After last week’s layoff bloodbath in the US some may have thought the worst had come….
This article in the Legal Times suggests that this isn’t the case according to industry specialists.
Brutal Week May Not Be the End of Law Firm Layoffs
Jeff Jeffrey
Legal Times
February 17, 2009
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202428308454&rss=newswire
Even in the darkest days of the dot-com bust earlier this decade or in the recession of the early 1990s, there was never a day like Thursday in the world of law firms.
In the space of a few hours, some 300 lawyers — the equivalent of a midsize firm — were handed pink slips around the country. And by the close of business on Friday the 13th, more than 1,100 lawyers and staff had either been fired or asked to consider buyouts.
Washington, no longer recession-proof, took a fair share of the pain — with 149 D.C. staff at Hogan & Hartson offered buyouts and dozens more attorneys and staff at Holland & Knight, Dechert, Bryan Cave, and DLA Piper let go. All told, nearly 250 lawyers and staff in Washington were affected.
"Everyone was very shocked," says one of the laid-off Dechert associates in D.C., where at least four lawyers were let go. "There was a prior layoff last year, but we were still caught off-guard."
Unfortunately, more surprises may be on the way. The layoffs last week are "going to accelerate the decision by other law firms to lay people off," says Jerry Kowalski, a New York-based legal consultant.
Full article at the link above
