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Law360 (October 1, 2020, 5:15 PM EDT) -- Perkins Coie LLP on Thursday became the latest law firm to announce it is restoring lawyer and staff pay after earlier cuts due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the firm is going a step further and also offering restoration payments to make up for lost income.
Perkins Coie managing partner Bill Malley announced the pay cut reversal and restoration payments on Thursday, saying that "continued strong financial performance" warranted a full reversal to the cuts that were ushered in this spring amid the financial uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.
"The firm was able to quickly pivot to a virtual environment which allowed for uninterrupted service to clients," Malley said in a statement. "Today's announcement results from the firm's strong client relationships and the collective efforts of lawyers and staff who worked tirelessly to continue providing outstanding service to our clients throughout this extraordinary year."
The cuts at the law firm this spring included deferred partner compensation, a 15% salary reduction for nonpartner lawyers, a 15% salary reduction for professional staff making more than $200,000 and a 10% cut for staff members making between $125,000 to $200,000. Partner pay was cut in March, followed by associate and staff pay in June.
Partners, nonpartner lawyers and all staff that were impacted by the cuts will be included in the restoration payments, which will be distributed in October and make up for any income lost as a result of the pay cuts, the firm said. Pay was instituted to previous levels as of the announcement, it said.
Last week, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and K&L Gates LLP confirmed that they are eliminating salary reductions they implemented earlier this year, joining a growing list of law firms that have done so.
In addition to some firms reversing the austerity measures, others such as Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Milbank LLP and Cooley LLP, have begun giving out special pandemic-related bonuses to associates.
New York-based law firms Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP are among those that have said they would match the bonuses scale set forth by Davis Polk, offering U.S. associates extra cash awards of up to $40,000.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and U.K.-based law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP also entered the fray last week, rolling out special fall bonuses to their U.S. associates, according to the legal blog Above the Law. And this week Shearman & Sterling LLP joined in on the action.
--Additional reporting by Xiumei Dong. Editing by Alanna Weissman.
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