Seyfarth Shaw, Littler Mendelson Latest To Roll Back Pay Cuts

Seyfarth Shaw and Littler Mendelson are rolling back pay cuts announced months ago because of business uncertainties stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Seyfarth had reduced monthly payments to partners by 20% and cut pay for all staff, beginning May 1. The firm announced Friday that it will return all staff to their full 2020 salaries, and restore attorney compensation. It also will bring back some employees who were furloughed in April—but also said a “small number” of furloughed attorneys won’t return.

Littler said it will reverse compensation reductions for all full-time employees working remotely. In May, the firm cut compensation for equity partners and corporate management by 20%, and sliced salaries by 15% for some highly paid nonequity partners and nonattorney administrative employees making more than $300,000.

Seyfarth and Littler, known for their employment practice groups, join a growing list of Big Law firms that have walked back compensation cuts and other cost-cutting measures after re-evaluating the impact of the pandemic on their businesses.

“We have been closely evaluating our financial modeling since the start of the pandemic and, thanks to the hard work and resilience of our team, the firm’s financial performance has been very strong throughout the year to date and is expected to continue for the balance of the year,” Littler co-managing directors Tom Bender and Jeremy Roth said in a statement.

For the small group of Littler employees unable to work remotely—and who saw their salaries slashed by 50%—Bender and Roth said “we are working with them to offer options while our offices remain closed and inaccessible.”

According to the Seyfarth statement, the furloughed attorneys who were effectively laid off will get a minimum of two months severance, regardless of how long they were with the firm.

The status of others at Seyfarth who were furloughed is unclear. That group “will stay on furlough until the end of the year, at which time we will revisit their status,” the statement said.

In the interim, the firm will pay their health premiums “and will bring them back sooner if the needs of our clients and the firm support it.”