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.