More Lawyers Offered Money Not To Work

Law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore has offered incoming associates $80,000 to defer their start date by a year—and not to work for a year. Plus, Cravath will pay up to $1,000/month in student loans and health insurance. Bloomberg News, which calls Cravath one of the country's most profitable law firms but notes its revenue is down 55% so far (vs. same period last year), adds, "Cravath, whose clients include Citigroup Inc., Time Warner Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., is also requiring its current summer associates who are offered full-time jobs to accept $65,000 to defer their start date from October 2010 for a year." Above the Law notes how Harvard Law School immediately sent out a note to its rising third-year students, with suggestions on what to do (hello, judicial clerkship). Earlier this year, Skadden Arps offered associates $80,000 for a year of paid leave.

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By Jen Chung in News on June 13, 2009 4:45 PM

Comments [rss]

r1b2

Reason #137 why the rest of the world hates us.

Trilby16

Them's some good wages to not work. Poor me, I have to slave away as a paralegal for less than that. But it's good to be employed I guess.

lemon

The difference is that one year from now you'll still be in demand. The people who are being deferred are getting a one-time handout that will damage their legal career forever as they fall behind the curve and are superseded by fresher grads.

Rocknrope

Is that true, or just you speculating? Given that they'll have a job in a year after deferrment, and that a year doesn't seem that significant in a lifetime of work, I'm suspect of your assessment.

bkbella

And in other news, I will make less by doing my public interest lawyering. These law school loans will never be paid off. Hurray indentured servitude.