Wake Up Call: Big Firm Delays Associate Start, Blames Slowdown

In today’s column, UK telecom giant Vodafone hired a new general counsel; victims’ families filed lawsuits against Smith & Wesson in the Highland Park Fourth of July shooting; and a Miami private equity firm is funding a new Arizona law firm.

• Leading off, Silicon Valley firm Gunderson Dettmer has postponed the arrival of its first-year associates, citing a “significant” slowdown in its demand. The firm, which adopted the Cravath pay scale for associates in March, is delaying the planned Oct. 31 firmwide start date to Jan. 17, 2023. The move comes as legal recruiters say that “demand for associates no ...