Last month, we wrote about a five-year strategic plan created by O’Melveny & Myers. In our initial post, we focused on O’Melveny’s expectations for partners and associates in the future. We skipped over this piece of the plan, focused on summer associates. From a section of the plan entitled “Talent Development”:

Identify future junior associates who will advance the vision of the firm by…creating an intensive summer program experience — “Experience O’Melveny” — that prepares incoming associates for the successful practice of law.

We particularly like that the summer associate program will be “Experience O’Melveny” going forward. It made us think of the Imax Experience — like a real movie but better — or a roller coaster at Six Flags — sure to thrill and cause nausea.

We imagine what “Experience O’Melveny” will look like, after the jump.

There has been so much talk about the death of Biglaw that the term has become a cliché. These are challenging times, to be sure. But many firms are in the process of adjusting to the market, by making long-term plans to revise their business models so they can thrive in the future.

One such firm is O’Melveny & Myers. About a month ago, the firm released a five-year strategic plan to its associates and counsel. At a time when some firms are keeping their employees in the dark about long-term issues, O’Melveny — to its credit — decided to let its people know what management is thinking.

Above the Law has obtained a copy of this five-year plan. The document outlines how O’Melveny intends to compete going forward. Instead of aiming for marginal cost savings by making a few cutbacks here and there, the O’Melveny memo tries to rethink the firm’s overall business model — and gives us a chance to talk, once again, about the long term viability of Biglaw.

Let’s take a look into the O’Melveny’s — and perhaps Biglaw’s — future, after the jump.

You can still call yourself prestigious if you work at the firms that make up today’s fall recruiting open thread. But once you are outside of the Vault top 20, people start talking about “firm culture” at least as much as they talk about prestige.

Here’s the next batch:

21. Shearman & Sterling
22. O’Melveny & Myers
23. Quinn Emanuel
24. Ropes & Gray
25. Hogan & Hartson
26. Clifford Chance
27. Morrison & Foerster
28. Mayer Brown
29. Linklaters
30. Boies Schiller & Flexner

The slide continues for Shearman & Sterling. The firm was ranked #19 last year, and is down two spots this year. Is there any specific reason for the fall?

After the jump, let’s look at the firms rising up through the rankings.

At what point does a salary freeze start to feel like a salary cut? Staff at O’Melveny & Myers are about to find out. O’Melveny just announced a new salary ice-age for its staff. Above the Law obtained this internal memo sent to O’Melveny staffers:

We are committed to taking proactive steps to maintain our financial strength in the face of unprecedented economic times. As part of this effort, we continue to look at how we can prudently and efficiently manage our costs and have therefore decided that there will be no salary increases this year and the performance evaluation cycle will be extended from 12 months to 24 months. Your performance evaluation will now cover the period between July 2008 - July 2010. We will consider salary increases at the end of the new performance review period in July 2010.

O’Melveny has already been through layoffs. In March, 200 people were let go, including 110 staffers. So on the one hand, a salary cut is a lot better than being out on the street.

On the other hand, staffers don’t make much to begin with, and nobody wants a static salary. O’Melveny staff better start rooting for the rest of the American economy to continue its deflationary trend.

O’Melveny confirmed that the freeze only applies to staff.

Will we see more ice-age freezes this summer? Stay tuned.

Check out the full firm statement after the jump.

Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: O’Melveny Fires 90 Lawyers, 110 Staff

Back in March, we reported that Skadden D.C. lost important members of its litigation team when Andrew Sandler and Benjamin Klubes left to start their own firm. Have those losses been replaced? Sources report Skadden is in the process of poaching a big name from O’Melveny & Myers. Apparently, John Beisner is leaving OMM for Skadden, and he’s taking Jessica Miller and Steve Harburg with him.

