Hogan Lovells Furloughs European Staff, Freezes Recruitment, Defers Partner Profits
The firm is furloughing fewer than 30 members of staff in Europe.
April 16, 2020 at 10:13 AM
3 minute read
Hogan Lovells has taken precautions against financial knock-on effects by COVID-19, including furloughing staff across its European offices, deferring partner profits and freezing all recruitment.
The firm said in a statement on Thursday that staff across its Belgium, France, Luxembourg and U.K. bases will be placed on government furlough schemes.
In the U.K., the firm is furloughing fewer than 30 members of business services staff, including some PAs, receptionists and events staff. The firm is topping the U.K. government's 80% salary provision up by 20%, according to a person at the firm.
It halted recruitment across the firm in March, according to the statement, and it is also deferring bonuses and profit distributions for non-equity and equity partners at the firm.
Salary reviews and discretionary bonus payments for lawyers across its U.K. and Asia Pacific offices have also been postponed, the statement added. Associate reviews in the Americas, Continental Europe, and Africa offices are unaffected as they took place at the end of 2019, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, salary reviews and discretionary bonus payments for the "significant majority" of business services teams worldwide are also being postponed and will be reassessed later in the year, the statement by the firm added.
The firm's U.S. summer associate program, due to start in May, will now commence later in the year and is being shortened from ten weeks to four weeks. It will be delivered virtually if necessary, according to the statement.
It is also delaying when its U.S. first-year associates join the firm due to the U.S. bar exams having been moved to the autumn.
Steve Immelt, CEO of Hogan Lovells, said in a statement: "Overall, we intend to take a careful, step-by-step, approach using the underlying principles of fairness and shared burden, including by partners, to guide us.
"Historically, we have made certain compensation decisions with an effective date of May 1 as well starting our summer student programs. Given the uncertainties, we are putting them on hold until we know more.
"Protecting our business while taking care of our people will be at the heart of our decision-making and we will continue to monitor the situation intensively and think creatively to ensure that we have the necessary capabilities to meet our clients' needs both today and in the future."
Hogan Lovells is the latest of firms taking steps to counter the possible financial setbacks stemming from the outbreak. Recently, firms such as Norton Rose Fulbright and Ashurst also took preemptive measures such as implementing a four-day week for less compensation.
Read more:
A Firm-By-Firm Guide on Pandemic Measures
Ashurst Cuts Staff Working Week, Reduces Partner Drawings, Furloughing Staff
Reed Smith Defers Bonuses As Withers, Weightmans Furlough Staff
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllNew Frontiers: Gaillard Banifatemi Shelbaya Launches in Cairo and Abu Dhabi
4 minute readTravers Gives Holiday Bonus, Ropes & Gray Reduces Time Off Allowance
1 minute readJapan’s Mori Hamada Joins Funder LCM for $150M Credit Suisse Bonds Claim
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1Samsung Flooded With Galaxy Product Patent Lawsuits in Texas Federal Court
- 2How Marsh McLennan's Small But Mighty Legal Innovation Team Builds Solutions That Bring Joy
- 3On the Move and After Hours: Brach Eichler; Cooper Levenson; Marshall Dennehey; Archer; Sills Cummis
- 4Review of Ex-parte orders by the Appellate Division
- 5'Confusion Where Previously There Was Clarity': NJ Supreme Court Should Void Referral Fee Ethics Opinion
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250