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<SEC-DOCUMENT>0000950123-10-089526.txt : 20101214
<SEC-HEADER>0000950123-10-089526.hdr.sgml : 20101214
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20100928144344
<PRIVATE-TO-PUBLIC>
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0000950123-10-089526
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	CORRESP
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20100928

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			KORN FERRY INTERNATIONAL
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000056679
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	SERVICES-EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES [7361]
		IRS NUMBER:				952623879
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			DE
		FISCAL YEAR END:			0430

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		CORRESP

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		1900 AVENUE OF THE STARS
		STREET 2:		SUITE 2600
		CITY:			LOS ANGELES
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			90067
		BUSINESS PHONE:		3105521834

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		1900 AVENUE OF THE STARS
		STREET 2:		SUITE 2600
		CITY:			LOS ANGELES
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			90067
</SEC-HEADER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>CORRESP
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>filename1.htm
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<TITLE>Correspondance</TITLE>
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<DIV style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-left: .25in; width: 7.50in">

<DIV align="center" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt">&#091;KORN/FERRY INTERNATIONAL LETTERHEAD&#093;
</DIV>


<DIV align="right" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt">September&nbsp;28, 2010
</DIV>


<DIV align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt">Mr.&nbsp;Eric McPhee<BR>
Staff Accountant<BR>
Division of Corporation Finance<BR>
Securities and Exchange Commission<BR>
100 F Street, N.E.<BR>
Washington, D.C. 20549

</DIV>
<DIV align="center">
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<TR valign="bottom">
    <TD align="right" valign="top"><DIV style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px"><B>Re:</B>
</DIV></TD>
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD align="left" valign="top"><B>Korn/Ferry International</B></TD>
</TR>
<TR valign="bottom" style="padding-top: 1px">
    <TD align="right" valign="top"><DIV style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px">&nbsp;
</DIV></TD>
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD align="left" valign="top"><B>Form&nbsp;10-K for the Fiscal Year ended April&nbsp;30, 2010</B></TD>
</TR>
<TR valign="bottom" style="padding-top: 1px">
    <TD align="right" valign="top"><DIV style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px">&nbsp;
</DIV></TD>
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD align="left" valign="top"><B>Filed June&nbsp;29, 2010</B></TD>
</TR>
<TR valign="bottom" style="padding-top: 1px">
    <TD align="right" valign="top"><DIV style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px">&nbsp;
</DIV></TD>
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD align="left" valign="top"><B>File No.&nbsp;001-14505</B></TD>
</TR>
<!-- End Table Body --></TABLE>
</DIV>


<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt">Dear Mr.&nbsp;McPhee,
</DIV>


<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt; text-indent: 4%">Korn/Ferry International (the &#147;Company&#148;) respectfully submits this letter in response to your
letter dated September&nbsp;15, 2010 with respect to your review of the Company&#146;s response letter dated
August&nbsp;31, 2010, responding to the comment letter dated August&nbsp;10, 2010. Each of your comments
from the September&nbsp;15, 2010 letter is set forth below, followed by our related response.
</DIV>

<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt"><U><B>Form&nbsp;10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended April&nbsp;30, 2010</B></U>
</DIV>


<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt"><U><B>Item&nbsp;7. Management&#146;s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,
page 19</B></U>
</DIV>

<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt"><U><B>Fee Revenue, page 22</B></U>
</DIV>


<DIV style="margin-top: 10pt">
<TABLE width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-size: 10pt">
<TR valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; background: transparent">
    <TD width="3%" nowrap align="left"><B>1.</B></TD>
    <TD width="1%">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD><DIV style="text-align: justify"><B>We have reviewed your response to comment I and note that you believe the increase of $40
million in fee revenue related to 2010 fiscal year acquisitions, or 7% of revenues, is not
material to total fee revenues. While we may not agree with your materiality assessment in
relation to total fee revenues, it is clear that the $40&nbsp;million impact on fee revenues is
material to the change in fee revenues, a decrease of $66&nbsp;million, which exclusive of the new
acquisitions would have been a decrease of $106&nbsp;million, meaning the impact of fee revenues
from 2010 fiscal year acquisitions was to decrease the overall decrease in fee revenues by
38%. As the discussion on page 22 is a discussion of the changes in fee revenue from fiscal
2009 to fiscal 2010, this amount is exceedingly material to that discussion. Please show us
the disclosure you will include in future filings to disclose the impact of these acquisitions
on your fiscal year 2010 fee revenue, and to discuss the 16.6% decrease in fee revenues
exclusive of the acquisitions.</B></DIV></TD>
</TR>

