Law firm faces suit for underpaying older attorneys 

Posted: 1:00 am Mon, February 8, 2010
By Minnesota Lawyer

The EEOC has filed a claim against a law firm for age discrimination and retaliation for the way it compensated attorneys older than 70.

“This lawsuit should serve as a wake-up call for law firms to examine their own practices to ensure they comport with federal law,” EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru said in a press release.

The complaint alleges that Kelley Drye & Warren, an international law firm with its primary office in New York, significantly underpays attorneys who practice past age 70 compared to similarly productive younger attorneys, in violation of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

According to the complaint, the firm requires all partners to give up their ownership interest after age 70 and, if they continue to work, they are paid an annual bonus left up to the discretion of the firm’s executive committee.

The complaint alleges that one of the firm’s attorneys, Eugene T. D’Ablemont, who has practiced there for over 40 years, had his salary reduced in 2001 when he turned 70, even though he routinely obtained over $1 million in fees annually from his clients. D’Ablemont also claimed that the firm further reduced his compensation in 2008 after he complained about the practice.

In 2007, the EEOC obtained a $27.5 million consent decree in a similar case against the law firm Sidley Austin. (Source: Lawyers USA)