Baker Botts Cuts Pay Due to COVID-19 But Avoids Layoffs or Furloughs
The firm announced austerity measures on Monday that affect lawyers and staff making more than $70,000, and delay new associates' start date.
April 27, 2020 at 12:59 PM
3 minute read
To deal with the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Baker Botts will impose temporary pay cuts May 1 for lawyers and staff making more than $70,000. The firm is also delaying the start date for new associates to 2021.
The Am Law 100 firm's austerity measures do not include furloughs or layoffs, unlike plans announced by many large law firms in the wake of the economic downturn.
In a statement, managing partner John Martin said the "unprecedented financial strain" on clients and the global economy due to the pandemic, "has prompted us to make the difficult but necessary decision to reduce salaries temporarily, with greater reductions at higher levels, to protect our firm, retain our extraordinarily talented team, and preserve the income of our most vulnerable employees."
Martin sent an email to the firm Monday detailing the cuts. In the email, which was obtained by Law.com, he wrote that partners have agreed to compensation reductions "to absorb the bulk of the financial impact."
But, for a three-month period beginning May 1, the firm will also reduce salaries by 20% to 30% for counsel, based on their salary level, 20% for associates, and up to 25% for staff.
The temporary pay cuts will not affect any employee making less than $70,000 a year.
By July 31, the firm will determine the "appropriate course forward."
In the meantime, according to the email, the firm will potentially award interim bonuses to exceptional contributors, based on both individual performance and economic and firm conditions.
"Associate and counsel eligibility will be determined based on contributions to our clients and firm, including both utilization and exemplary client service," Martin wrote in the email.
The email did not provide a start date in 2021 for the incoming associates, and no further details were available from the firm.
Earlier this year, the firm announced its plans to defer the start of its 2020 summer program by at least a month, but said it would extend offers to all summer associates, contingent on maintaining strong academic performance.
|Read More
Pay Cuts, Layoffs, and More: How Law Firms Are Managing the Pandemic
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllSalaries for Marketing, Business Development Professionals in Texas, Nationally Are Growing
4 minute readAs Global Law Firm Mergers Keep Coming, Will There Ever Be a New Swiss Verein?
Fresh Off Expansion in New York, Honolulu, Dallas-founded Thompson Coe Plans Denver Launch
3 minute readLaw Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1Call for Nominations: The Recorder and Law.com's California Legal Awards 2025
- 2The Week in Data Dec. 13: A Look at Legal Industry Trends by the Numbers
- 3Antitrust Class Actions Against CVS, Other Pharmacy Benefit Managers Are Piling Up
- 4Judge Grinds NY's Cannabis Licensing Regime to a Halt Again
- 5On the Move and After Hours: Barclay Damon; VLJ; Barnes & Thornburg
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250