Beisner is based out of Washington, D.C. and is the chair of O’Melveny’s firmwide Class Actions, Mass Torts, and Aggregated Litigation Practice. A source says this about Mr. Beisner’s importance to O’Melveny:

Beisner’s cases are an unbelievable percentage of the entire litigation portfolio - this has been a huge fear now realized among associates/counsel.

After the jump, O’Melveny responds.

Back in January, we interviewed siblings Victor Jih, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, and Tammy Jih, an associate at Quinn Emanuel, who starred on this season’s Amazing Race. Little did we know in January that we were talking to this season’s race winners. Last night, the Jihs beat out some cheerleaders and a deaf kid and his mom to win the Amazing Race prize.

(For the uninitiated, the Amazing Race is a reality TV show where teams of two race around the world in the hopes of winning $1 million.)

Not everyone is thrilled for the Harvard Law grads. The Chicago Sun-Times is asking whether the Mandarin-speaking Chinese-American siblings had an unfair advantage in China. And the Associated Press called the finish of the race “heartbreaking:”

Luke Adams, 22, just graduated as the valedictorian of the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, and raced with his mother Margie, 50. They were in the lead heading into the last competition, which involved picking out surfboards with insignias representing every leg of their trip. Luke started fast but couldn’t get the last one right.

As he was frustrated, Victor Jih completed his task and headed into a taxi for the finish line.

Maybe the AP would be happier for the twins if they realized how tough lawyers have it these days. Or maybe not. Regardless, we bet that $500k bonus feels pretty good to each sibling. We checked in with them via e-mail, but got just a brief reply from Tammy:

Thanks for watching the show! Sorry we could not respond earlier. I have not been on the internet, but I am assuming you have already written your article. Sorry for the delayed response, but we have had a busy last 24 hours, as I am sure you can imagine!

Actually, we’ve been delinquent in watching the show regularly this season, but we got reviews from folks who have. The reviews and a photo of the Jihs in (admittedly-conservative) beach attire, after the jump.

After Latham laid off 440 people, the firm announced that they would be offering a deferral stipend to incoming first year associates. Latham offered $75,000 to people wiling to defer their start date until the fall of 2010. When Orrick laid off 300 people, the firm also offered $75K to associates willing to delay for a year.

When O’Melveny laid off 200 people yesterday, there was no mention of any deferral plan. The firm’s silence caused a lot of worry among 3Ls heading to O’Melveny.

Some 3Ls called the firm. Recruiting personnel told them: “We haven’t decided that yet,” and “It’s not likely.”

So what kind of stipend can 3Ls expect from O’Melveny? The firm responds after the jump.

First Latham, then Orrick, now O’Melveny.

Yesterday, we mentioned that layoffs could be coming to O’Melveny & Myers. Today, the rains came.

A firm-wide email just went out announcing that 200 people would be let go. The cuts amount to about ten percent of attorneys and ten percent of staff:

It is against this backdrop that I am writing to inform you about some very difficult and unprecedented decisions we have made affecting lawyers and staff. We will be reducing approximately 90 legal and 110 staff positions from our Firm. The majority of the positions are in the US, with some in Asia and a smaller number in London. Altogether the reduction will impact roughly 10% of our lawyer workforce and roughly 10% of our staff workforce.

Is ten percent the magic number that firms are now trying to get rid of?

As we understand it, O’Melveny will be giving a three-month severance package. Latham wins the severance wars again. On the other hand, Latham laid off 440 people, which is just a little less than O’Melveny and Orrick combined.

While many of the O’Melveny people do not yet know if they will be part of the layoffs, the firm did send a message to all of its incoming summer associates. The future summers were informed of the bad news at the firm and told that summer program would be scaled back to a ten-week experience.

For those keeping score at home today, we’re looking at 60 people from Shearman & Sterling, 130 people from Dewey, and now 200 people from O’Melveny that are being let go today. Black Wednesday? Humped Day?

