Fall bonuses Forum

[estefanchanning]

Dechert just sent a firm-wide email thanking everyone for their hard work during these hard times and that 2020 is not what anyone expected. No mention of bonus.

LOL

[Winter is Coming]

Dechert just sent a firm-wide email thanking everyone for their hard work during these hard times and that 2020 is not what anyone expected. No mention of bonus.

LOL

Jesus.

[Anonymous User]

Dechert just sent a firm-wide email thanking everyone for their hard work during these hard times and that 2020 is not what anyone expected. No mention of bonus.

LOL

Jesus.

Hilarious.

[Anonymous User]

Dechert just sent a firm-wide email thanking everyone for their hard work during these hard times and that 2020 is not what anyone expected. No mention of bonus.

LOL

Jesus.

Hilarious.

Ridiculous.

[Anonymous User]

Dechert just sent a firm-wide email thanking everyone for their hard work during these hard times and that 2020 is not what anyone expected. No mention of bonus.

LOL

Jesus.

Hilarious.

Ridiculous.

Preposterous.

[Winter is Coming]

"Your anger and your lust for power have already done that. You have allowed this Dark Lord [K&E] to twist your mind, until now... until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy." @dechert partners

[Anonymous User]

Full email here:

[Anonymous User]

Full email here: REDACTED

***
Autumn is officially here, so we wanted to touch base and thank you for all that you’ve been doing, reflect on the past few months, and speak to some important priorities going into the fourth quarter.

With schools back in session, we know that this a busy time for many of you and your families. We’re grateful for all that you do to keep our Firm up and running while juggling the many other demands on your time.

As we think back to the beginning of this crisis, few of us expected even three months of disruption due to COVID-19. Now we’re entering our third quarter of it, and it has had an impact on each of us, as well as the Firm. We haven’t been traveling, we’ve missed retreats and in-person training, and we’ve delayed the start date for our incoming class of new lawyers in the U.S. as we navigate bar exam issues and delays. In addition, the impact the pandemic has had on our economy and our business means our overall financial performance will not be what we expected when we embarked on 2020. Despite these headwinds, we remain focused on our clients and on preparing for a strong 2021. We ask that everyone play their part in contributing to as strong a finish as possible for 2020. Staying focused on clients, winning new work, and servicing our outstanding clients remain our highest priorities. The positive news is that several of our teams have picked up in recent weeks. If you have capacity, please reach out to practice group leadership or your manager to see how you can get more fully engaged.

One final point – as we enter the fourth quarter it is imperative we focus on the business discipline necessary to keep our Firm financially strong. Now more than ever, it’s critical that all timekeepers prioritize daily timekeeping and invoicing behaviors to enable timely and efficient billing and collection for the high quality work we do.

The final stretch of the year is always hectic. We sincerely appreciate the challenges so many of you face, but the momentum we build now will be key to bringing 2020 to a strong finish and setting the stage for a successful start to 2021. Next year, our hope is that the pandemic will be under control and we’ll be in a place that feels more like normal: open offices, meeting colleagues face-to-face, and welcoming a new class of associates. In the meantime, please continue to take care of yourselves and one another.

Stay safe and be well,

Andy and Henry

Wow. So that's 2 sentences actually thanking associates, and more than 10 about how hard its been on the firm and asking slow associates to pick up more work (and to close out time daily pls).

TLDR: Dechert associates don't even get a market thank you letter.

[Pennoyer v. Meh]

That email is...something. Wow.

[Joachim2017]

The Dechert email is almost as out of touch with reality as that consultant who recently told law.com that firms should show appreciation for their associates by something other than "throwing money at them."
If you think something other than money can be anything close to a substitute, I don't know if you're naïve or clueless, but God help whatever business you are running.

[Scallion]

Full email here: REDACTED

I don't get it. Is this a real link? Why would Dechert post its emails online, to be shared so easily?

Also, you should be VERY careful if that's an internal link that you shared publicly.

The "sid" in the link corresponds to security identifier, and makes it obvious which user shared the link. It's like when you share a facebook or Linkedpost, and the website adds random letters. This lets them track who or what generates traffic.

[Anonymous User]

Mods, I would remove that link if what the person above is saying is true

[Anonymous User]

That email is...something. Wow.

Even more so when you add the mail's text/HTML title which are:
"Thank you for doing your part"
"Playing your part."

Missing the implication that the firm isn't doing its part?

Ed. accidental anon.

[kobe1020]

". . . keep the Firm financially strong . . . "

sounds like the firm is doing great and why the asshole email? If we are taking a substance over form approach to interpret this email, it's almost as ridiculous as KE "this isn't a gravy train" email.

