JD Journal » laid-off associates

Akerman Senterfitt Cuts 5 Associates

Erik Even — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:06:51 +0000

Florida’s Akerman Senterfitt, which in July announced a 10% cut in associate salaries, has laid off five associates.

Two of the five let go are first-years.

Akerman Senterfitt was founded in 1920, and has grown to become one of the largest law firms in the United States. In 2008, the National Law Journal ranked the firm as 92nd largest in the US by number of attorneys, and the second-largest Florida-based firm.

The firm employs 500 lawyers across offices in Los Angeles, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Tallahassee, West Palm Beach, New York City, Washington DC; Tyson’s Corner, Virginia; and Madison, Wisconsin.

Tipster: More Layoffs at Fulbright & Jaworski

Erik Even — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:56:25 +0000

Last week, we reported that Fulbright & Jaworski has laid off six associates and four staff at its Los Angeles office.

Now a JDJournal tipster tells us that the firm cut 10 support staff from its San Antonio, Texas office; eight from New York; and 24 from Dallas, including 20 secretaries, one recruiter, one accountant, a legal assistant and an IT help desk person.

The tipster also adds that “although attorneys in Dallas have not been laid off to my knowledge, some have been ‘asked to leave.’”

Thanks for the tip!

If you have any additional details about layoffs at Fulbright & Jaworski, please — send us a confidential tip!

Founded in 1919, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP employs over 1,000 lawyers in 16 locations in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Denver, Dubai, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Munich, New York, Riyadh, San Antonio, St. Louis and Washington, DC.

Fulbright & Jaworski Lays Off 6 Associates, 4 Staff

Erik Even — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:18:03 +0000

Blawgs are reporting that Fulbright & Jaworski has laid off six associates and four staff at its Los Angeles office.

Five of the associates targeted were first-years.

If you have any details about layoffs at Fulbright & Jaworski, please — send us a confidential tip!

DLA Piper Cuts 22 in Middle East

Erik Even — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:37:15 +0000

DLA Piper, which in April laid off eight associates in Dubai, is making another 22 positions redundant in its Middle East offices.

Those affected are one partner, eight non-partner lawyers, and 13 staff. One third of the layoffs are in the Dubai office.

The firm has offices in Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Kuwait.

DLA Piper is one of the largest law firms in the world, and is (or at least was) the only firm with more than 3,700 lawyers in North America and Europe.

WilmerHale Asks Lawyers to Please Go Away Soon

Erik Even — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:08:53 +0000

WilmerHale has informed an undisclosed number of associates and counsel that they will lose their jobs this Fall. The firm stresses that these are not “layoffs,” although rational persons are hard-pressed to tell the difference.

Those affected are being given “a number of months” to find new jobs. The cuts are the result of a new “up or out” program. If a lawyer is not promoted within a certain time frame, he or she is asked to leave the firm.

In April, WilmerHale deferred start dates for its 2009 associate class.

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP has twelve offices across the US, Europe and Asia. It was created in 2004 through the merger of the Boston’s Hale & Dorr and the Washington’s Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, and employs more than 1,100 attorneys worldwide. As of 2008, it was the 23rd largest law firm in the world in terms of revenue. In 2007, the National Law Journal ranked the firm as the 22nd largest in the United States by number of attorneys.

Mayer Brown Finds Work for Laid Off Associates

Erik Even — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:23:52 +0000

When Mayer Brown laid off 45 lawyers and 90 staff in April, it promised “placement opportunities with pro bono organizations and corporate legal departments for some associates.”

The firm has come through on its promise for nine former associates, who have been placed in year-long, in-house jobs at seven Mayer Brown corporate clients. The law firm will pay the lawyers a $60,000 salary plus benefits.

The firm also placed five laid-off associates at public interest organizations.

Mayer Brown is one of the largest global law firms both by number of lawyers and revenue. The firm has over 1,800 lawyers in key business centers across the Americas, Asia and Europe

Hunton & Williams Lays Off 23 Lawyers, 64 Staff

Erik Even — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:49:13 +0000

Virginia’s Hunton & Williams has laid off 87 people across its US offices.

From the memo:

Today, we reduced approximately 23 associate and counsel positions and 64 staff positions in our U.S. offices. The reductions are spread among most of our teams and offices. We did not come to this very difficult decision lightly. We have, over the past many months, taken aggressive steps to manage our expenses with a principal goal being to avoid across the board layoffs.

What’s the difference between this and “across the board layoffs?”

While the firm remains financially strong, the prolonged nature of this economic downturn, its depth, and its impact on the demand for legal services, has caused us to conclude that we must take this additional step in order to better align our capacity with present and anticipated client needs. The affected attorneys and staff are talented individuals who have made valuable contributions to the firm. We are dedicated to doing whatever we can to help them with their transition.

Severance packages are being offered.

Founded in 1901, Richmond, Virginia-based Hunton & Williams has 19 offices and about 1,000 lawyers worldwide.

