Are Attorney Layoffs Over for 2008?
After lawyer layoffs at a number of well-known firms this year, many attorneys aren’t as confident as they’d like to be about the stability of their jobs. And, although the holiday season has traditionally been a time when law firms, like other companies, avoided giving anyone pink slips, there are no guarantees that practice will continue given today’s harsh economic realities.
But experts say lawyer layoffs may nonetheless be over for the year, because it would make the most sense economically for firms that have to let attorneys go to do so in November. This way, they can charge all severance and related costs on their books for 2008, which is already established as a difficult year economically, and set up a clean slate for improved financial performance in 2009, explains the National Law Journal.
“My hunch is that most firms that will do layoffs have done them already,” James Jones, a vice president of the Hildebrandt International consulting firm, tells the legal publication. “It’s just kind of lousy to lay people off before Christmas, and also I think there is that logistical issue.”
