Katten Muchin Rosenman has confirmed it is laying off 69 people today, and cutting the salaries of “underutilized” associates.
The firm is also scaling back its summer associate program, and deferring start dates for incoming first years.
From the press release:
…like many law firms, we have had to make some very difficult staffing decisions, including today’s layoff of a relatively small number of our attorneys and staff. These reductions included 12 associates, seven non-equity partners, four other attorneys, six paralegals and 40 staff members.
This layoff was relatively small due to a new Katten program that will creatively reduce costs while preserving dozens of jobs. Under the program, underutilized associates will be placed on a lower compensation scale. This scale reduces an associate’s base salary by 20 percent if he or she did not bill within 200 hours of their billable target in 2008, but offers the chance for them to earn back their total base at the end of this year if they meet their hours going forward…
In conjunction with our new compensation program, we are implementing a number of additional measures designed to cut costs, including reducing the length of our summer associate program from 10 weeks to eight weeks and reducing summer associate salaries by 20 percent. We are also delaying the start date for incoming first-year associates until February 1, 2010, the beginning of our fiscal year. These associates will be compensated with an additional stipend.
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has offices in Chicago; New York; Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Charlotte, North Carolina; Palo Alto, California; and Irving, Texas; with an affiliated entity, Katten Muchin Rosenman Cornish LLP, in London, England. The firm has over 650 attorneys practicing in more than 40 areas.