The latest string of US & UK layoff news follows
Above The Law has its usual string of reports
Goldberg Kohn, a Chicago law firm with 77 lawyers, last week cut about one-quarter of its associates and dismissed support staff as part of a cost-savings effort that will also include reducing pay and scaling back its summer associate program.
Quinn Cuts ‘A Handful of People’: We’ve collected a number of layoff reports coming out of Quinn Emanuel the past couple of days. Overall, the numbers are a lot lower than what we’ve been seeing coming out of California. But it appears that some layoffs have occurred.
Our sources report that 6 people from the firm’s Silicon Valley office have been informed that they will be let go in the next couple of months. Multiple independent sources also report that 20 – 25 people have been let go from the firm’s Los Angeles office since the first of the year.
On Friday Ballard Spahr told its incoming class that it is delaying start dates until September 2010. There will be a $45,000 stipend offered…. The firm claims it will try to help the incoming associates find these jobs.
Also Bloomberg has published an article on the subject of law firm layoffs entitled .. here’s an extract
Law Firms Cut Partner Pay as Recession Erodes Fees (Update1)
By Lindsay Fortado
March 24 (Bloomberg) — DLA Piper LLP, Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP and Allen & Overy LLP are among the largest global law firms that are cutting partner pay for the first time in anticipation of a drop in revenue.
Firms have been firing associates and cutting staff for more than a year as they face revenue declines of about 15 percent in 2009, said New York-based legal consultant Bruce MacEwen. Some are shortening summer training for law students, pushing back start dates for new hires, and offering buyouts or sabbaticals. Now, cost-cutting has come to the corner office.
Law firm partners, who own their firms and whose median earnings at the 100 leading U.S. firms was $1.2 million in 2007, are often paid on expectations for yearly revenue. Dewey & LeBoeuf, based in New York, has cut the pay of about one-fifth of its 350 partners, and London-based Allen & Overy is shedding 47 partners and trimming the equity share of 37. The median is based on compilations in the American Lawyer, a trade magazine.
“It’s hard to get rid of a partner, so cutting pay is a simple way of sending a message that maybe people ought to think about moving toward the door,” said MacEwan, a lawyer since the early 1980s. “There’s no real loyalty to partners these days. It’s driven, for better or worse, by economics.” MacEwan said he’s never seen firms cut partner pay in bulk.
Full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=asYXXjubEzm4&refer=home
In the UK The Lawyer reports
Watson Burton in redundancy talks with 75
Newcastle-headquartered Watson Burton has commenced a second round of redundancy talks that could see up to 75 people leave the firm.
The firm said it was a "necessary but regrettable" response to the recession, adding that its offices in Newcastle, Leeds and London would all be affected to some degree.
The firm said there would be no office closures and training and recruitment would be ongoing, with five trainees joining the firm in September.
http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=137265&d=415&h=417&f=416
And also in the Lawyer it looks as though we should be seeing some parter heads roll at Clifford Chance soon
CC restructure given green light by partners
Margaret Taylor 23-Mar-2009
Clifford Chance partners have voted in favour of amending their partnership agreement to allow management to forge ahead with a partnership cull.
Firmwide managing partner David Childs had asked for partner approval so he and the management committee can begin dramatically scaling back the firm’s partnership. Last month the firm’s management told partners that it plans to "review the shape and size" of its partnership in the coming months (4 February).
A Clifford Chance spokesperson said: "The proposed review of the size and shape of the Clifford Chance partnership is now underway.
http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=137259&d=415&h=417&f=416
