The Recorder takes a look at Cupertino, California intellectual property boutique Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder, which last fall cut seven associates, nearly 20% of the firm’s lawyers, and two staff. Today, the firm has 27 lawyers.
According to [partner Rusty] Day, those laid off were given two months’ severance and their end-of-the-year bonus, which amounts to about a month’s worth of salary.
Some of the associates were able to quickly land jobs at big firms, being much-desired IP litigators and also getting cut before the tsunami of layoffs in the last two months. (None of the first-years, who had just started, were laid off.)
People still wonder about the effect of the Qualcomm discovery debacle on the firm’s business. Five Day Casebeer lawyers — as well as one from Heller Ehrman — were sanctioned in January 2008, after client Qualcomm failed to turn over crucial documents in a patent fight with Broadcom. Although the sanctions were lifted last year to give the attorneys a chance to tell their side of the story to the court, the final outcome isn’t certain.
Via The Recorder.