Crowell & Moring has told as many as 20 lawyers across the firm that their salaries will be reduced in light of reduced hours. First year associates were not affected.
Crowell requires at least 1,900 billable hours from all of its lawyers. If a lawyer gets as low as 1,600 hours, the firm intervenes to determine the source of the problem and to fix it. The firm says salary cuts are a last resort.
There is no tiered compensation.
Crowell has not yet held any layoffs in the global recession, and would like to avoid doing so.
Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with more than 450 lawyers. Based in Washington, DC, the firm also has offices in New York, London, Brussels, Los Angeles, and Orange County, California.