Biglaw Deferrals Are Spreading Across The Country – And They May Be Coming To Your Firm

Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.

[Deferrals] will bleed into the East Coast. If firms can operate at 80% of capacity and still do the work, they will. It is only a matter of time before East Coast firms follow suit. And their profitability numbers will be through the roof.

— Greg Hamman, director of business insights at legal data and consulting firm Decipher Global, in comments given to the American Lawyer concerning the recent rash of deferrals of incoming Biglaw associates. Thus far, the following firms have deferred some or all of their incoming first-year associates: Gunderson Dettmer; Cooley (plus, a second deferral corporate associates); Fenwick & West (corporate and technology transactions associates); Perkins Coie; Orrick; Cadwalader; Katten Muchin (a “portion” of incoming associates deferred); and Dechert (optional deferral).

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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