Chadbourne Again Defers Incoming Associates

By Elaine Meyer

Law360, New York (September 28, 2009) -- Chadbourne & Parke LLP has again deferred the start date of about half its incoming associate class in New York to an unspecified time, a representative for the law firm confirmed Monday.

The deferred associates have already received $13,000 and will receive an additional stipend of $60,000 starting in February 2010, a development reported first by the legal blog Above the Law.

The associates first received notice in March that their start date would be deferred until January 2010.

In April 2009, Chadbourne reduced the base salaries of attorneys, administrative personnel and other staff in its U.S. offices, and in March, the firm laid off 25 counsel and associates.

Law school students are facing a tough job market, with numerous firms deferring start dates and canceling summer programs.

Alston & Bird LLP further deferred the start date for some members of its incoming associate class from January 2010 to an unspecified point later in 2010.

The firm had already informed its incoming associate class earlier in 2009 that they would be starting in January, rather than in the fall.

Seyfarth Shaw LLP canceled its 2010 summer associate program to allow the firm “to effectively integrate those associates who already are set to start or participating in this year's summer program,” according to an internal document posted on Above the Law.

Any associates offered jobs this year will not start until January 2011, the document said.

Also in August, Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo PC pushed back associate start dates for the second time.

The firm, which had already deferred start dates until January, said half its incoming class would begin in April 2010, with the other half starting in January 2011.

Mintz also announced earlier in September that its associates would take home less pay.

And Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP said Aug. 24 that it would cut the size of its 2010 summer associate program by more than half.

The firm said it sent e-mails to law school deans and career services departments earlier in August saying it planned to hire a little more than 100 summer interns in 2010, down from 225 in 2009.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP announced in July that it would postpone employing seven of its 43 incoming associates until January, while Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP told its summer associates this year to come back in 2012.

The trend has found its way to law school campuses as well, where consultants say firms are visiting fewer schools, conducting fewer interviews and extending fewer offers.

There have been a few bright spots for incoming associates. In August, Mayer Brown LLP reportedly asked its New York-based first-year associates who had been deferred to January to start in the fall.

At least one other firm has asked its associates to report to work earlier than expected, with Sidley Austin LLP reportedly making a similar move Aug. 28.

Sidley Austin, which offered voluntary deferral options to its first-year associates to delay working until November 2010, said it would employ a handful of new associates after Labor Day and about 100 by November.

--Additional reporting by Nick Brown, Erin Coe and Ryan Davis