The legal industry is not immune to the crippling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawyers who experienced the 2008 “Great Recession,” when around 10,000 lawyers in Biglaw lost their jobs, find uncanny similarities with the economic upheaval caused by the virus.
With the novel coronavirus turning the economy upside down, major law firms are adopting drastic measures to manage expenses and mitigate the financial impacts of the crisis.
In response to financial uncertainty, small and regional firms have started announcing staff layoffs and Salary Cuts.
JD Journal has assembled a table of all firms that have announced layoffs, Salary cuts, and furloughs, in these bizarre times.
We will be updating this table daily, as more news is announced.
| Law Firm | Cutting Measures | Who Is Affected? |
| Arent Fox | Salary Cuts | Reduced equity partner distributions by 60 percent; 30 percent salary cuts for counsel; 30 percent wage cuts for nonequity partners; 25 percent salary cuts for associates; 25 percent pay cuts for staff) |
| Allen & Overy (UK offices) | Salary Cuts | (partners holding capital call and reducing profit distributions; salaries of associates and staff are frozen |
| Baker Donelson | Salary Cuts Furloughs | (partner draws and salary reduced; pay cuts across the entire firm; some employees will be furloughed) |
| Baker McKenzie | Salary Cuts | U.S. attorneys earning over $100K will see a 15 percent cut in salary, no annual raises; |
| Ballard Spahr | Salary Cuts | 10 percent salary cut for non-partner employees who earn between $75K and $250K; 15 percent pay cut for non-partner employees who make more than $250K; partners draws reduced by 25 percent) |
| Baker Botts | Salary Cuts Delayed Summer Associate program | On April 27, Baker Botts announced it would impose pay cuts for staff and lawyers earning more than $70,000. Partners have agreed to compensation reductions. From May 1, the firm will reduce salaries by 20% for associates, up to 25% for staff, and 20% to 30% for counsel, based on their salary level. The pay cuts will not affect any employee making less than $70,000 a year. The firm will postpone the start of its 2020 summer associate program by a month and will extend offers to all summer associates. The firm has also delayed the start date for the incoming class of associates until 2021. There will be no layoffs or furloughs and the firm will potentially award interim bonuses to exceptional contributors. |
| Belkin Burden Goldman | Layoffs Salary Cuts | 2/3 of staff members laid off; salary cuts |
| Blank Rome | Furloughs, Salary Cuts | Furloughed support staff”; “no attorneys have been furloughed”; temporary 15 percent pay cut by partners, associates, counsel, staff) |
| Brown Rudnick | Salary Cuts Furloughs Bonus Delay | (stealth associate furloughs; 7.5 percent annualized associate pay cut (aka 25 percent for several months); delay on payment of 2019 bonuses) |
| Bryan Cave | Salary Cuts | (15 percent pay cut for all employees earning over $40K; 6-week to 6-month sabbaticals encouraged, employees would receive 30 percent of regular salary) |
| Bremer Whyte | Salary Cuts Layoffs Furloughs | 15 percent of attorneys were either laid off or furloughed; 20 percent of staff furloughed; equity partners foregoing pay) |
| Cadwalader | Salary Cuts Lawyers/Staff | Partners to forego distributions during “peak months”; 25 percent pay cuts for associates; 25 percent pay cuts for admin staff making more than $100K; 10 percent pay cuts for admin staff making less than $100K) |
| Cozen O’Connor | Salary Cuts Furloughs | Equity partners will defer between 10% and 20% of their compensation to the end of the year. Less than 5% of its administrative staff who are not able to work remotely has been furloughed. The furloughed employees will still have their benefits covered by the firm, and will eventually receive 100% of their compensation through the CARES Act. |
| Crowell & Moring | Salary Cuts | (25 percent compensation cut for equity partners; 20 percent compensation cut for income partners; 15 percent pay cut for associates and counsel; 5 to 20 percent pay cut for staff who make more than $100K (about 1/3 of staff members)) |
| Cullen & Dykman | Layoffs Furloughs Salary Cuts | 30 employees laid off or furloughed; up to 20 percent pay cut for lawyers and staff) |
| Clark Hill | Benefit Cuts Furloughs Salary Cuts | Salary cut for attorneys and staff; freeze on discretionary spending; revision of certain benefits (401k matching is suspended); furloughs of some employees) |
| Day Pitney | Salary Cuts | (15 percent pay cut for all attorneys and some staff; temporary reduction to 60 percent of normal working hours and pay for other staff; significant reductions to partner draws and suspension of scheduled April supplemental distribution) |