</TABLE>
</DIV><P align="center" style="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;

<P align="center" style="font-size: 10pt"><!-- Folio -->&nbsp;<!-- /Folio -->
</DIV>

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<DIV style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-left: .25in; width: 7.50in">

<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt; text-indent: 3%">Per the Staff&#146;s comment, in the Company&#146;s Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2011, the
Company will revise its disclosure regarding the change in fee revenue from fiscal 2009 to fiscal
2010 to address both the impact of fiscal 2010 acquisitions on fiscal 2010 fee revenue and the
change in fee revenue from fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2010, exclusive of fiscal 2010 acquisitions, as
follows:
</DIV>


<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt; margin-left: 3%"><I>Fee Revenue. </I>Fee revenue decreased $65.8&nbsp;million, or 10%, to $572.4&nbsp;million in
fiscal 2010 compared to $638.2&nbsp;million in fiscal 2009. Excluding fee revenue of
approximately $40&nbsp;million in fiscal 2010 from the acquisition of Whitehead Mann and
Sensa Solutions, fee revenue would have been $532.4&nbsp;million in fiscal 2010, a decrease
of $105.8&nbsp;million, or 16.6% as compared to fiscal 2009. The decrease in fee revenue,
excluding fee revenue from these fiscal 2010 acquisitions, was primarily attributable to
an 8% decrease in the weighted-average fees billed per engagement during fiscal 2010 as
compared to fiscal 2009 and an 8% decrease in the number of executive search engagements
during the same period, both of which were driven by the depressed global economic
conditions in fiscal 2009 and the first half of fiscal 2010, which continue to have an
impact on many of our client&#146;s people initiatives. Exchange rates favorably impacted fee
revenues by $4.4&nbsp;million in fiscal 2010.
</DIV>

<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt; text-indent: 3%">In future filings, to the extent that there are material changes in fee revenue due to
acquisitions, and starting with the Company&#146;s second quarter fiscal 2011 Form10-Q, we will broaden
our discussion of the impact of acquisitions on fee revenue to include a discussion of fee revenue
exclusive of acquisitions.
</DIV>
<P align="center" style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: 3%">&nbsp;

<P align="center" style="font-size: 10pt"><!-- Folio -->2<!-- /Folio -->
</DIV>

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<DIV style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-left: .25in; width: 7.50in">

<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt"><U><B>General and Administrative Expenses, page 24</B></U>
</DIV>


<DIV style="margin-top: 10pt">
<TABLE width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-size: 10pt">
<TR valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; background: transparent">
    <TD width="4%" nowrap align="left"><B>2.</B></TD>
    <TD width="1%">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD><DIV style="text-align: justify"><B>We have reviewed your response to comment 2, and we note that you have attributed the
decrease in your allowance as a percentage of receivables to improving economic conditions and
the write-off of fully reserved accounts receivable. As we understand the decrease in
accounts receivable and difficult economic conditions in fiscal 2009 created an abnormally
high allowance, please tell us why you believe your current allowance is sufficient, and tell
us why your allowance as a percentage of accounts receivable is 43% lower than the average
allowance for the four years previous to fiscal 2009, excluding the impact of the abnormally
high allowance in fiscal 2009. Also, please clarify for us how the $5&nbsp;million written off in
fiscal 2010 is different from the other fully reserved accounts receivable written off each
year, which appear to have been $8.5&nbsp;million, $9.5&nbsp;million and $8.6&nbsp;million in 2010, 2009 and
2008. Please also confirm that the $5&nbsp;million you are referring to is part of the $8.5
million in write-offs disclosed on page F-10 ($7.4&nbsp;million), adjusted for the error of $1.1
million you noted in your response to comment 5.</B></DIV></TD>
</TR>

</TABLE>
</DIV>

<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt; text-indent: 4%">In response to the Staff&#146;s comment, the Company confirms that the $5&nbsp;million of write-offs of
fully reserved accounts in fiscal 2010 is included in the $8.5&nbsp;million in write-offs in fiscal
2010. This $5&nbsp;million differs from other reserved accounts receivable previously written off, in
that this $5&nbsp;million was fully reserved in the prior years, whereas practically all other
write-offs were only partially reserved. This $5&nbsp;million in fully reserved accounts had been
carried on the Company&#146;s subledger for purposes of visibility, but the Company ultimately
determined to write them off as uncollectible in fiscal 2010.
</DIV>

