Layoffs

Philly Firms WolfBlock and Drinker Biddle Said to Cut Associates

Pennsylvania may be more insulated from Wall Street’s woes, but that apparently hasn’t stopped two Philadelphia-based law firms from cutting associates. On Friday, WolfBlock laid off 15 associates and Drinker Biddle & Reath laid off about 20 lawyers, according to the blog Above the Law. The Legal Intelligencer sought to…

Dec 16, 2008 12:58 PM CST

How Lawyers Survive Being Fired; Like Riding in a Careening Car, One Says

It’s been well over 10 years since attorney Deb Volberg Pagnotta was fired from her job as acting general counsel of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. But the experience—which she describes as “like being in a car that’s careening out of control”—still stings. As a result, however,…

Dec 12, 2008 10:28 PM CST

About 200 Thelen and Heller Lawyers Still Looking for a Job

About 200 lawyers who worked at the dissolving law firms Heller Ehrman and Thelen are still looking for new jobs. About 130 of Thelen’s 400 lawyers are still associated with the firm and are likely looking for work, the National Law Journal reports. And 81 out of Heller’s 550 lawyers…

Dec 12, 2008 4:07 PM CST

Strong Law Firms Stress Productivity Above Collegiality, Consultant Says

Many partners will pick collegiality as the most important element of a strong law firm culture. But a consultant whose firm advised two dissolving law firms would disagree. Peter Zeughauser lists four essential ingredients of a strong law firm culture, and collegiality isn’t among them. His article in the American…

Dec 11, 2008 4:38 PM CST

Howrey Axes About 10 Associates; Not Layoffs But ‘Outplacement’

About 10 associates are being let go at Howrey as the year draws to a close. However, these aren’t layoffs but “an outplacement of some associates based on performance issues,” an unnamed law firm spokesperson tells Above the Law. The firm is doing well financially, and, unlike many of its…

Dec 10, 2008 10:49 PM CST

Battling for Scarce Legal Work, Associates Vie for Paralegal Tasks

Once upon a time, law firm associates turned up their noses at the prospect of performing document reviews and writing deposition summaries. But that’s not as true now that the economy is in a tailspin. Many associates without enough work to do are willingly taking on tasks traditionally performed by…

Dec 10, 2008 10:30 PM CST

Following Layoffs, Sonnenschein Chair Predicts Banner Year in 2009

Despite lawyer and staff layoffs earlier this year, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal is growing and is expecting a banner year in 2009, says the firm’s chairman, Elliott Portnoy. After laying off 37 attorneys and 87 staff in May (plus making additional layoffs in October), the 660-lawyer law firm has added…

Dec 9, 2008 5:42 PM CST

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…

Dec 9, 2008 4:48 PM CST

Prosecutors and PDs Fired in Fla. Consider Lawsuits

A newly elected public defender and state attorney in Florida’s Fourth Circuit in Jacksonville, Fla., have fired more than 20 lawyers in their offices, prompting threats of lawsuits. Public Defender Matt Shirk fired 10 lawyers, while State Attorney Angela Corey says she refused to keep about 15 percent of the…

Dec 8, 2008 1:10 PM CST

Boston Firm Axes 40 Support Staff

No lawyers were let go this week from Boston’s Goulston & Storrs, but some 40 administrative staff and paralegals were given pink slips. Co-managing partner Kitt Sawitsky told the Boston Business Journal that the cuts corrected an overstaffing of secretaries at the firm. Now the secretary to attorney ratio at…

Dec 5, 2008 8:12 PM CST

Legal Employment Down 12,000 Jobs in Last Year

The number of people working in legal services has dropped by nearly 12,000 in the last year, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ seasonally adjusted numbers, which include nonlawyers, went from 1,175,200 in November 2007 to 1,163,500 this year. In the last month, losses…

Dec 5, 2008 5:02 PM CST

Proskauer Rose Says 35 Associate Layoffs Due in Part to Low Attrition Rate

Many law firms are attributing lawyer layoffs to the economic downturn. The latest law firm to announce layoffs is citing an additional reason: Fewer associates are voluntarily leaving the law firm. In a statement issued yesterday, Proskauer Rose said it is laying off 35 associates and 25 administrative staffers, the…

Dec 5, 2008 12:28 PM CST

Reed Smith Cuts 115 Support Staff, 11 Associates

BigLaw firm Reed Smith, just in the news for picking up laterals from Thelen, is tightening up elsewhere by cutting support staff and associates. The firm announced today in a firmwide memo first reported on the legal tabloid Above the Law that because of the economic downturn, it is letting…

Dec 3, 2008 11:19 PM CST

Lawyer Trainees at Cadwalader’s London Office Won’t Get Job Offers

Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft won’t be making job offers to three trainees at its London office who are due to qualify in March 2009. Cadwalader is one of the city’s first leading law firms to inform trainees that they won’t get a permanent job, Legal Week reports. The law firm…

Dec 1, 2008 11:46 AM CST

Report Notes ‘Swelling of Unproductive Associates’

Productivity at the top 100 law firms was down 6.5 percent in the third quarter, indicating that there are too many associates with too little work to do, according to a new report. Mark Medice, the national manager of the West Peer Monitor Index, told the National Law Journal that…

Nov 26, 2008 3:17 PM CST