Frisco’s Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLC will freeze associate and consultant salaries in 2009. Associates were notified by the following e-mail, sent to Legal Times by Orrick’s Adi Weisman:
…associates in the U.S. and Europe, and associates, senior consultants and consultants in Asia, will receive the same salary in 2009 as you received in 2008… of counsel salaries will be determined on an individual basis and generally will remain the same as 2008. We will ensure that our 2009 bonus program gives us additional flexibility to reward outstanding performance and remain competitive in the marketplace.
The firm blames the economic meltdown for the decision. As for bonuses:
We will pay full 2008 bonuses according to the terms of the program we announced earlier this year. These bonuses will be paid by the February 15 payroll in the U.S. and on or around that date in Europe and Asia, consistent with regional practices.
Orrick reported gross revenue of $772 million in this year’s Am Law 100, and profits per partner of $1.66 million.
The firm has over 1,100 lawyers worldwide in 21 offices, with more than 200 attorneys in each of its two largest offices in San Francisco and New York. The firm’s day-to-day administrative operations are centralized at a Global Operations Center in Wheeling, West Virginia.
Latham & Watkins announced pay freezes two weeks ago.
Via The BLT.