on personnel matters.

Last month Akerman Senterfitt allowed associates to review the firm's financial situation before instituting across-the-board associate pay cuts of 10 percent, although the move reportedly had some critics asking whether the belt-tightening was necessary.

In an internal e-mail the firm told its associates that the pay cuts were essential because of the dire economy.

It went on to say the associate bonus hours grid it had used during the past few years had been eliminated and that it instead will be “carefully reviewing each associate's performance at the end of this year as we consider paying merit-based discretionary bonuses to those meeting the established minimum qualitative and quantitative requirements.”

But the e-mail also said the firm's financial condition “remains very strong.”

That matter also was first reported on by Above the Law, which said multiple sources had confirmed that Akerman Senterfitt recently opened its books to senior associates in a bid to provide them with firsthand knowledge of the firm's financials.

One source, the blog said, stated that according to Akerman Senterfitt's presentation, the firm's revenues “were exceeding budget, and expenses were 7 percent below budget.”

Akerman has about 500 attorneys and consultants, including more than 150 associates. Many of those professionals are based in Florida, where it has offices in Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach, but it also has a presence in Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Tysons Corner, Va., and Madison, Wis.

There have not been nearly as many law firm layoffs of late as there were at the beginning of the year, but some firms are still cutting back.

Last month, for example, Dechert LLP let go of an undisclosed number of lawyers across several practice areas, while Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP handed pink slips to 10 attorneys.

DLA Piper and Baker & McKenzie LLP also confirmed new rounds of job cuts in July.

Many other firms, meanwhile, have either slashed or frozen salaries, or in some cases have abandoned summer associate programs for the upcoming year.

--Additional reporting by Erin Marie Daly and Erin Fuchs