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Alston Offers Early Retirement to Staff
Fulton County Daily Report
November 17, 2008
Alston & Bird is making an early retirement offer to senior staff.
Alston's memo detailing the voluntary offer was posted on the Above the Law blog last week, accompanied by outraged comments that the firm was giving its older employees the ax. Alston's managing partner, Richard R. Hays, told the Fulton County Daily Report that the firm is moving toward leaner staffing ratios in line with industry norms, while responding to senior staff requests for medical coverage after retirement.
All staff 55 and older, employed by Alston for at least 10 years, have until Nov. 26 to take the offer. Those who opt to retire at year's end have two choices: receive upwards of a week's severance pay for each year of employment, to be paid out over 2009, or receive about a third less pay plus medical coverage until age 65, via a $450 ongoing monthly contribution by the firm.
Hays said Alston's existing retirement plan for staff is generous, but doesn't cover medical benefits. "Some employees have told us they would retire if that were included," he said. He acknowledged that the woeful economy was an incentive for the offer. "Given the current economic pressure," he said, "this is a good opportunity to bring our staffing ratios into alignment with the industry."
At large firms, assigning three, or even four lawyers per secretary has become common, but Hays said Alston's lawyer-to-secretary ratio is still less than three-to-one. Alston has not targeted a specific ratio, he said. According to the memo, if there are not enough takers, "the firm may need to take additional steps to adjust our staffing ratios."
