{"id":130595,"date":"2025-08-15T12:31:58","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T20:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/15\/willkie-conducts-staff-layoffs-while-dangling-retention-bonuses-to-stem-lawyer-exodus\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T12:31:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T20:31:58","slug":"willkie-conducts-staff-layoffs-while-dangling-retention-bonuses-to-stem-lawyer-exodus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/15\/willkie-conducts-staff-layoffs-while-dangling-retention-bonuses-to-stem-lawyer-exodus\/","title":{"rendered":"Willkie Conducts Staff Layoffs While Dangling Retention Bonuses To Stem Lawyer Exodus"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the wake of Willkie Farr\u2019s $100 pro bono payola deal<\/a> with Donald Trump, lawyers have been fleeing the firm\u2019s West Coast office<\/a> in droves. Thus far, about 20 attorneys have decamped from the firm\u2019s San Francisco office for Cooley. Faced with an exodus, Willkie is now sending pretty mixed messages to its employees. What do we mean by that? The firm has resorted to laying off staff members, while at the same time offering generous bonuses to summer associates and seasoned associates. These aren\u2019t summer bonuses, mind you \u2014 these are more of a \u201cplease don\u2019t leave us\u201d payout.<\/p>\n

The American Lawyer<\/a> has additional details on Willkie\u2019s bonuses for some, layoffs for others strategy:<\/p>\n

\n

A paralegal, a billing assistant, two secretaries and the San Francisco office manager were affected by staff cuts that went into effect last week, according to sources familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about conditions at Willkie. \u2026<\/p>\n

Even as Willkie cut into its staff in the office, the firm began offering \u201cgenerous\u201d retention bonuses to first-year and second-year summer associates, as well as associates in the Bay Area, sources said. Bonuses for summer associates\u2014offered in a bid to bring them back for their 2L summer or to return to the firm after law school\u2014fell around $35,000, according to sources with knowledge of the offers.<\/p>\n

Despite the bonuses, sources said, at least two 2L summer associates in San Francisco have instead committed to join the litigation team at Cooley, while most of the 1L summer associates from that office have opted to not spend their 2L summer with Willkie and committed to work elsewhere, in a broad signal of disapproval of Willkie\u2019s deal with the president.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yikes! Even Willkie\u2019s summer associates are turning down straight cash and heading to Cooley. <\/p>\n

In a legal market where reputations can turn on a dime \u2014 especially when a firm makes a \u201cgrave mistake\u201d like bending a knee to Trump \u2014 Willkie\u2019s retention gambit may keep some lawyers from jumping ship, but it\u2019s unlikely to quiet the whispers about what\u2019s really going on behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

We wish the best of luck to those at Willkie who recently lost their jobs.<\/p>\n

If your firm or organization is reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through deferrals, 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>). Thank you for your assistance.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to sign up for ATL\u2019s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the layoff alerts, you don\u2019t need to do anything. You\u2019ll receive an email notification within minutes of each layoff announcement that we publish.<\/p>\n

Willkie Cuts San Francisco Staff, Offers Retention Bonuses to Summers<\/a> [American Lawyer]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Willkie Conducts Staff Layoffs While Dangling Retention Bonuses To Stem Lawyer Exodus<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

In the wake of Willkie Farr\u2019s $100 pro bono payola deal<\/a> with Donald Trump, lawyers have been fleeing the firm\u2019s West Coast office<\/a> in droves. Thus far, about 20 attorneys have decamped from the firm\u2019s San Francisco office for Cooley. Faced with an exodus, Willkie is now sending pretty mixed messages to its employees. What do we mean by that? The firm has resorted to laying off staff members, while at the same time offering generous bonuses to summer associates and seasoned associates. These aren\u2019t summer bonuses, mind you \u2014 these are more of a \u201cplease don\u2019t leave us\u201d payout.<\/p>\n

The American Lawyer<\/a> has additional details on Willkie\u2019s bonuses for some, layoffs for others strategy:<\/p>\n

\n

A paralegal, a billing assistant, two secretaries and the San Francisco office manager were affected by staff cuts that went into effect last week, according to sources familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about conditions at Willkie. \u2026<\/p>\n

Even as Willkie cut into its staff in the office, the firm began offering \u201cgenerous\u201d retention bonuses to first-year and second-year summer associates, as well as associates in the Bay Area, sources said. Bonuses for summer associates\u2014offered in a bid to bring them back for their 2L summer or to return to the firm after law school\u2014fell around $35,000, according to sources with knowledge of the offers.<\/p>\n

Despite the bonuses, sources said, at least two 2L summer associates in San Francisco have instead committed to join the litigation team at Cooley, while most of the 1L summer associates from that office have opted to not spend their 2L summer with Willkie and committed to work elsewhere, in a broad signal of disapproval of Willkie\u2019s deal with the president.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yikes! Even Willkie\u2019s summer associates are turning down straight cash and heading to Cooley. <\/p>\n

In a legal market where reputations can turn on a dime \u2014 especially when a firm makes a \u201cgrave mistake\u201d like bending a knee to Trump \u2014 Willkie\u2019s retention gambit may keep some lawyers from jumping ship, but it\u2019s unlikely to quiet the whispers about what\u2019s really going on behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

We wish the best of luck to those at Willkie who recently lost their jobs.<\/p>\n

If your firm or organization is reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through deferrals, 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>). Thank you for your assistance.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to sign up for ATL\u2019s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the layoff alerts, you don\u2019t need to do anything. You\u2019ll receive an email notification within minutes of each layoff announcement that we publish.<\/p>\n

Willkie Cuts San Francisco Staff, Offers Retention Bonuses to Summers<\/a> [American Lawyer]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the wake of Willkie Farr\u2019s $100 pro bono payola deal with Donald Trump, lawyers have been fleeing the firm\u2019s West Coast office in droves. Thus far, about 20 attorneys have decamped from the firm\u2019s San Francisco office for Cooley. Faced with an exodus, Willkie is now sending pretty mixed messages to its employees. What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":130531,"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-130595","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\/08\/Staci-Zaretsky-GzBAyb.jpg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130595","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=130595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}