| Dentons | Salary Cuts Bonus Delays | 20 percent reduction in draws for all partners. Progressive salary cuts for lawyers and staff, starting at 0 percent and reaching 20 percent for those earning more than $190K. 2019 bonuses delayed |
| Dickinson Wright | Layoffs Summer Associate program Canceled | The firm said in a statement: “Our leadership has developed a tiered contingency plan for the potential of reduced revenues. This plan entails reducing discretionary spending, implementing an approximately 3% reduction in workforce, canceling our summer program yet providing everyone in that summer class an offer, and deferring our fall incoming class of associates to January.” |
| DLA Piper | Bonus delays Salary cuts | Pay raises will not be awarded for the first half of the 2020-2021 financial year. Bonus payments will be delayed, and a decision won’t be made on when such awards will be paid until June. The firm may ask some people to reduce their working hours or take sabbaticals temporarily. |
| Downey Brand | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (20 percent salary cut for all employees for a four-month period ending July 31; equity partners have taken a hit as well) |
| Dorsey & Whitney | Salary Cuts Furloughs Retirement plans reduced | The firm is capping the monthly equity value of its partner distributions. Less than 4% of its 1,100-plus employees have been furloughed. Contributions to employees’ retirement plans reduced by 33%. Employees have been instructed to keep track of expenses. |
| Duane Morris | Salary Cuts | Lawyers (15 percent salary cut for associates and special counsel until 12/2020; 401K match suspended for the remainder of 2020) |
| Davidoff Hutcher & Citron | Layoffs | Staff The firm laid off 34 people of its secretarial and back-office staff. |
| Fisher Phillips | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (20 percent pay cut for associates and salaried staff; 20 percent cut to hours for hourly staff; hourly staff who are unable to work remotely have been furloughed; undisclosed pay cut for partners) |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | Salary Cuts Bonus delays | Quarterly partner distribution suspended. The firm is freezing lawyers’ pay and postponing the decision of bonus levels, which are usually decided in April. |
| Faegre Drinker | Salary Cuts | Lawyers (equity partner distributions deferred by one-third for the second quarter) |
| Fox Rothschild | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (tiered salary reduction of between 10 percent and 15 percent for all attorneys and staff earning above $100K takes effect in May (no reductions for anyone with a salary of $100K or less); equity partners are also reducing their monthly draws in tiers, between 10 percent and 20 percent, beginning in May; first-year associates will begin their employment in January 2021) |
| Fragomen | Salary Cuts Benefit Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (salary reductions for all partners and senior C-suite corporate leaders; no bonuses or salary increases in 2020; firm has suspended its 401(k) matching program) |
| Fross Zelnick | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (partners taking reduced draws; 15 percent pay cuts for associates and staff) |
| Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff Equity partner distributions deferred |
| Fisher & Phillips | Salary Cuts Furlough | Lawyers/Staff Temporarily cut pay for all lawyers and staff and furloughing employees who can’t work remotely |
| Foley Hoag | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (15 percent pay cut for associates and business professionals making $190K+; 7.5 percent pay cut for staff making $150K-190K; 20-30 percent pay cut for non-equity partners; equity partners have already taken compensation cuts of an undisclosed amount) |
| Goldberg Segalla | Layoffs Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (unclear how many employees impacted by layoffs; biweekly partner draws reduced by 10 to 20 percent; 401(k) matching program suspended) |
| Goodwin | Layoffs | Staff (about 50 staff members were laid off; severance packages, based on tenure; firm will contribute to healthcare benefits through September 30, 2020) |
| Greenspoon Marder | Salary Cuts Layoffs | Lawyers/Staff (firmwide salary cuts; five attorneys and 40 staff members and have been laid off) |
| Gilbert + Tobin | Lawyers Cut back partner drawings by 50% | |
| Hinshaw & Culbertson | Salary Cuts Benefit Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (15 percent salary cuts for all employees making more than $55K; retirement savings plan match suspended; mid-year reviews and salary adjustments delayed) |
| Hodgson Russ | Salary Cuts Furloughs Benefits Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (partner draws reduced by more than 30 percent; 15 percent pay cut for all attorneys; 15 percent pay cut for all executives/director positions; 15 percent pay cut for all other employees; employees with little/no work who cannot work remotely will be furloughed; all 401(k) matching for employees indefinitely suspended) |