Update (12:57): O’Melveny has released some additional news about its severance package to Above the Law. For some people, the package could be better than what is being offered by Latham. A firm spokesperson tells us:

Departing associates and counsel will receive a payment that is equal to 3 months as a minimum and 7 months as a maximum, based upon completed years of service, with two weeks for each full year of service, with no cap on the dollar amount. More importantly, our Firm provided meaningful bonuses in December of 2008, and significant salary increases in January of this year, which was not the case at all firms. We want to be fair and generous with those who remain, as well as those who depart.

These are both good points. As we’ve pointed out in the past, O’Melveny matched the Skadden bonus (except for NYC) for people who billed 1950 hours. And while Latham froze salaries, O’Melveny did not.

We’ll keep you posted. Read the full memo, after the jump.

On Sunday night, the third episode of this season’s Amazing Race aired. Biglaw sibling team Victor and Tammy Jih, who came in first the previous week, barely avoided being eliminated.

(We interviewed the Jihs last month. Victor Jih is a partner at O’Melveny and Myers, while Tammy Jih is an associate at Quinn Emanuel. )

On Sunday, on the reality TV show where teams race around the world completing challenges, Tammy and Victor had to head to Romania to do gymnastics and go hiking. They struggled at both. Tammy had some issues with the balance beam and floor routine during the gymnastics challenge, complaining that she “can’t cartwheel.” Victor, um, consoled her by telling her afterward, “I think your brain just froze.”

The next challenge was hiking to some coffins — yeah, the show loves cultural stereotypes, with gypsies, gymnastics, and Transylvania references featured prominently in Romania — and Victor took the lead as trail guide, perhaps because Tammy’s brain was still frozen from cartwheeling. He proceeded to follow the wrong markers. They got terribly lost. “Look, we’re doing so great,” says Victor optimistically. “This sucks,” Tammy replies.

After much wandering, Victor finally acknowledges he’s led them astray by kneeling, sobbing, and asking Tammy to take over. Biglaw partner. Sobbing. Handing control over to the midlevel associate.

She leads them back down the mountain, and to the coffins. Victor, still very upset, drags a coffin haphazardly down the hill, saying, “I don’t care if I die.” They finish far behind all but one of the other teams (who got stuck in Amsterdam). When they discover they’re still in the race, Victor cries some more. See the video, and more episode highlights, after the jump.

There has been a lot of chatter about layoffs coming to O’Melveny & Myers. The firm paid out Skadden-level bonuses (in Los Angeles and D.C., for associates that billed more than 1950 hours), but commenters seem sure that something is going on at the firm.

Given the bad news coming out of Latham and Orrick, and O’Melveny’s own sharp decline in profits per partner, there is certainly a lot of grist for the rumor mill.

But there has been little hard evidence that the firm is conducting or planning layoffs, until today.

Today, we received reports that the firm was in the process of laying off an undisclosed number of support staffers. A tipster reports:

OMM’s NY HR Manager, has been gathering up staff this morning. She began with the librarians … [She] also has a small conference room booked all day today and all day tomorrow.

We reached out to O’Melveny to comment about these staff layoffs and all of the rumors about impending attorney layoffs. A firm spokesperson furnished Above the Law with this response:

In the current economic environment, no firm could rule out layoffs of staff or lawyers.

Make of that what you will.

Earlier: Associate Bonus Watch: O’Melveny Makes It Rain, Baby (At least outside New York. For 1950+ hours.)
Profits Per Partner Down At O’Melveny

When it comes to lateral movement of lawyers from one firm to another, things seem pretty dead. If you’re an attorney with a job, you’re probably just holding on for dear life. Latham, holla.

But it’s important to distinguish between lateral partner moves and associate moves. The latter are becoming increasingly rare, but the former continue to happen with regularity. As various firms founder and flounder, partners with business think: “I have a portable book in the eight figures. Why would I want to go down with these clowns?”

