JD Journal » laid off attorneys

Eckert Seamans Cancels 2010 Summer Program

Erik Even — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:32:54 +0000

Eckert Seamans, which laid off 90 temporary attorneys in July, has canceled its 2010 Summer associates program.

Other than a terse announcement on its website, the firm has made no official statement.

Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC is a national full-service law firm based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with two offices located in the Pittsburgh area and eight other offices located throughout the eastern United States.

Baker & McKenzie Profits Down 17%

Erik Even — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:17:11 +0000

Baker & McKenzie reports its average profits per equity partner in fiscal 2008 fell 17%, to $992,000. Revenue was down 3.5% to $2.11 billion.

The firm, which in April laid off 38 attorneys and 86 paralegals, has taken a number of other cost cutting measures.

Baker & McKenzie was founded in Chicago in 1949 by Russell Baker and John McKenzie. One of the first law firms to be truly global, it employs more than 3,900 lawyers in more than 70 offices in 39 countries.

Nixon Peabody Hires Partners from McKee Nelson

Erik Even — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:35:32 +0000

Nixon Peabody, which in February laid off 56 attorneys and staff, has hired away two partners from McKee Nelson.

Keith Krasney and Peter Morreale will head up Nixon Peabody’s securitization and structured finance team. Krasney will work out of New York City, while Morreale will set up shop in Washington DC.

Nixon Peabody LLP is one of the largest multi-practice law firms in the US, with offices in seventeen cities in the United States and one in London, and more than seven hundred attorneys in twenty-five major practice areas.

Proskauer Rose Defers Summers to Fall 2011

Erik Even — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:30:27 +0000

New York’s Proskauer Rose, which in March laid off 23 attorneys, is deferring its current Summer associates to Fall 2011.

Proskauer has not announced how many Summers will get job offers, and there has so far been no mention of stipends or fellowships.

The firm deferred its 2009 incoming associates class to March 2010 with a $20,000 stipend; those who deferred voluntarily to January 2011 got a $60,000 stipend.

If you have any information about deferrals at Proskauer Rose, send us a confidential tip!

Founded in 1875, Proskauer Rose, formerly known as Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn, is one of the United States’ largest law firms, with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Boston, Boca Raton, Chicago, Newark, New Orleans, São Paulo, London, Hong Kong, and Paris.

Schulte Roth & Zabel Not Extending Job Offers to Summers

Erik Even — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:36:36 +0000

New York City’s Schulte Roth & Zabel, which in April laid off 20 attorneys and deferred 2009 associates to 2010, has informed its current Summer associates that no job offers will be made at this time.

Usually, the firm extends job offers for the next year to Summer associates at the end of the program, which concludes this week.

The firm says it will make some offers eventually, but no decisions have been made as to how many, or if any start dates will be deferred.

If you have any details about Summer associate hiring at Schulte, please — send us a confidential tip!

Schulte Roth & Zabel is one of the top 100 largest law firms by revenue. The firm was founded in New York City in 1969 and launched in London in 2002. The firm also has an office in Washington, DC. Schulte employs nearly 450 attorneys in its three offices.

Fennemore Craig Cuts 7 Lawyers, 10 Staff

Erik Even — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:40:46 +0000

Phoenix, Arizona-based law firm Fennemore Craig has announced it cut 17 jobs.

Ten staffers were let go this month; and seven attorneys were shown the door this February. The firm blames the economic meltdown.

Business law firm Fennemore Craig, PC employs over 200 attorneys, across offices in Phoenix, Tucson, and Nogales, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Denver, Colorado.

The firm offers legal services in financial restructuring, bankruptcy, and creditor’s rights, commercial litigation, estate planning, government relations, and intellectual property. The firm also offers services in American Indian law.

Fennemore Craig is one of the oldest law firms in the Mountain West, first established in Phoenix in the Arizona Territory in 1885. It is the oldest law firm in Arizona. In 2008, the firm was listed number 220 on the The National Law Journal 250.

ABA: 3,500 Laid Off in March

Erik Even — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:46:03 +0000

The American Bar Association estimates that at least 3,500 attorneys and staff lost their jobs in March 2009.

In February, the group estimates 2,000 jobs were lost, with 1,500 on the street in January.

Firms that did not report solid layoff numbers were not included in the tally.

In just the last week, JDJournal estimated the loss of 455 lawyers and 219 staff; the week before, 91 lawyers and 177 staff; and the week before that, 574 lawyers and 812 staff.

Incoming Skadden Associates Get Litigation Rotation

Erik Even — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:36:15 +0000

Skadden, which on Friday laid off an undisclosed number of staff attorneys and 50 support staffers, is introducing a litigation program for its incoming class.

From the memo:

… To address this issue, the relative underutilization of first year corporate associates, and with the firm belief that first year legal work should serve to set the groundwork for a set of skills that all lawyers need, we are introducing a litigation component to the program. In addition this will assist our litigation departments with their staffing needs.

Our first year program will now include a six month litigation component in which you will work under the direct supervision of lawyers from the general litigation, white collar, intellectual property/patent, antitrust and/or mass torts groups… In order to implement this program fairly, all corporate associates will participate in the litigation component. One group will rotate into litigation in early April while the others will proceed to their previously scheduled “second” corporate rotation. In October, the groups will switch and those who were in the litigation rotation will be rotated to their other corporate rotation and those who have completed their second corporate rotation will rotate into the litigation rotation. We anticipate final assignments will occur in May 2010.

We will offer litigation training at the start of each rotation…

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, founded in 1948, is a prominent law firm based in New York City. With over 2,000 attorneys, it is one of the largest and highest-grossing law firms in the world. Forbes magazine called Skadden “Wall Street’s most powerful law firm.”

Skadden Lays Off Staff Attorneys & 50 Staff

Erik Even — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:12:00 +0000

This week Skadden laid off 50 support staffers.

In addition, an undisclosed number of staff attorneys has been cut, with only staff attorneys who are needed for ongoing matters to be kept, at least for now.

The layoffs occurred across Skadden’s US offices. No associates have been cut.

If you know any details about the situation at Skadden, please send us a confidential tip!

Kummer Kaempfer Lays Off Attorneys, Staff

Erik Even — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:07:58 +0000

Nevada law firm Kummer Kaempfer Bonner Renshaw & Ferrario has laid off a number of attorneys and staff this week.

The firm also canceled its summer internship program.

Kummer Kaempfer eliminated the jobs of at least nine attorneys and all related staff.

The firm has offices in Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City.