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Law360 (October 9, 2020, 9:43 PM EDT) -- Stoel Rives LLP and Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC on Friday became the latest firms to confirm that they will restore salaries to pre-pandemic levels after several months of cuts.
Stoel Rives said base pay for attorneys and staff will be restored to normal levels by Oct. 12.
"This decision is based on the firm's performance through the end of Q3," Stoel Rives said in a statement. "The firm will continue to operate in a conservative manner as the fourth quarter remains uncertain for the legal industry."
Mintz Levin said its policy committee had approved a rollback of all cuts to base pay for associates, technical advisers, patent agents and professional staff beginning with the Oct. 23 paycheck.
Both firms announced cuts in April during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stoel Rives, based in Portland, Oregon, unveiled a long list of cost-saving measures, including significant salary reductions, furloughing 33 of its 823 staff members and reducing partner draws. It also implemented a hiring and spending freeze, deferred or eliminated many bonuses, and stopped reimbursements for parking and other expenses.
In August, it partially walked back the pay cuts, saying that starting Sept. 1, associate and of counsel pay would go from being reduced by 20% to reduced by 10%, and partner distributions would be reduced by 15% instead of 20%. It also restored salaries for staff members who took 5% pay cuts and reduced other staff salary reductions by half.
Boston-based Mintz Levin, meanwhile, announced in April it would reduce base pay by 5% for professional staff earning more than $75,000 and paraprofessionals and 10% for associates. The previous month, the firm had also reportedly increased equity partner holdbacks to 40% and reduced partner draws by 5% to 10%.
Cuts at both firms were in line with the type of money-saving measures seen throughout the legal industry in the spring. Starting in late July, many firms began to announce that they planned to end or lessen cuts.
Even as firms have restored salaries, however, some have also announced they would be permanently eliminating positions.
--Editing by Janice Carter Brown.
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