Of course, not every lateral partner move arises out of a rainmaker seeking greener pastures. Economic instability has resulted in some partners being prematurely put out to pasture, perhaps because they don’t generate enough business in these tough times, or perhaps because their firms went under. The American Lawyer refers to such lawyers as “accidental laterals”: they never intended to be on the lateral market, but they wound up there anyway.

We suspect that this latest lateral move, however, is not accidental. Superstar IP litigator Dale Cendali — who has been quite busy in the past year, representing the likes of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling — is leaving O’Melveny & Myers for Kirkland & Ellis. Joining her at K&E are current OMM partners Claudia Ray, also based in New York, and Diana Torres, in Los Angeles. The exact timing is unclear, but look for a move sometime next month.

O’Melveny confirmed the news to ATL and issued this statement, through a firm spokesperson:

While we regret losing a talented group of lawyers, we are fortunate to have an exceptional team and deep bench of IP litigators specializing in patents, trademarks, copyrights, IP antitrust, computer hardware and software, media & entertainment, and life sciences. Our IP lawyers have national practices and have appeared in courts across the country.

More details, after the jump.

O’Melveney & Myers paid out Skadden level bonuses for everybody — that was not in New York and billed at least 1950. Unlike Orrick, O’Melveny actually paid these bonuses, instead of just talking about them.

Maybe that is why their profits per partner took such a significant hit?

Yesterday, AmLaw Daily reported a sharp decline in PPP at OMM:

O’Melveny & Myers reported a small decline in revenues and a more substantial drop in profits per partner as the firm grappled with the impact of the economic downturn. The Los Angeles-based firm reported this morning that profits per partner were down more than 7 percent to $1.5 million. Gross revenues for 2008 were $908 million, an almost 3 percent drop from the prior year.

A lot of associates will be happy with this news. The firm has avoided that mass layoffs that happened at Morrison & Foerster and didn’t freeze salaries like Latham.

And despite the drop, partners still pulled down $1.5 million dollars.

THE AM LAW 100: Revenues, Profits Drop at O’Melveny & Myers [AmLaw Daily]

Earlier: Associate Bonus Watch: O’Melveny Makes It Rain, Baby (At least outside New York. For 1950+ hours.)

Starting February 15th, you’ll be able to spend your Sunday nights watching hottie Biglaw siblings Victor and Tammy Jih go global as they compete for $1 million in the Amazing Race.

As noted yesterday, Victor Jih, 35, is a partner at O’Melveny and Myers, while Tammy Jih, 26, is an associate at Quinn Emanuel. We had a three-way with them yesterday, and asked about trading Biglaw for reality TV, how they got on the show, spending 4 weeks Blackberry-less, and whether Victor really thinks Africa is a country.

Victor may be the senior Biglaw member of the family, but Tammy always jumps in first to answer questions. Check out the interview, after the jump.

The Amazing Race is a reality TV show where teams of two race around the world in the hopes of winning $1 million. The 14th season of the show debuts on February 15th, and will star hot legal siblings, Victor and Tammy Jih.

Victor Jih, 35, is a partner at O’Melveny and Myers, while Tammy Jih, 26, is an associate at Quinn Emanuel. In this CBS video clip, Tammy says she hasn’t “had exactly the same life experience that Victor has had.” We think she just means in terms of length of time spent in Biglaw. Both Jihs went to Stanford undergrad and Harvard Law School, and now work as attorneys in California.

According to their bios on the CBS site:

Tammy is a litigator who believes that her ability to keep a cool head under pressure, especially with little or no sleep, will lead to success on the Race. Her biggest pet peeve with her brother is that he’s a bit of a control freak…

Victor is a partner at his law firm and works as a corporate litigator. He is running the Race to see if he and his sister can co-exist in a hyper-competitive situation without driving each other crazy.

We’re going to be catching up with the Jihs in an interview later today. If you have questions you’d like us to ask the hottie reality TV stars, beyond their practice groups and relationship statuses, send us an e-mail with the subject “Amazing Race.”