| Husch Blackwell | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (equity partner draws cut by 15 percent; salaries for all managing directors and c-level executives cut by 10 percent) |
| Hogan Lovells | Associates/Lawyers Spreading partner distributions and bonuses over the coming months. Delaying the start date for U.S. first-year associates from October 2020 to January 2021 in response to most state bar exams being shifted from the summer to the fall. | |
| Ice Miller | Salary Cuts Furloughs | Lawyers/Staff (35 staff members furloughed; temporarily adjusting salaries firmwide for anyone who makes more than $50K; partners reducing compensation) |
| Kelley Drye | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (equity partners’ draws reduced by as much as 20 percent; across-the-board 10 percent pay cut for all other lawyers and employees earning over $100K (no one subject will be cut below $100K annually); administrative staff salary increases postponed) |
| K&L Gates | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (20 percent reduction in scheduled advances for equity partners (with firm leaders taking even larger reductions); 15 percent pay cuts for income partners, associates, and allied professionals/staff (but salaries won’t go below floor of $75K)) |
| Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff cut partner draws by 10%. It will reduce pay by 5% for other lawyers and staff. Secretaries will have their work time reduced by 20% |
| Loeb & Loeb | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (monthly draws reduced by 20 percent for capital partners; 15 percent pay cuts for income partners, senior counsel, of counsel, associates, senior staff; 10 percent pay cuts for paralegals and all other staff) |
| Lowenstein Sandler | Salary Cuts | Lawyers (equity partners “substantially” reducing distributions) |
| Marshall Dennehey | Benefit Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (suspending 4 percent employer 401(k) match until 2021) |
| Mintz Levin | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (associates, of counsel, special counsel, practice group associates: 10 percent base pay cut, no discretionary bonus; patent agents and technical specialists: 5 percent base pay cut, no discretionary bonus; staff: 5 percent base pay cut (subject to not falling below a $75K floor), base pay freeze (no merit or other increases this spring), discretionary bonus pool will be reduced by 50 percent) |
| Munck Wilson Mandala | Salary Cuts Furloughs | Lawyers/Staff Decreased compensation for partners, associates, exempt directors, and managers. No plans for layoffs A limited number of employees will be furloughed and some hourly employees will work reduced hours. All employees will receive full benefits. |
| MinterEllison | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff Equity partners to reduce drawdowns by half. Non-business-critical projects placed on hold. New hires and deferred promotions halted until January 2021. |
| Nixon Peabody | Furloughs/Layoffs | Lawyers/Staff (about 25 percent of staff members have been furloughed; 10 percent of non-partner attorneys are being cut (5 percent layoffs (with three months of health insurance) and 5 percent furloughs (presumably with full benefits) |
Norton Rose Fulbright | Salary Cuts Layoffs | Lawyers/Staff (15 percent salary cut in U.S. for all salaried non-partner attorneys and staff (except those making under $50K); an unknown number of lawyers/staff impacted by layoffs) |
| Ogletree | Furloughs Layoffs | Staff (salaries and workweeks cut for staff; unpaid leave (i.e., furlough) program after two weeks of special furlough pay; lawyers reportedly laid off in Texas) |
| Orrick | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (career associates: 5 percent pay cut; associates: 10 percent pay cut; managing/senior associates and most of counsel: 15 percent pay cut; partners, of counsel, executive staff: “deeper” cuts; more junior staff: 1 percent pay cut; more senior staff: up to a 15 percent pay cut; some staff will be asked to work reduced/four-day schedules) |
| Pryor Cashman | Furloughs | Lawyers (applies to “associates whose workflow has been interrupted by the COVID-19 crisis”) |
| Quarles & Brady | Salary Cuts Furloughs | Lawyers/Staff (30 percent cut in quarterly distribution for equity partners, then a a 20 percent cut in bi-weekly draws (indefinite length); 15% pay reduction for nonequity partners (making $200K+) (indefinite length); 10 percent pay cut for associates (and nonequity partners making under $200K) (indefinite length); remaining staff: 10 percent pay cut for salaries above $75K, 5 percent pay cut for salaries below $75K (indefinite length); about 30 staff members have been furloughed (health insurance to be covered during furlough) |