[RaceJudicata]

I read that email to mean things aren’t going well at Dechert. Out of touch, for sure. But the piece about picking up over the past few weeks seems problematic. Seems like most other firms started picking back up months ago after the April/may market chaos.

[Anonymous User]

Anon who posted email link here (not sure why they decided to mail it like a marketing email where there is also a link). I posted not to say that Dechert is doing bad, but to give more context because the first person who posted made it sound like it was very bad.

Can't really say that the firm is out of touch etc. when 95% of firms have been silent, it's just bad timing and optics. It probably would have been better to not send anything. I don't think it means that there will definitely be no bonus, but rather we need to wait for either 1) Cravath to match or 2) main Dechert competitors like Wilkie to match.

CEO gives quarterly updates on financials and while things aren't record-setting financially, it is also nowhere close to being abysmally terrible.

[MrTooToo]

How about a lit associate who is annualizing about 1850 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Good for you for writing this. I feel like discussions like this generate neuroses amongst associates because the ones who are going to be talking & complaining the most (totally justified in doing this, don't get me wrong) are the ones billing 2,500 per year. I think the vast, vast majority of associates in the V25 this year outside of restructuring, maybe some areas of cap markets or m&a are going to be more like 1800, 1900, 2000 not 2500, 2600, 2700.

[MrTooToo]

Weil just made the decision that restructuring juniors and midlevels (not at Weil but believe me all of them are crushed) are more important to retain right now than 7th year litigators twiddling their thumbs. Not more complicated than that.

Agreed. Dove is the smartest dude in this thread BTW.

These bonuses were designed to compensate teams which are busy (not saying this is group-specific, since large chapter 11 cases require litigators as well as various other support teams)

Seconded and thirded. Please, salty non-transactional lawyers in this thread, take it from me as I’ve heard it from the mouths of equity partners at my previous V5 and my current V20 - the rainmakers in your firm don’t give a shit about you. It’s 2020. Litigation is dead outside of the boutiques. These bonuses exclusively relate to finance / RX / M&Az

This is a bad take and a bad attitude to have. Transactional attorneys are always full of bluster when things are firing on all cylinders but suddenly tuck tail when there's a secular economic downturn and the firm has to be carried by litigation / litigation sub-practices. Anyone with a long-term view knows that all of this moves in cycles and it's never a good idea to talk in such black-and-white terms about other associates' / partners' practice areas. The entire idea behind a broad firm is that the different practice areas work together sometimes, counter-cyclically other times, to support the broad enterprise.

[Anonymous User]

Anon who posted email link here (not sure why they decided to mail it like a marketing email where there is also a link). I posted not to say that Dechert is doing bad, but to give more context because the first person who posted made it sound like it was very bad.

Can't really say that the firm is out of touch etc. when 95% of firms have been silent, it's just bad timing and optics. It probably would have been better to not send anything. I don't think it means that there will definitely be no bonus, but rather we need to wait for either 1) Cravath to match or 2) main Dechert competitors like Wilkie to match.

CEO gives quarterly updates on financials and while things aren't record-setting financially, it is also nowhere close to being abysmally terrible.

You should read the disclaimer note at the bottom of the page on the link you provided:

“For internal distribution only. Not to be reproduced or distributed outside of Dechert LLP.”

[Anonymous User]

Proskauer told us that they were having their best financial year ever too. Pep going up

Lack of transparency is one thing, but that sounds like a straight up lie.

[replevin123]

imagine getting that email and quickly scanning it up and down and reading through all of that nothing just to realize you, indeed, got nothing

[JusticeSquee]

Anon who posted email link here (not sure why they decided to mail it like a marketing email where there is also a link). I posted not to say that Dechert is doing bad, but to give more context because the first person who posted made it sound like it was very bad.

Can't really say that the firm is out of touch etc. when 95% of firms have been silent, it's just bad timing and optics. It probably would have been better to not send anything. I don't think it means that there will definitely be no bonus, but rather we need to wait for either 1) Cravath to match or 2) main Dechert competitors like Wilkie to match.

CEO gives quarterly updates on financials and while things aren't record-setting financially, it is also nowhere close to being abysmally terrible.

You should read the disclaimer note at the bottom of the page on the link you provided:

“For internal distribution only. Not to be reproduced or distributed outside of Dechert LLP.”

Someone should really take that down ASAP.

[Winter is Coming]

You are in a situation where firms are making so much money that they are paying discretionary bonuses. So it is pretty disturbing that you can mismanage your firm to the point where you are begging people to put their time into the billing system as if you hadn't already lost the game.

[Anonymous User]

Are we hopeful that there will be some good news this week from firms like Cravath and Skadden?

[persia1921]

At a V20 that has not said anything and I've started to lose hope.