Check out a video clip of the two, as well as a little info on who they’re up against, after the jump.

Update (3:30 PM): Please note that this post has been revised in various respects since its original publication. The situation is fluid and we are investigating further. Thanks.

It’s moving day. Time for the elite firms to separate themselves from everybody else.

Multiple tipsters inform us that O’Melveny & Myers associates, in California and in Washington, DC, received voicemails today confirming that first year associate bonuses would be… $27,500. The bonus scale for OMM, in CA and DC, is believed to look like this:

2007 - 27,500
2006 - 30,000
2005 - 32,500
2004 - 35,000
2003 - 37,500
2002 - 40,000
2001 and 2000 - 45,000

A tipster adds, “Everyone is also eligible for additional bonus amounts on top of that based on hours and performance.”

We understand that OMM traditionally makes these announcements over voicemail. Bonuses will be paid on December 31st, with an official memo following in January. Oh, and just for good measure, class appropriate pay raises will proceed as planned. Eat your heart out, Latham.

Update (3:30 PM): It appears that these California and D.C. bonus levels are subject to a minimum hours requirement of 1950. In addition, it seems that O’Melveny’s New York office is on the Cravath scale.

Update (3:45 PM): Associate editor Kashmir Hill just spoke by phone with an O’Melveny spokesperson. The spokesperson confirmed that OMM’s California and DC offices are paying bonuses to associates that are higher than OMM in New York.

“For some time, we have set bonus levels at a competitive rate for local markets,” she said. And as ATL readers know, this year the local market in New York is weak in terms of bonuses. The OMM rep pointed out that last year New York bonuses were higher than non-NYC bonuses.

In addition, the spokesperson added, the California and DC bonus scales are subject to a minimum hours requirement of 1950. Bonuses in New York are not subject to such a minimum (although “hours and merit are taken into account,” according to OMM).

More after the jump.

If the photos of this week’s contestants look a little stiff, please understand that it’s because the NYT didn’t run pictures of any lawyer weddings this week, forcing us to Photoshop them from the attorneys’ firm bios. You’re welcome. And Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are this week’s Legal Eagle Wedding Watch finalists:

1. Elizabeth Raizes and Kayvan Sadeghi

2. Amy Stutius and Adam Slutsky

3. Sara Rubenstein and Yariv Ben-Ari

Read our assessment of these couples, after the jump.

More bad news, this time from the Los Angeles market.

We’ve received word that O’Melveny & Myers has cut ties with five associates from their L.A. office. A tipster reports:

There were at least 5 associates let go today in the OMM Los Angeles office. Ranging from first years to mid-level associates. I’m not sure if they are being called performance related or if they are admitting they are layoffs.

OMM is calling them performance related. A firm spokesperson told us:

There have been no economic layoffs of associates at O’Melveny & Myers and there are no plans to conduct such layoffs. We are in the midst of our annual associate evaluation process, which began as scheduled in September, and some associates, as is always the case, are receiving less than satisfactory performance reviews.

More on O’Melveny after the jump.

Last week we told you that Jenner & Block held a firm-wide pep talk to assure associates that everything was going great.

Apparently, this is the new trend. Terrified associates are being told that they have nothing to fear, for now.

Last week Ropes & Gray’s chairman Brad Malt sent out this email:

We’re living in extraordinary times, and I know many of you are concerned about what the current turmoil in the financial markets might mean to us here at Ropes & Gray. I’d like to offer some thoughts on why we are well positioned to weather the turbulence in the marketplace.

Our firm is over 140 years old, in no small part because we always build for the long term. We have weathered many recessions, starting with the Panic of 1873, and we have always emerged stronger. Today, we possess many competitive advantages, including diversified practice offerings and a diverse client base. Thankfully, we do not depend for our bread and butter on the kinds of companies or markets that are most troubled right now. While recent events have felt unsettling for many people, nothing that is happening should distract us from continuing to execute our strategic plan and deliver excellent client service.

