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Morning News Roundup for Friday

Erik Even — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:00:09 +0000

Happy Friday. I hope you’ve made it through the week without getting laid off.

San Francisco IP firm Townsend and Townsend and Crew has laid off 16 attorneys, 45 staff, and two ampersands…

Nine lawyers from Chicago’s Vedder Price are vedder, vedder upset to have been laid off…

DLA Piper has placed 20% of its remaining Dubai-based lawyers on either a six-month “sabbatical” or a secondment…

Quinn Emanuel confirmed it laid off 10 staff members in LA this week…

Duane Morris, which hired 24 lawyers from dissolving Wolf Block on Tuesday, has also hired the former firm’s 17-lawyer labor & employment practice…

Rumor: Kirkland & Ellis Layoffs Today?

Erik Even — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:17:05 +0000

Various blawgs are reporting that Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis has laid off four attorneys this week, and more firings are on the way today.

If you know anything about layoffs at Kirkland & Ellis, please send us a confidential tip!

We’ll keep you updated, so watch this space.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP was the seventh largest law firm in the US, and the 11th largest in the world by revenue, in 2008. It has offices in New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Munich, Hong Kong, and Palo Alto.

Schulte Roth Laid Off Up to 30 Associates

Erik Even — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:07:21 +0000

Above the Law reports that late last year, Schulte Roth let go up to 30 associates.

We’ve been receiving reports of layoffs at Schulte Roth & Zabel since last summer, but were unable to confirm them until now. These days, it can be difficult to differentiate between “performance-based layoffs” and “economically-motivated layoffs.”

Schulte’s spokespeople say all layoffs in 2008 were performance-based. They deny any recent layoffs in their office, saying that any departures in 2009 have been voluntary. Between 20 to 30 associates left in the fall; “approximately” 20 of them were let go for performance-based reasons after their reviews in November. The others were supposedly voluntary departures…

One of those laid-off from Schulte informs us there was no severance package, though associates were given 2-3 months notice at Thanksgiving, asked to leave at the end of January or the end of February…

…they did not get bonuses or pay raises.

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.

Via ATL.

Firms Using Fewer Legal Secretaries And Support Staff

Erik Even — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:27:00 +0000

The number of legal secretaries and other support staff that have been laid off at firms in recent months is in the hundreds. Most first cite the struggling economy as the main reason for the layoffs. Regardless of the circumstances, the layoffs suggest a growing trend of fewer and fewer legal secretaries employed by large firms.
The lawyer-to-secretary staffing ratio used to be 1-to-1. However, technology has made typing and filing less important. Many younger attorneys are taking on their own administrative tasks to cut overhead. Many firms now have a ratio of 2-to-1 or 3-to-1. Legal recruiters are reporting that larger firms have a ratio of 4-to-1.
Firms are laying off more support staff than lawyers, as lawyers calculate their value by billing hours as well as bringing in clients.

Black Thursday — 700 Lawyers & Staffers Laid Off

Erik Even — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:59:53 +0000

Yesterday, Thursday, February 12th, 2009, six prominent firms fired over 700 attorneys and legal staffers, in what is becoming known as Black Thursday in the legal industry.

DLA Piper; Holland & Knight; Goodwin Procter; Bryan Cave; Epstein Becker & Green; and Dechert all confirmed layoffs yesterday.

Faegre & Benson also confirmed it initiated layoffs, and Cozen O’Connor let go of staffers on Tuesday.

DLA Piper cut 80 associates and 100 staffers from its US offices, plus 30 attorneys and 110 staff in its UK offices.

Holland & Knight fired 70 lawyers and 173 support staffers across the firm’s 21 offices.

Goodwin Procter laid off 38 associates and 36 staffers.

Bryan Cave laid off 58 attorneys and 76 staffers.

Epstein Becker & Green laid off 23 attorneys and 30 staff members across the firm.

Dechert also confirmed that on Thursday it let go of associates and counsel. In December, the firm laid off 72 staffers in the US and 15 staffers in the UK. It also laid off 13 attorneys in March 2008.

Minneapolis-based Faegre & Benson dropped 29 attorneys.

Philadelphia’s Cozen O’Connor laid off 61 administrative staff and paralegals.

Ballard Spahr Latest to Cut Staff

Erik Even — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:04:22 +0000

Philly’s Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll has laid off secretarial and administrative staff personnel, the second round of staff cuts at the firm since the summer.

Rumors suggest a significant number of staff cuts at Ballard Spahr, with attorneys being affected as well in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Sources put the number of layoffs between 40 and 65.

For such an ethical firm, you’d think they’d be more forthright about firings.

Ballard Spahr let go 13 support staff around June.

One former Ballard Spahr partner, who wished not to be named, told The Legal Intelligencer the firm missed its budget for 2008.