The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Kelley Drye & Warren last week for its use of a compensation system that the agency claims discriminates against partners based on their age, the New York Law Journal reports. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, was brought on behalf of partner Eugene D’Ablemont, 79, and a class of other “similarly situated employees.” The EEOC claims that Kelley Drye discriminated against D’Ablemont and other attorneys by forcing them to give up their equity at age 70 and earn less than younger attorneys in the firm with similar collections and billings. “Law firms that single out older attorneys for adverse treatment simply because of their age run great risk of violating the federal prohibition on age discrimination,” said Stuart Ishimaru, chairman of the EEOC. James Kirk, managing partner of Kelley Drye, said the firm does not believe the suit is of any merit, “and we intend to vigorously defend the firm.”

Northern California-based firms reported flat or slightly lower revenues and profits for the 2009 fiscal year, according to The Recorder, an NLJ affiliate. The highest-grossing firm based in the market, Morrison & Foerster, pulled in $884 million firmwide, up 1%. No. 2 Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe grossed $847.5 million (up 3%), and third-place Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman brought in $533.5 million, no change from 2009. Orrick topped the profit-per-partner chart with $1.36 million per equity partner.

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