There are two tracks for compensation at Hogan: a below-market track for associates who bill 1,800 hours and another, market-level track for those who bill 1,950 hours.  However, if an associate on the 1,800-hour track actually ends up billing over 1,950 hours, the firm will make up the difference at year end, and the associate will be eligible for a bonus.  The firm has instituted a salary freeze, and associates will remain at the same salary level for all of 2009.  In April 2009, the firm announced that it would be downgrading all associates who were not projected to meet the 1,950 billable hoursrequirement based on their past five months of work to the 1,800 hour track compensation.  Associates who bill a minimum of 1,851 hours are eligible for a bonus, while those who bill at least 1,951 hours are eligible for a market-level bonus.  The unique structure tends to benefit those who bill in the 2,000-hour range but does not provide much incentive to those associates who bill far above that level.

In addition to a weeklong firm-wide training for new associates, a formal mentoring program, and individualized associate professional development plans, the firm operates the H&H Academy, a formal training institution offering training in both substantive areas and general lawyering skills.  Despite the breadth of training, Lateral Link Members report that associate development at the firm "is what you make of it" and that "the mentoring program works for some much more than others [and] is really relationship driven."  Junior associates at the firm can opt to rotate through departments during their first year, and work is typically assigned by a staffing partner within each practice group.  Lateral Link Members say that the firm gives associates "a lot of autonomy and a lot of responsibility from the beginning," and the attorneys who flourish at the firm are those "who can manage their own time and who are responsible for their own schedules."  While Lateral Link Members report that associates typically "work only within their assigned practice groups," one real estate associate notes that recently, "junior associates [in the real estate department] have been farmed out to other groups as much as possible."  In April 2009, the firm laid off almost 100 staff employees, and in early July 2009, 30 senior associates were laid off, with the stated reason for the terminations being that there is no room for advancement, rather than economic reasons.  Lateral Link Members advise that the mood at the firm is "somber."  One member opines that "the salary freeze didn't go over well and...generally, associates would like other associates who are not producing to be laid off or associates consistently not making their hours to be bumped to the lower bill track instead of cutting salaries for everyone."

Associates can choose between an 1,800- and a 1,950-billable-hour track.  The consequence for not reaching the chosen hours requirement varies from being dropped down to the lower hours track to not receiving a bonus to not advancing with the class.

Lateral Link Members report that there is no major pressure to put in face time and the firm treats associates "like...adult[s]; if you get your work done, nobody really cares where it is done as long as you are meeting deadlines and providing quality and timely" product.  The firm provides four weeks of annual vacation time, up to 10 days of which automatically roll over.  Generally, associates are not expected to work during vacation, and if they are required to work during any part of vacation, they will be re-credited for that vacation day.  Lateral Link Members report that they regularly work on weekends but almost always manage to do so from home.  The firm has a formal part-time policy and considers part-time requests on a case-by-case basis; more than 6% of associates and partners work on a part-time schedule.  Part-time lawyers may count up to 20 hours of pro bono work towards satisfying their billable hour requirements.  Additionally, part-time attorneys who exceed their proportional hours requirement are eligible for a prorated bonus.

The firm has a separate practice group, the Community Services Department, staffed by a partner and several associates, devoted exclusively to providing pro bono legal services and facilitating other pro bono efforts by firm attorneys.  Lateral Link Members say the firm has a "very robust" pro bono practice, and over 70% of associates at the firm provide an average of 78 hours each of pro bono work annually.  The firm will credit up to 100 hours of pro bono work for attorneys who bill at least 1,800 hours annually. 

The firm has two promotional tracks:  of counsel and partner.  Associates will be considered for of counsel positions eight years after law school graduation.  Attorneys working at least a two-thirds part-time schedule remain eligible for partner.

Benefits at Hogan & Hartson include a cafeteria in the Washington, DC, office; firm-wide retreats; regular happy hours; subsidized gym memberships in the New York, Denver, and Washington, DC, offices; a childcare subsidy and backup childcare; $5,000 of financial aid per adoption; and a laptop subsidy.  All new associates receive a bar stipend, as well as moving expenses, and the firm offers direct billing with preferred movers in all offices.

Hogan & Hartson offers summer associate programs in its Baltimore, Colorado, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC, offices. Summer associates are assigned work by an attorney summer coordinator and are expected to complete 10 to 15 assignments in various practice areas over the course of the summer. In addition, substantive and professional development training sessions are held every week or two for summer associates. The firm provides summer associates with BlackBerrys. Lateral Link Members in the summer program praise the "real" work that is "truly interesting," as well as the attorneys at all levels, who are "always willing to sit down and talk" with summer associates. However, one Lateral Link Member warns that summer associates are expected to put in "very long hours" on projects and typically do not leave the office until between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m., sometimes not at all: "Probably 80% of the summer class has pulled at least [one] all-nighter." Summer associates can attend an unlimited number of attorney lunches, and the firm hosts weekly social events such as softball games and partner dinners. The firm recently announced that it would be delaying the start date for the class of 2009 to November 30, 2009, as well as delaying the start date for the class of 2010 until sometime in 2011.  In 2008, the firm hired 13 first-year associates from Harvard, more than from any other law school.