As you may have heard, we're in a recession. Obviously, every sector of every industry has been hurt by it, and that of course includes Corporate Law and firms such as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. So what has Skadden done to cut costs? They've started the most awesome cost cutting program ever: take a year off, and we'll pay you $80,000 for it!
Okay, that sounds a little misleading. Instead of instituting layoffs, Skadden instituted the "Sidebar" program, offering associates (not partners) of the firm a third of their base salary to take the year off from working. For first year associates at Skadden, that would mean no less (NO LESS!) than $50,000 for a year of doing whatever the hell you want (including testing video games); for Heather Eisenlord, the subject of the Times article, it's $80,000. She's going traveling around the world.
I wish I was a lawyer.
[New York Times via AboveTheLaw]
