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Law360 (November 10, 2020, 8:05 PM EST) -- Orrick will begin offering restoration payments to lawyers and staff who experienced salary cuts this year, the firm said Tuesday, making it the latest BigLaw firm to make employees whole for compensation reductions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The restoration payments will cover between April and September and apply to staff, associates, of counsel and nonpartner executives, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP spokesperson Jolie Goldstein told Law360. In early October, Orrick returned salaries to pre-pandemic levels.
"With today's announcement, we are now rolling back all of our COVID measures," Goldstein said.
Orrick was one of many in the legal industry to implement salary cuts and reduce the hours for some staffers due to the spring economic downturn caused by COVID-19. In April, the San Francisco-based firm said the cuts would be between 1% and 15% for staffers and associates, while counsel and partners would see "deeper" cuts.
The firm on Oct. 1 rolled back salary reductions for nonpartner employees, saying it was "time to reverse some" of the measures it instituted in the spring to give its business "flexibility." All staffers who experienced reduced hours have returned to full-time schedules as well, Goldstein said.
She added that the firm is also implementing a temporary three-month program allowing some lawyers who serve as the primary caregivers in their home to receive full-time pay for a 20% reduction in work.
In addition to Orrick, Fisher Phillips, Baker Botts LLP, Perkins Coie LLP and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP are among the major firms offering restoration payments to make up for lost income.
Some firms have cited financial performance exceeding expectations for the moves. A Pillsbury representative told Law360 in October that its "strong year-to-date performance" prompted it to fully restore pay. Perkins Coie managing partner Bill Malley also invoked "continued strong financial performance" when fully reversing salary cuts.
Restoration payments have also coincided with layoffs at many firms, however staffers have not been affected by cuts at Orrick. The firm is also planning to to dole out end-of-year bonuses matching its 2019 scale.
--Additional reporting by Xiumei Dong. Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.
Update: This story was updated to include more details about Orrick's program for primary caregivers.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
