{"id":128349,"date":"2025-07-25T11:27:35","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T19:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/07\/25\/major-biglaw-firm-delays-start-date-for-some-incoming-associates\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T11:27:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T19:27:35","slug":"major-biglaw-firm-delays-start-date-for-some-incoming-associates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/07\/25\/major-biglaw-firm-delays-start-date-for-some-incoming-associates\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Biglaw Firm Delays Start Date For Some Incoming Associates"},"content":{"rendered":"

A&O Shearman is one of the nine Biglaw firms that kissed Donald Trump\u2019s ring, inking a deal (over the pleas of associates<\/a>) promising $125 million<\/a> in pro bono payola to conservative causes and clients<\/a>. Now some folks will have to wait a little bit longer to start their career (and come into the office four days a week<\/a>) at the capitulating firm.<\/p>\n

The firm has two start dates for the class of 2025, and insiders at the firm report at least some of the incoming associates had their start date pushed back to January. In order to help defray the financial impact of missing out on months of that sweet, sweet Biglaw paycheck, the firm is offering a salary advance \u2014 not a stipend<\/a> \u2014 to those impacted, repayable over 10 months. <\/p>\n

Historically, delays in the associate start date is a bellwether for austerity measures<\/a> or even layoffs<\/a>. But the firm is just a year out<\/a> from the merger that took A&O and Shearman and created A&O Shearman, a process<\/a> that involved growing pains<\/a>, so perhaps this is just a way managing their talent. Still, a real bummer for those anxious to get started on their legal career.<\/p>\n

If your firm or organization is delaying the start date for associates, reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don\u2019t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. You can\u00a0email us<\/a>\u00a0or text us (646-820-8477<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Major Biglaw Firm Delays Start Date For Some Incoming Associates<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

A&O Shearman is one of the nine Biglaw firms that kissed Donald Trump\u2019s ring, inking a deal (over the pleas of associates<\/a>) promising $125 million<\/a> in pro bono payola to conservative causes and clients<\/a>. Now some folks will have to wait a little bit longer to start their career (and come into the office four days a week<\/a>) at the capitulating firm.<\/p>\n

The firm has two start dates for the class of 2025, and insiders at the firm report at least some of the incoming associates had their start date pushed back to January. In order to help defray the financial impact of missing out on months of that sweet, sweet Biglaw paycheck, the firm is offering a salary advance \u2014 not a stipend<\/a> \u2014 to those impacted, repayable over 10 months. <\/p>\n

Historically, delays in the associate start date is a bellwether for austerity measures<\/a> or even layoffs<\/a>. But the firm is just a year out<\/a> from the merger that took A&O and Shearman and created A&O Shearman, a process<\/a> that involved growing pains<\/a>, so perhaps this is just a way managing their talent. Still, a real bummer for those anxious to get started on their legal career.<\/p>\n

If your firm or organization is delaying the start date for associates, reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don\u2019t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. You can\u00a0email us<\/a>\u00a0or text us (646-820-8477<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @[email\u00a0protected].<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A&O Shearman is one of the nine Biglaw firms that kissed Donald Trump\u2019s ring, inking a deal (over the pleas of associates) promising $125 million in pro bono payola to conservative causes and clients. Now some folks will have to wait a little bit longer to start their career (and come into the office four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":128305,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-ei2Euo.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}