Managing partner Robert Link says that in the past five years, the firm has instituted casual summer dress and created firm sports teams, mentoring programs, an associate development committee, and a sabbatical program. Cadwalader now offers a gym subsidy, emergency child care, and home-buying services. Another midlevel depicted the firm's retention efforts as insincere, insisting that the firm values associates only for their ability to rack up billables. Mr. Link acknowledges that improvement in such areas is critical. But Mr. Link also contends that the survey's results don't tell the whole story.
Morale is very high.
The reason that company legal departments attract so many lawyers, he says, is because in-house jobs let associates develop the satisfying relationships with clients that firm life often denies them. Sometimes perks can backfire, by making partners hostile to associates. The money for those perks is taken out of their pockets. If hard work translated into professional advancement and success, associates would treat each billable hour as a worthwhile investment in their careers, he says. It's demeaning to feel controlled by rewards.