Layoffs

Some Staff Layoffs May Follow Dinsmore Acquisition of Woodward Hobson

A growing Cincinnati-based regional law partnership is acquiring a 92-year-old Kentucky firm, enhancing its mass tort and labor and employment practice groups. Although Dinsmore & Shohl will retain all 54 attorneys from Woodward Hobson and Fulton, however, there may be some staff layoffs, Dinsmore managing partner George Vincent tells the…

Aug 21, 2009 8:18 PM CDT

Laid-Off Workers Dress to Impress; ‘You’re Worth It,’ One Tells Friends

Long accustomed to business casual attire at work, a former executive at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide is now dressing to impress at networking meetings after being laid-off. Friends invariably question his new formal look, Michael Guarini tells the the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). But he has a stock response:…

Aug 20, 2009 10:25 PM CDT

Forget St. Barts and Be Grateful You’re Working, Columnist Tells ‘Exhausted’

“Exhausted” from overwork and thinking that layoffs might be imminent, an attorney has written to the Dear Abby of the legal profession, asking whether this might be a good time to quit a law firm job and take a vacation. The answer to that question, says New York Law Journal…

Aug 18, 2009 5:54 PM CDT

Job Seekers Complain to State AGs About Some Search Companies

Several state attorneys general have fielded complaints about job search companies that charge up-front fees for their services to vulnerable unemployed job hunters. Many companies do little more than revise resumés and cover letters, give advice on networking and help job hunters wade through public job listings, the New York…

Aug 17, 2009 6:12 PM CDT

Resumé Tips for Older Job-Hunters: Include Dates, But Not at the Top

How should older workers emphasize experience on their resumés without also emphasizing their age? Legal search consultants Valerie Fontaine and Roberta Kass have an answer: Prepare a resumé that begins with a summary of job skills and functions, emphasizing, perhaps, trial experience, legal expertise and kinds of cases handled. After…

Aug 17, 2009 2:16 PM CDT

No Layoffs at Major Law Firms Last Week, But Are Doldrums Ending?

No news is good news for associates at large law firms. For the first time this year, a week passed without a report of any layoffs at large law firms. Law Shucks reported the news in a blog post that began with just one word: “Hallelujah!” Layoffs slowed in June,…

Aug 17, 2009 1:36 PM CDT

Baker & McKenzie PPP Down 17%, as Global Revenue Drops 3% to $2.11B

Over the past five years, megafirm Baker & McKenzie almost doubled its revenue. But last year didn’t go as well for the Chicago-based international goliath, which earns about two-thirds of its income outside the United States. A disastrous economy and a weak dollar combined to cut the firm’s global revenue…

Aug 14, 2009 10:18 PM CDT

Marathon No Problem for Laid-Off Lawyer, But Finding New Job Is Harder

Lynne Zagami has never been afraid of a challenge. As her resumé notes, she wrestled for four years on her high school’s boys varsity team. Last year, she completed the Boston Marathon. And, after being laid off from a $170,000-a-year job as a corporate associate in the Boston office of…

Aug 14, 2009 8:46 PM CDT

Layoff Expert Offers ‘A Kind Word’ to Worker, Helps the Boss Avoid Liability

Some employers laying off workers take what Kate Wendleton terms the surgical method–ax the employee in 15 seconds or so and then escort him or her to the door. But the New York-based outplacement company for which Hall serves as a co-director takes a different approach. The Five O’Clock Club…

Aug 10, 2009 8:19 PM CDT

Recent Law Grads Pursuing Hard-to-Get Paralegal, Secretary Jobs at Firms

Jessica Sparacino was still a law student when she landed a job as a paralegal at the Jackson Lewis office in Melville, N.Y. She worked there for a year after graduating from Touro College’s Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center before finding a position as a lawyer. She’s one of the…

Aug 6, 2009 4:54 PM CDT

‘Kindest Cut’ at Perkins Coie: Only 3.8% Pay Reduction, No More Layoffs Expected

In a firmwide voice mail today that provided what amounts to good news in the current economy, the managing partner of Perkins Coie announced that there will be an average pay cut of 3.8 percent for law firm associates, effective Sept. 1, but no layoffs are expected. This is a…

Aug 5, 2009 9:37 PM CDT

With Glut of Laid-Off Lawyers, Temp Jobs are Harder to Find—and Pay Less

Despite an increase jobs for temporary attorneys as cost-cutting corporation clients seek to get the same work done for less than they would have to pay a law firm associate or partner, a glut of laid-off lawyers is making it harder to get this kind of work, too. A year…

Aug 4, 2009 8:32 PM CDT

Retirement? What Retirement? Say Some Partners of a Certain Age

Accelerating an earlier trend, the economic debacle of the past year or so is making it difficult for a number of 60-something attorneys who might otherwise be thinking of retirement to unplug their legal careers. With retirement account balances down and—for some—compensation declining to boot, a number of law firm…

Aug 4, 2009 6:45 PM CDT

Questions Older Lawyers Should Answer Before Beginning a Job Search

Older lawyers hitting the job market need to think about their goals and preferences and be ready to explain to employers why older workers may be better employees. Older workers may face bias from potential employers who worry that they won’t adapt to new technologies or won’t be mentally sharp,…

Aug 3, 2009 1:05 PM CDT

Laid-Off Pillsbury Associate Manages Bands, Finds Entertainment Clients

An associate laid off in March from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman hasn’t given up on his dream to represent entertainment clients. Brandon Dorsky, formerly a member of Pillsbury’s intellectual property practice group, turned down a job offer at a Cleveland law firm and opted to stay in California, the American…

Aug 3, 2009 12:23 PM CDT