Layoffs, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants, Staff Layoffs

Staff Layoffs at K&L Gates

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Given the fear and loathing going on in the associate market, we’ve been overlooking the fact that support staffers are getting eviscerated thanks to the global financial crisis. The White & Case bloodbath yesterday also hit 100 staffers. We’ve also reported on Alston & Bird’s attempt to force out older staff.

Many people have heard reports that K&L Gates laid off a number of staff over the past week. The firm has refused to comment about these layoffs, so we don’t yet know the full extent of the damage. But we understand that it has hit many, many people, across all offices.

We don’t understand why K&L Gates is trying to keep these layoffs secret. As many smart attorneys know, competent support staffs are critical to excellent legal work. Right now, the market for paralegals is probably even worse than it is for attorneys.

Whether or not you have evolved to the point where you can appreciate the crucial role staffs play in Biglaw offices, most people can agree that they deserve to be treated with respect — even on their way out of the door. One report from a K&L Gates tipster is therefore particularly disturbing:

[T]hey watched [me] pack [my] office and I was not allowed to say goodbye to anyone including a senior partner [I worked for]. … Escorted out of the building … very undignified treatment of a 15-year employee.

If you want to treat a temp secretary like crap, that’s terrible etiquette. Treating a colleague who has dedicated decades of service to the company like an industrial espionage convict is a whole different level of “class.”

But K&L fixes the coffee, after the jump.

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Last month, we reported on K&L Gates switching to cheap toilet paper and requiring associates to jump through a number of hoops in order to get their ABA fees comped.

But apparently it’s not all about frugality over there nowadays. A tipster happily reports:

K&L did upgrade to Wolfgang Puck coffee instead of Flavia.

So for those keeping score at home: K&L is offering dissolving TP, no ABA fees, a demoralized support staff… and not totally rancid coffee (anymore).

Associate jobs at K&L Gates appear to be safe. We can’t know how many people will remember this kind of treatment when the economy picks up and young lawyers have options once again. But it’s always interesting to note how people are treated when times get tough.

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Earlier: K&L Gates to Nickels and Dimes

Alston & Bird Staff: You Don’t Have To Go Home But You Can’t Stay Here

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