February 13, 2009
THE RECORDER
Almost 800 associates and legal staff nationwide returned home jobless Thursday after eight firms conducted mass layoffs, citing an unprecedented downturn in demand.
And the bloodletting is likely to continue.
“There will be more,” said consultant Peter Zeughauser. “Materially more. I’m aware of some big ones coming up.”
California was not left unscathed by Thursday’s cuts, although it’s unclear how many people in the state were hit. The cuts targeted finance and real estate practices, demand for which has almost completely dried up since the financial crises hit last fall.
California was not left unscathed by Thursday’s cuts, although it’s unclear how many people in the state were hit. The cuts targeted finance and real estate practices, demand for which has almost completely dried up since the financial crises hit last fall.
“It is now apparent that this downturn will be deeper and broader than past recessions, and all business sectors will be adversely affected in some way,” Goodwin Procter Chairwoman Regina Pisa wrote in a memo announcing that the firm would lay off 38 associates and 36 staff, about a 4 percent reduction. In California, four associates and three staff were let go.
Other firms did not say how many people in California were let go, but acknowledged there were cuts in the state.
DLA Piper cut 80 associates, or 5 percent of its U.S.-based lawyers. Aside from 28 associates in New York and Chicago, the reductions are primarily on the West Coast, Chairman Francis Burch Jr. told Recorder affiliate The National Law Journal. DLA’s spokesman declined to say how many attorneys were laid off in California.
DLA also let go of 100 staff members across the firm’s 26 U.S. offices. Before the cuts, DLA Piper had about 1,500 attorneys in the United States and 3,800 attorneys worldwide.
Other firms that sent people packing included Holland & Knight, Dechert, Bryan Cave, Esptein Becker & Green and Cozen O’Connor.
“It’s not healthy to have lawyers sitting around not having work to do,” said Lawrence Watanabe, a legal recruiter based in Los Angeles, who added that layoffs are a positive signal of a firm’s being responsible toward its bottom line.
“The very assets of these law firms are the partners that generate business, and they cannot afford to have those partners unhappy with the financial performance of their law firms,” Watanabe said.
Florida-based Holland & Knight cut 70 lawyers “ or 7 percent of its 1,030-lawyer workforce “ and 173 support staff across 21 offices. Philadelphia-based Dechert laid off 19 attorneys, or 2 percent, across all its offices in the United States. Philadelphia-based Cozen O’Connor laid off 61 support staff, including “a couple” in California, according to President and CEO Thomas Decker.
St. Louis-based Bryan Cave cut 58 attorneys, or 5 percent, and 76 staff, or 6 percent.
Already this month, Nixon Peabody; McDermott, Will & Emery; Clifford Chance; and Linklaters laid off attorneys and staff. The cuts come after a nationwide round of massive layoffs two weeks ago that sent more than 1,000 lawyers and staff packing. That week, Morrison & Foerster laid off 201 people. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Cooley Godward Kronish each laid off more than 100 people, and Fenwick & West laid off 36 staff and said it was freezing associate salaries for the upcoming year. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe was one of the first firms to conduct layoffs, cutting 75 last fall. Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian cut half of its first-year class in January. San Diego-based Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps said earlier this week it will lay off 27 people. It confirmed on Thursday it will also rescind its offers to incoming associates and cancel its summer program.