Latham & Watkins reviews

From day 1, I've noticed that Latham doesn't seem to value its employees. There's a huge disconnect between what the firm says it is and the actual culture it cultivates. You can work your tail off and they will find excuses not to properly compensate you or even acknowledge your efforts ("they" being upper management, NOT the attorneys.) There are endless policies and rules that only benefit the firm and are neither logical or efficient. They will bend those policies for their benefit but not for yours. (Example: they will scold you for putting overtime on your timecard but they give you the workload of 2 people and call it "average" if you exceed your billable hour requirement by 30%) They aren't concerned if you are overworked. They aren't concerned with setting you up for success. They take the power away from your supervising attorneys and place decisions in the hands of committee who have never met you. There has been a huge amount of turn over in my department but the firm does not seem interested in hearing why people are unhappy or leaving. Its a shame because there are some great attorneys at Latham that I've really enjoyed working with. But the overall culture of this firm makes daily work life very frustrating and disheartening.

Admin for Staff: insultingly strict (miss a subway and 3 minutes late? goes into your file, even if you make up the time; reverse is also true->back from lunch early because your boss asked you to be? OK, but must receive OT aproval in advance (what happens when mgmt is out to lunch? tell your supervisor you can't do OT). You're told to send out all "work": copies to copy department, faxes to fax dept, catering to catering, conference room, etc....far too many avenues for major errors to occur to the dismay of bosses & very "high-value" clients and it will be your fault. Meanwhile, you get to sit at your desk and NOT use the internet, phone, cellphone, for personal use (something I agree with, but when you're bored...?) etc. My years of experience is wasted; when I ask if any surrounding attys would like some assistance...a resounding "no" and permanent stinkeye & gossip from their secretary. Don't dare to ask for something to do. "Just send it to .... department".