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That seems really odd to me, unless you’re moving from corporate to litigation or vice versa (in which case I think it absolutely makes sense). Most of the skills you’ve developed in the last two years (or one year, if you’re going into your second year) are pretty transferable across practice groups, and a lot of firms, including my own, don’t even assign associates to practice groups for the first two years. I’m at the tail end of my first year and have started to look into lateral opportunities for geographic reasons, and none of the firms I’ve talked with have suggested that dropping a class year would be part of the deal, even though I’d be going into a specific practice group at any of those firms. I think that would be a dealbreaker for me.
the hardest part about getting new work as a 2nd/3rd year is partners dot want to use you because your billing rate is high. this keeps your billing rate low and thus gives you more work.
not only is it not weird, id recommend voluntarily dropping a class year in situations where you are doing new work even if the firm doesnt ask.
theres really no penalty in an up or out model. it just buys you another year of a high salary before you get pushed out. the only penalty is if you are sure fire partner material and will stay through partnership because then it delays you/costs you a year of partner earnings.
This.
It is not uncommon to be asked to drop a class year when you change practice groups. You don’t know much if anything about that practice, so a higher rate is not justifiable to a client.
Previous two posters are correct. I just switched practice groups in my firm and was happy to take a class-year cut – one more year of high pay and judged against a lower standard. Firms will often allow you keep your existing salary as well, so it’s a win-win (although if you keep your second-year salary, you won’t get a raise the following year).
Be glad that firm is open to letting you switch and take the “slight” pay cut. In the end you’ll have made more money by taking the drop and staying in biglaw longer than keeping your current class year.
Could be worse if you were like a 3rd or 4th year taking the cut, but not bad if you are only a second.
I have heard of this happening before. You should see it as a good sign. They like you enough to entertain this and take a flexible approach to keep you around.
Your “class year” is sometimes a negotiation point when you try to lateral. If you are a third year and you really want to lateral to firm X dropping a class year may help you out. Also, as a poster above said it gives you more time to grow and they will have lower expectations.
Does this happen in reverse? E.g.: A mid-level at a V5 with a certain skillset lateraling to a “lower” ranked firm but negotiating for a higher class year? Or, perhaps as a condition to joining a new/growing outpost of your or another firm?