Fenwick & West Lays Off 15 Associates, 7 Staffers

Erik Even — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:13:27 +0000

The Bay Area’s Fenwick & West, which in January laid off 36 staff and froze associate salaries, has laid off 15 associates and seven staffers.

According to online sources, the firm is also laying off an undisclosed number of corporate of counsel.

Founded in 1972, Fenwick & West LLP is a full service law firm focusing on technology and life sciences clients. The corporate, intellectual property, litigation and tax groups service clients from a wide range of additional industries. Approximately 300 attorneys work from offices in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, California; Boise, Idaho; and Seattle, Washington. The firm is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

Saul Ewing Lays Off 7 Associates, 7 Staff

Erik Even — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:07:32 +0000

Philadelphia’s Saul Ewing has laid off seven lawyers and seven staff.

All of the lawyers are associates and come from various practice groups. All but one were located in Philadelphia, with the other based in Washington, DC.

The staff members were spread throughout the firm’s offices.

Saul Ewing has roughly 260 lawyers and 275 staff.

Founded in 1863, Saul Ewing LLP has eight mid-Atlantic regional offices in Baltimore; Chesterbrook and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Newark; New York City; Princeton; Washington, DC; and Wilmington, Delaware.

Breaking: Paul Hastings Lays Off 10 Associates in Atlanta

Erik Even — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 23:20:38 +0000

Tipsters tell Above the Law that Paul Hastings’ Atlanta office is going through a round of layoffs, and ten associates have been let go. That’s 15% of the associates in that office.

The firm told ATL:

As in previous years, there is some limited turnover taking place in our Atlanta office as part of our annual performance evaluation process, as well as from attrition.

And tipsters tell ATL that employees are upset there has been no official announcement.

Los Angeles’ Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP is a leading international law firm with over 1,300 attorneys and 18 offices worldwide.

Via ATL.

Tip: Duval & Stachenfeld Laying Off 1st & 2nd Year Associates

Erik Even — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:48:39 +0000

New York City’s Duval & Stachenfeld is laying off an undisclosed number of first and second year associates, according to a JDJournal tipster.

If you know anything about what’s going on at Duvall & Stachenfeld, please contact us confidentially.

Founded in 1997, Duval & Stachenfeld LLP provides legal advisory services. The firm focuses on areas such as bankruptcy, litigation, real estate, restructuring, securities and construction.

ATL: Blank Rome May Lay Off Up to 50 Associates

Erik Even — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:30:12 +0000

Above the Law, always the first to hear about law firm layoffs, informs the blogosphere that Philadelphia’s Blank Rome is kicking at least 12 associates to the curb:

As we continue to focus on helping our clients manage through these challenging economic times, and in order to position the Firm for continued success in 2009, it is important that we take the necessary steps to adjust our attorney and staff complements in the context of our clients’ current and anticipated needs. These are purely economic decisions – this is a group of talented attorneys and staff who have made valuable contributions to our Firm.

Our tipsters report that at least 12 associates and staff have been let go so far. But:

Also, there is an unconfirmed report that when this ends the total of layoffs will be 50. Good lord.

Blank Rome LLP is the 84th largest law firm in the US according to the AmLaw 100. It employs about 500 at its eight offices in the US and Kong Kong.

If you know anything about layoffs at Blank Rome, or about layoffs in general, or about anything at all, let us know!

How Should Law Firms Deal With a 0% Attrition Rate?

Erik Even — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:10:46 +0000

From Bruce MacEwen’s blog:

An unspoken, and certainly uncelebrated, aspect of the law firm associate personnel model is built-in attrition. “Built-in” can have two traditional meanings, and one new one:

Traditional A: They wash out of their own accord, because of a variety of factors…

Traditional B: They’re not cutting it and they’re excused.

New Meaning: There has been zero attrition.

Welcome to the new reality of attrition. There isn’t any. I was recently talking with the Chair of a firm that would normally experience the departures of 30 or 40 associates over a typical six months. For the past six months? Zero: Not one. The concept of “built-in” attrition is suddenly broken.

So: What to do?

Read the rest.

Cadwalader and the Crystal Ball

admin — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:27:06 +0000

When the clock strikes midnight on December 31st and 2009 is rung in, don’t expect to see Cadwalader lamenting over the passage of time. By all accounts, Cadwalader has had a terrible year. Not only have they laid off an incredible amount of associates – many of whom remain unemployed – in two rounds of layoffs, but they have recently been hemorrhaging partners. Just this week, another partner departure was announced. Francis Seraboli, a healthcare partner, is joining Greenberg Traurig. Three other partners have also announced their departures. Hmmm . . .

Clearly, Cadwalader must be on the lookout for fresh partner talent to bolster their financials. Query who, with a vibrant book of business, would join them? Thelen, anyone? In the year before its demise, Thelen was recruiting partners. Is this a case of deja vu?

Believe me, 2009 promises to be an interesting year for Cadwalader. Do you think that the firm will survive to ring in 2010? Keep on the lookout for defecting partners – that is a good key to the financial health of any firm and its prospects for a prosperous future.

I wonder what the 131 laid-off associates think about this predicament. Schadenfreude perhaps?