(Image via Getty)
It’s another day in the world of the coronapocalypse, and law firms continue to do whatever they can to cut costs so they can survive when all of this is over. Over the past few months, we’ve seen some of the largest law firms in the world conducting salary cuts, furloughs, and even layoffs — and we don’t think this is going to stop anytime soon.
Littler, the largest employment firm in the world, came in 66th place in the 2020 Am Law 100 rankings with $590,038,000 gross revenue in 2019, but that’s not stopping the firm from slashing salaries across the board.
Equity partners at the firm (“participating shareholders” in Littler lingo) and corporate management will have their salaries reduced by 20 percent as of May 8, while highly compensated nonequity partners (“non-participating shareholders”) and non-attorney senior-level administrative employees with compensation of more than $300,000 will have their salaries reduced by 15 percent on the same date. (These cuts will occur in Mexico and Canada on May 15.)
The rest of the firm will have their salaries reduced by an average of 10 percent on June 5. These are the tiers by which all other non-equity partners, principals, other attorneys, paralegals, and office and corporate administrative employees will have their salaries slashed in about a month from now (Littler’s memo on the next page):
- Up to $50K: 4 percent
- >$50-$75K: 6.5 percent
- >$75-$100K: 9 percent
- >$100-$200K: 11 percent
- >$200-$300K: 13 percent
All other employees who are unable to work remotely due to their job responsibilities will see their pay reduced by 50 percent on June 5, but they’ll be able to tap into their paid time-off balances to make up for the difference.
We reached out to Littler for comment on its salary cuts, but have yet to hear back.
(Flip the page to see the details from Littler’s memo on salary cuts.)
If your firm or organization is slashing salaries, closing its doors, or reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477).
If you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the layoff alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each layoff, salary cut, or furlough announcement that we publish.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.