The recent turmoil in the financial markets has also presented the firm with important opportunities to advise clients, including some of the companies affected by recent events. Among the many examples, we obtained a temporary restraining order for our broker-dealer client, Ameriprise Financial Services, in the first case involving a money market fund to “break the buck.†An extraordinary cross-disciplinary and cross-office team reached a multi-billion dollar agreement to purchase Neuberger Berman’s investment management business and Lehman Brother’s fixed income and alternative asset businesses. We are representing various senior officers of major financial institutions in investigations of sub-prime lending activities and related class action lawsuits. And we have advised numerous hedge funds, CDO funds, mutual funds and other clients on other aspects of the market situation, including analysis of distressed securities, advice about credit default swap counterparties, advice about the new short-sale restrictions, and bankruptcy rules.

In the longer term, we are very well positioned to take advantage of opportunities that will arise from the changing market environment, and we continue to invest in lawyers and staff to help us do so. We were delighted recently to welcome our associate Class of 2008, and we actively continue to hire for summer 2009 and beyond.

To be clear, we are not immune to what’s happening in the wider world. However, I believe the strengths we have built in our firm, our proven agility in addressing changing market landscapes, and the dedication and high caliber of you, our people, will enable us to withstand the short-term market challenges. As always, we are grateful for your continuing hard work and commitment.

This letter reads somewhat like DPW and Debevoise emails where those firms touted their post-meltdown successes.

O’Melveny & Myers shows firms how to send a spooky reassurance email after the jump.

Arthur Culvahouse, chairman of O’Melveny & Myers, was in charge of vetting Sarah Palin and has been taking some heat.

But Culvahouse has more to worry about than the National Enquirer. Culvahouse is locked in a high stakes political battle to keep his chairmanship at O’Melveny. O’Melveny’s policy committee, which recommends the chairperson subject to ratification by the full partnership, failed to select a clear winner over the past few weeks.

[O]ther candidates are former San Francisco Managing Partner Darin Snyder; Los Angeles partner Robert Siegel, the chairman of the adversarial department; Newport Beach, Calif., partner Gary Singer, a co-chairman of the firm’s transactions department; and Washington, D.C., partner John Beisner, chairman of the class actions, mass torts and aggregated litigation practice.

Culvahouse has been the chairman since 2000. His current battle for re-election (which was thought to be a lock) probably has less to do with his prominent role in the McCain campaign, and more to do with the traditional metrics of cash money.

Between 2005 and 2007, O’Melveny’s profit per equity partner increased from $1.5 million to $1.6 million. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher saw an increase from $1.6 million to $1.9 million. Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker’s profits jumped to $1.9 million from $1.2 million, while Latham’s soared from $1.4 million to $2.3 million.

Slow growth knows no party.

Are there OMM associates with an opinion on Culvahouse’s stewardship? This might be the time to weigh in.

O’Melveny Closes In on Chairmanship Election Results [Law.com]

In connection with on-campus interviewing season, we’re giving you a chance to assess the firms that made this year’s Vault 100 list of most prestigious law firms. The previous open threads listed firms in groups of five, but to up the pace, we’ll list them by ten from here on out. Here’s the next group, with prestige scores in parentheses:

21. O’Melveny & Myers LLP (6.815)
22. Clifford Chance LLP (6.772)
23. Jones Day (6.763)
24. Morrison & Foerster LLP (6.657)
25. Hogan & Hartson LLP (6.579)
26. Linklaters (6.574)
27. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy (6.512)
28. Ropes & Gray LLP (6.501)
29. Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP (6.494)
30. Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (6.481)

We note Magic Circle firm Linklaters making a big leap from the high 30s in the 2008 list to #26 this year — perhaps because its “notable perks” include group retreats to Europe, a drinks trolley, and an on-site doctor and dentist.

Compare. Contrast. Discuss. Thanks.

Earlier: Vault 100 Open Threads - 2009