DLA scales back US pay cuts after staff protest

DLA Piper has amended its associate pay cuts after an outcry from lawyers who thought a 20% reduction based on early billable hour reports were unfair, reports the National Law Journal.

The firm is instead cutting all associate salaries by 10%.

The firm announced plans to cut associate salaries last week based on billable hours and other variables. For many associates, the cuts amounted to a 20% salary reduction - a cut that in some cases would have resulted in second and third-year associates earning less than incoming first-years.

DLA has already announced plans to cut first-year salaries from $160,000 (£105,000) to $145,000 (£95,000) in major markets, including New York and Washington DC.

After a few days to think it over and talk with associates and partners, the firm realised that the cuts would unfairly impact on "strong performers" who have had a slow 2009 so far.

In a memo released late Tuesday (19 May), the firm told lawyers that the cuts were based on "a bright line billable hours-based calculation that did not fully take into account the timing of significant pro bono commitments, firm-related non-billable hours or vacations."

The memo also advises associates to expect the end of lockstep pay at DLA, as the firm prepares to adopt a more merit-based system.

The National Law Journal is a US sister title of Legal Week.

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