It costs that much just to hire a new person on average, I'd imagine it would be even higher for lawyers. Basically, instead of laying people off and re-hiring

It costs that much just to hire a new person on average, I'd imagine it would be even higher for lawyers. Basically, instead of laying people off and re-hiring them when the time is right, they're spending the capital up front to create a pool of "firm approved" candidates. (It's not a flat 80K, it's 1/3 of salary - so cheaper people actually cost less to rehire than it would to go through the process after a lay off.) Smart business running, but not exactly a great career move if you want to do well there.