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Law360 (June 24, 2020, 5:45 PM EDT) -- Baker McKenzie has postponed the start date for its 2020 U.S. associate class by four months amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the law firm said on Wednesday, becoming the latest shop to have its plans disrupted.
Instead of beginning its U.S. program on Sept. 14, its incoming first-year class will join the firm on Jan. 25, Baker McKenzie said, citing delayed bar examinations. Despite the postponement, the firm said it's committed to giving each associate "a robust practice and professional development experience."
"This is a talented first-year class that will hit the ground running when they join us in January," North America CEO Colin Murray said in a statement. "We are looking forward to welcoming them to the Baker Family."
Baker McKenzie is the latest firm to pause the welcoming of its new associates. In April, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP said it planned to delay the beginning of its 2020 associate program to January, or after postponed bar exams.
Reed Smith LLP's start date for new associates has also been pushed back to early next year, although the firm said affected associates will receive a stipend this fall, compensation for bar exams and study costs, as well as health insurance beginning in September.
Their decisions come as a handful of states have mulled changes to the bar exam and provisional licenses in light of the pandemic. After initially postponing the summer bar exam until September, the California Supreme Court earlier this month said it was considering pushing back the date, yet again, to October.
And the Philadelphia Bar Association has said it supported a statewide proposal from a group of area law school deans to allow 2020 law school graduates to begin practicing law even if the bar exam is delayed.
Also in recent weeks, firms across the globe have enacted cost-cutting measures such as furloughs and layoffs to help weather the economic downturn of the pandemic. And many firms' summer associate programs are shorter and taking place virtually this year.
--Additional reporting by Xiumei Dong and Hailey Konnath. Editing by Nicole Bleier.
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