We are suspicious when Drinker Biddle had announced what we might call the Associate Lite Plan. For the first six months of their time with the company, newbie JDs would function and be treated as apprentices. Think Abe Lincoln. Because they were Associate Lites they would also be compensated at less than normal first-year associate compensation. That Associate Lite number was a lite $105,000. Paying off those loans quickly wasn't going to happen.
We all had a hunch that this was less in the interest of developing associates more efficiently and serving clients more effectively. Instead this seemed to be a signal that Drinker Biddle might be trying to simply cut costs or needing to cut costs without sending out negative signals.
Today in Abovethelaw.com, Elie Mystal confirms our hunch. Something was rotten in the state of business at Drinker Biddle. Although the firm did not confirm it, a number of leakers report that 22 associates have been laid off. Most of the cuts, says Mystal, were at the Chicago office. The wild card here is that Drinker Biddle had a 68% offer rate to the summers of 2009. Maybe it spotted some stars? Maybe it wants to give Associate Lite more time?
For Halloween, in honor of all this ambiguity, JDs around America might dress as 3/4ths a Drinker Biddle Associate.
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