By Xiumei Dong

Law360 (April 21, 2020, 9:27 PM EDT) -- Five more law firms, including DLA Piper International LLP and Clifford Chance, on Tuesday confirmed a series of measures aimed at blunting the impact of the coronavirus, including pay freezes and, in some cases, reductions.

In addition to the U.K.-based DLA Piper and Clifford Chance LLP, Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Venable LLP and Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP joined the crowd of BigLaw firms tightening their belts amid the pandemic. Those three firms all said that they are reducing salaries, with the Midwestern firm Taft Stettinius also confirming some layoffs of attorneys and staff.

DLA Piper will reduce partners' monthly draws starting next month and defer their quarterly distributions for three months, the global firm confirmed Tuesday, but noted that such adjustments can happen as the firm starts a new fiscal year and isn't necessarily a reduction in overall compensation

However, the firm also confirmed that it has paused pay raises for the first half of the financial year. That move will likely be extended for the rest of the year, according to the firm, which said it will revisit the issue in November.

"Like all businesses around the world we are facing a truly unprecedented situation and, while our firm continues to perform well, there is no real clarity on what the future might bring," DLA Piper's Global Co-CEO and London-based managing partner Simon Levine said in a statement to Law360. "Our aim, at all times, is to manage our business prudently to protect jobs, and protect our firm, for our people, our clients and our communities."

At the moment, DLA Piper does not plan to reduce employees' work hours or put them on temporary leaves, the firm said. However, it may later consider the measures, depending on how the crisis unfolds. The changes do not impacted U.S.-based DLA Piper LLP.

London-based Clifford Chance also confirmed Tuesday that it is delaying its partners' profit distribution and freezing employees' salary reviews and increases.

Clifford Chance listed 580 partners on its website. Instead of paying these partners their mid-year payouts this summer, those sums will be deferred to a new date, a firm spokesperson said. The firm has yet to determine that new date.

According to the spokesperson, the firm does not plan to reduce employees' salaries nor it will let go of any attorneys or staff. He added that employees' bonuses will still be paid, but some of them will be deferred to later in the year.

"We are a strong and resilient organisation, with over five years of robust global growth behind us. Our teams are always a source of huge pride, they are fantastically talented, motivated and collaborative, and never more so since the virus has begun to spread," the firm said in a statement to Law360. "Over the coming months our aim is to keep these teams together and to work shoulder to shoulder with our clients who need our support now more than ever."

The news comes just a week after Clifford Chance said it had changed its summer associate program to have its 39 incoming summer law clerks in the U.S. working remotely starting this June. According to the spokesperson, the firm will be paying full salaries for the summer associates.

Meanwhile, labor and employment law firm Ogletree is cutting pay for attorneys and staff who earn above $100,000, the firm confirmed Tuesday.

In a statement to Law360, a spokesperson for Ogletree said the firm has made "the difficult decision" to implement pay reductions for attorneys and staff in order to "preserve jobs and maintain the stability" of the firm for the long run.

Ogletree will reduce pay for equity partners by 20%, associates by 15%, and by 10% for staff who earn $100,000 per year or more, the firm said, guaranteeing that it will not reduce pay for staff earning less than $100,000.

Additionally, as reported by Law360 last week, the 800-plus attorney firm had furloughed "a number of employees" that have "exhausted" their two weeks of firm-provided COVID-19 paid leave. Ogletree will continue to pay their health care and benefits through June 30, the firm said.

"We plan to reinstate staff once the economy recovers," the spokesperson said.

Also this month, Venable Chairman Stuart Ingis sent an email to all employees, telling them that the firm has elected to reduce their salaries based on their compensation level and to furlough "certain staff" that primarily support the firm's physical locations.

According to the email obtained by Law360 on Tuesday, the salary reduction will start with employees making more than $59,999 a year, then increase on a gradual scale.

While qualified attorneys and staff making below $75,000 will see a 5% cut, the size of the cut would rise to 10% for those in the next level whose salaries fall below $120,000, rise again to 15% for those in the next level making less than $190,000 and those making over $190,000 will see a 20% decrease.

In addition to the 20% reduction, salaries exceeding $400,000 will get another 10% trimmed from the amount exceeding that threshold, according to the firm, which said equity partners' compensation will be affected in similar ways.

"The firm has had a normal level of economic activity during the first quarter, [but] we do not know how things will unfold in the coming months," Ingis said in the email.

Despite reporting strong financial performances after its merger with Minneapolis-based Briggs and Morgan early in the year, Taft Stettinius also confirmed Tuesday that it has taken cost-cutting measures to weather the financial impact of COVID-19.

Partner draws were cut by 25 percent based on the new measures. Meanwhile, the firm also has laid off nine attorneys and 16 staff members across its seven offices. Firmwide, Taft Stettinius has about 600 attorneys and 400-plus staffers.

"These advance, conservative measures are merely intended to add to our existing strong financial and liquidity positions so that we can better weather the COVID-19 storm while we help guide our clients through this time," said Taft Stettinius' Chairman and managing partner Robert Hicks in a statement shared with Law360.

The news follows a slew of announcements from other firms about their own efforts to cut costs.

On Monday, Fox Rothschild LLP, Quarles & Brady LLP and Dentons' U.K. branch also announced pay cuts, personnel cuts or both.

--Editing by Michael Watanabe.

Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify that the changes at DLA cover United Kingdom-based DLA Piper International LLP and the United States-based DLA Piper LLP.

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