<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt; text-indent: 4%">If this $5&nbsp;million in fully reserved accounts had not been written-off in fiscal 2010, (1)&nbsp;the
allowance for doubtful accounts would have been $11.0&nbsp;million, or 9.7% of gross accounts receivable
as of April&nbsp;30, 2010 (an amount comparable to the allowance for doubtful accounts as a percentage
of gross accounts receivable in fiscal 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, which was 9.7%, 9.4%, 8.4% and
8.8%, respectively), (2)&nbsp;the allowance for doubtful accounts would have increased $1.7&nbsp;million, or
18%, compared to the average allowance for doubtful accounts from fiscal 2005 to 2008, as opposed
to the 43% decrease noted by the Staff and (3)&nbsp;the Company&#146;s actual write-offs would have been
approximately $3.5&nbsp;million in fiscal 2010, a decrease in write-offs of $6.0&nbsp;million as compared to
write-offs in fiscal 2009, or a 63% decrease. This significant decrease in write-offs from fiscal
2009 to fiscal 2010 referenced above resulted from the Company&#146;s implementation of aggressive
collection efforts in early fiscal 2010, as well as improved economic conditions in the second half
of that year. The resulting improvement in write-offs in fiscal 2010 to $3.5&nbsp;million (net of the
$5&nbsp;million write-off of fully reserved accounts receivables described above), coupled with the
improving economic conditions and the Company&#146;s aggressive collection efforts, led to the Company&#146;s
determination that the allowance for doubtful accounts reported in the Company&#146;s Annual Report on
Form 10-K was sufficient. Underscoring this determination was our historical loss experience,
historical percentage of write-offs (net of the $5&nbsp;million write-off of fully reserved accounts
receivable in fiscal 2010) to allowance for doubtful accounts, assessment of the collectability of
specific accounts and our expectations of future collections based upon trends and the type of work
for which services are rendered.
</DIV>
<P align="center" style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: 4%">&nbsp;

<P align="center" style="font-size: 10pt"><!-- Folio -->3<!-- /Folio -->
</DIV>

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<DIV style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-left: .25in; width: 7.50in">


<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt; margin-left: 4%">Per the Staff&#146;s request, we hereby acknowledge that:
</DIV>

<DIV style="margin-top: 10pt">
<TABLE width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-size: 10pt">
<TR valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; background: transparent">
    <TD width="4%" style="background: transparent">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD width="3%" nowrap align="left"><B>&#149;</B></TD>
    <TD width="1%">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD><DIV style="text-align: justify">the Company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in
the filing;</DIV></TD>
</TR>

</TABLE>
</DIV>

<DIV style="margin-top: 10pt">
<TABLE width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-size: 10pt">
<TR valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; background: transparent">
    <TD width="4%" style="background: transparent">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD width="3%" nowrap align="left"><B>&#149;</B></TD>
    <TD width="1%">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD><DIV style="text-align: justify">Staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to Staff comments do not
foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the filing; and</DIV></TD>
</TR>

</TABLE>
</DIV>

<DIV style="margin-top: 10pt">
<TABLE width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-size: 10pt">
<TR valign="top" style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; background: transparent">
    <TD width="4%" style="background: transparent">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD width="3%" nowrap align="left"><B>&#149;</B></TD>
    <TD width="1%">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD><DIV style="text-align: justify">the Company may not assert Staff comments as a defense in any proceeding
initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities laws of the
United States.</DIV></TD>
</TR>

</TABLE>
</DIV>

<DIV align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt; text-indent: 4%">We appreciate the Staff&#146;s responsiveness with respect to the Company&#146;s filing and look forward
to resolving any concerns the Staff may have. If you have any questions, please contact me at
(310)&nbsp;843-4164 or Ari Lanin of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP at (310)&nbsp;552-8581.
</DIV>

<TABLE width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="font-size: 10pt">
<TR>
    <TD width="48%">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD width="1%">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD width="1%">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD width="35%">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD width="15%">&nbsp;</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
    <TD valign="top" align="left">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD colspan="3" align="left">Sincerely,<BR>
&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD>
</TR><TR>
    <TD align="left">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD colspan="3" align="left">/s/ Michael A. DiGregorio
&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD>
</TR><TR>
    <TD align="left">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD colspan="3" align="left">Michael A. DiGregorio&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD>
</TR><TR>
    <TD align="left">&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD colspan="3" align="left">Executive Vice President and Chief<BR>
Financial Officer&nbsp;</TD>
    <TD>&nbsp;</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
    <TD colspan="5">&nbsp;</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>


<P align="center" style="font-size: 10pt">&nbsp;

<P align="center" style="font-size: 10pt"><!-- Folio -->4<!-- /Folio -->
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