| Reed Smith | Salary Cuts | Lawyers (partners slowing down cash distributions; 10 percent pay cut for counsel for next three months; 15 percent pay cut for associates for next four months; deferred decisions on merit increases and discretionary bonus payments for staff) |
| Rivkin Radler | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (partners did not receive compensation in March; 20 percent pay cut for associates and staff) |
| Robinson Brog | Layoffs | Lawyers/Staff (unclear how many employees impacted by layoffs (3 lawyers, 5 staff reportedly laid off); firm has reportedly made across-the-board 15 percent reduction in pay for all attorneys, including partners) |
| Seyfarth | Salary Cuts Furloughs | Lawyers/Staff (equity partners will reduce their monthly draws by 20 percent; all U.S. lawyers will have their pay reduced by 10 percent; staff will see their pay reduced in tiers, with those who earn $60K or less unaffected (0 percent on the first $60K of earnings; 5 percent on $60K-$150K of earnings; 10 percent on earnings over $150K); 10 percent of U.S. employees will be furloughed for a 90-day period (180 staff and 50 attorneys) |
| Schiff Hardin | Layoffs | Lawyers/Staff (temporary 15 percent pay cuts for most attorneys; about 6 percent of attorneys will have their compensation cut by up to 50 percent based on anticipated demand; 15 percent pay cut for staff who make more than $100K; small number of staff layoffs) |
| Sheppard Mullin | Furloughs | Staff (33 staff members (such as receptionists, support services, and file center employees) furloughed because they cannot perform their jobs from home) |
| Shook Hardy | Salary Cuts Furloughs | Lawyers/Staff (temporary furloughs of professional staff with location-dependent work; firmwide salary cuts (staff: 20 percent pay cut; associates: 25 percent pay cut; income partners: 50 percent pay cut in April; equity partners: 90 percent reduction in upcoming draw, thereafter reduced by 75 percent) |
| Scahill Law Group | Furloughs | Lawyers/Staff The midsize insurance defense firm has furloughed 50 employees |
| Smith Gambrell | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (10 percent pay cut for all employees; 20 percent cut to partner draws) |
| Snell & Wilmer | Salary Cuts Furloughs | Lawyers/Staff (partners’ monthly draws and base salaries of non-partner attorneys cut will by 10 percent, starting in May; staff pay cut by 1 percent to 10 percent, based on annual salary; furloughs for certain staff unable to work remotely or whose work has significantly declined) |
| Stoel Rives | Salary Cuts Furloughs | Lawyers/Staff (partner distributions reduced by 20 percent, effective April 1; tiered hourly reductions for staff with corresponding pay reductions (5 percent for those earning less than $75K; 10 percent for those earning $75K-$100K; 15 percent for those earning $100K-$150K; and 20 percent for those earning over $150K), effective May 1; 20 percent pay reduction for associates, staff attorneys, and of counsel attorneys, effective May 1; about 10 percent staff members furloughed beginning April 17, 2020 for at least 90 days; hiring and spending freeze continuing; staff bonuses deferred; hours-based associate bonuses eliminated in favor of discretionary-only bonuses) |
Sullivan & Worcester | Furloughs Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (employees who can’t do jobs remotely were furloughed for 90 days with full benefits; 5 percent salary cut for all employees who make more than $66K; nonequity partners’ draws reduced by 10 percent; equity partners’ draws reduced by 20 percent) |
| Taft Stettinius & Hollister | Pay Cuts | Lawyers/Staff Partner draws reduced by 25%. Minimal reductions in head count-3.5% of staff and 1.4% of lawyers, spread across the firm’s seven primary offices. |
| Thompson Hine | Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff The firm is reducing quarterly partner draws by 15% and staff compensation by 1.7% on an annual basis and will decrease non-compensation expenses. |
Venable | Furloughs Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (sliding scale of pay cuts for associates/staff, up to 20 percent depending on salary; certain staff members furloughed until May 29) |
| Vinson & Elkins | Delayed Summer associate program | The firm pushed back the start of its 2020 summer associate program until June 15 |
Winston & Strawn | Salary Cuts | Lawyers (partners reducing distributions by 50 percent for next 3 months) |
Womble Bond Dickinson | Layoffs Furloughs Salary Cuts | Lawyers/Staff (10 percent pay reduction for anyone making over $100K; lower percentage reductions in the $50-100K range and sub-$50K range) |
| Warner Coleman & Goggin | Lawyers Suspending its 4% employer 401(k) match until next year. as of May 1 |
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