JD Journal » information technology

WilmerHale Opening New Center in Ohio

joshua — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:48:37 +0000

WilmerHale announced its opening a business services center in Dayton, Ohio. The center will open officially in September and will house approximately 187 workers. Employees will come from existing WilmerHale offices as well as new employees from the Dayton area, the firm said in a press release.

The business services center will place the firm’s administrative support staff into one central location. It will include services such as finance, human resources, information technology services, operations, document reviews and management. It is hoped the center will bring improved efficiency to the administrative staff while significantly reducing operational expenses.

WilmerHale employees impacted by the decision have been offered the opportunity to transfer to the business services center.

WilmerHale is an international law firm with 1,100 attorneys. It has domestic offices in Boston, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Calif., Waltham, Mass. Its international offices are located in London, Brussels, Berlin, Beijing, Oxford and Frankfurt.

Morning Roundup

sara — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:50:07 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Friday, February 26, and here’s a quick look back at yesterday’s news…

A judge ordered the shutdown of debt settlement firm Allegro Law LLC…

Motley Rice LLC and Burke PLLC have joined forces to pursue claims for clients in the Kellogg, Brown, and Root, Inc., Burn Pit multidistrict litigation…

Jeff Roberts joins Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s London office as a partner…

Loretta Lau has joined Goodwin Procter’s Hong Kong office as a corporate finance partner…

Steve Betensky resigns as chair of White & Case’s global information technology practice…

Revenue and profits improve at Wiley Rein…

McGuireWoods sees increases in profits per partner and gross revenues but declines in net profits and revenue per lawyer…

Former FCC Chair Reed Hundt is Moving to Skadden Arps

joshua — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:50:50 +0000

Reed Hundt, FCC Chairman from 1993 to 1997, announced at a panel on the regulatory process at a Yale Law School Alumni function that he is joining Skadden. The announcement came after the moderator introduced him as a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company. No news yet on which office or practice group(s) Hundt will join, but the Washington DC office seems a safe bet, and Skadden has an information technology practice group and a media and entertainment practice as well. Prior to his stint at the FCC, Chariman Hundt was a partner at Latham & Watkins where he was involved in legal and regulatory issues in emerging technologies.

Addleshaw Lays Off 85 Staff

Erik Even — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:42:27 +0000

Addleshaw Goddard, one of Britain’s largest firms, which announced in February it would cut 19 partners, has now announced the redundancies of 85 staff positions.

The layoffs target the firm’s Manchester office, and affect the business services division, including business development, human resources, information technology, finance, and secretarial.

No lawyers are being let go at this time, but the firm is instituting a salary freeze, and cutting pay for trainees. Addleshaw is also considering cutting hours.

Addleshaw Goddard LLP is a UK law firm, with almost 750 lawyers and 1,350 staff, based in Leeds, London and Manchester. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of Addleshaw Booth & Co with Theodore Goddard.

According to The Lawyer, a UK legal newspaper, Addleshaw Goddard was ranked 15th largest law firm in the UK by turnover in 2006.

Allen & Overy to Outsource More Work

Erik Even — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:21:23 +0000

Allen & Overy plans to outsource more of its “back office” work, particularly due diligence and litigation discovery, to other firms.

The Magic Circle firm already outsources information technology and document production to outside companies.

In February the firm announced a massive redundancy consultation targeting 450 jobs. They have also frozen pay and billing rates at 2008 levels.

Founded in 1930, Allen & Overy has approximately 5,500 staff and 31 offices worldwide.

Clifford Chance to Cut 115 Staffers

Erik Even — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:15:40 +0000

Clifford Chance has announced further cuts to its London office, with the Magic Circle firm set to make up to 115 business support staff redundant.

The firm started reviewing its 1,200 strong London business support staff earlier this year, with details emerging today that between 105 and 115 positions will be cut.

The job cuts, which come on top of a separate redundancy program for London lawyers that is expected to result in 80 job cuts, will affect all business support functions in London other than IT.

Clifford Chance is appointing employee representatives from functions including human resources, secretarial, mail room, building maintenance, finance, business development, and education and training departments. The representatives will communicate with staff and give feedback to the firm over the 90-day consultation period.

IT staff are subject to a separate consultation of the firm’s offshore global services center, which is expected to lead to a number of job losses and some positions being sent to India.

The firm declined to comment about cuts to its international offices.

In addition to the business support and associate job cuts, Clifford Chance is also mid-way through a wide-scale review of the firm’s partnership, which is expected to see a number of salaried and equity partners expelled.

Associates Have to Make Do With Fewer Staffers

Erik Even — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:46:57 +0000

Layoffs of legal support staffers have pushed the staffing ratios at some law firms to one support staffer for every four lawyers.

The layoffs are forcing associates to take on more legal research and other tasks once handled by paralegals and law librarians.

David Sturgess, managing partner of Updike, Kelly & Spellacy in Hartford, said his firm has a ratio of one support staffer for every three lawyers after layoffs, but he knows of some firms with 1-4 ratios.

Law firm consultant Peter Giuliani said many of the staff cuts are being made in departments handling information technology, billing or other areas that can be outsourced. In New York, he said, many law firms made significant layoffs in their law libraries.

For the most part though, firms aren’t cutting secretaries. “In my experience, secretaries are usually a protected class,” Giuliani said.