February 12th, 2009

[Ed. note: Non-Sequiturs will return tomorrow at its regularly scheduled time] * Jesus Tapdancing Christ. * What the hell just happened? * I’ll be starting my drinking at Black & White (East 10th St. bet. 3rd & 4th) and I’ll probably end up at Professor Thom’s (14th & 2nd) in case anybody wants some company. […]

As we mentioned in an update to our earlier post about Holland & Knight, the firm is now confirming layoffs. From the list of restructuring measures that the firm is undertaking: • Reducing the total number of lawyers and staff, with approximately 70 lawyers and 173 support staff positions eliminated in the firm’s 21 offices. […]

Based on my informal count, some 585 attorneys and staffers were laid off yesterday or today. And that is not counting however many people are hitting the street from Holland & Knight today (we are still waiting on a firm statement of official numbers), or however many 3Ls were essentially fired from Luce Forward today […]

Apparently, mid-sized firms are not immune from the layoffs today either. We just received word that Epstein Becker and Green laid off 23 attorneys and 30 staff today. Here is the official firm statement: Given current economic conditions, the Firm is making adjustments to both legal and non-legal staffing levels, resulting in the reduction of […]

You didn’t seriously think we’d get through an entire day of layoff stories without Cadwalader getting into the mix? Legal Week is now reporting that Cadwalader has decided to send 16 of its London employees into “redundancy consultation. The firm said three lawyers, three paralegals and 10 support staff are subject to the redundancy consultation. […]

Multiple tipsters are telling us that the respected Philadelphia based firm of Cozen O’Connor laid off 61 employees today. As we understand it, the breakdown is 55 secretaries and 6 paralegals. The firm did not respond to ATL’s requests for comment. Tipsters report that layoffs have been rolling over the course of yesterday and today. […]

Earlier today, we reported that Bryan Cave laid off 58 attorneys. The firm just released a statement with the official numbers. In addition to the 58 attorneys, 76 staffers were also let go today. The numbers account for 5% of the firm’s attorneys and 6% of the firm’s support staff: We have regretfully now concluded […]

On Monday, Luce Forward laid off 27 people. Today, we are learning that those are not the only cuts the San Diego firm is making. Luce Forward has decided to rescind offers to all the 3Ls from their 2008 summer program, and cancel the 2009 summer program entirely. The firm confirmed this information with us […]

What, you thought you’d be safe from layoffs if you worked in Minnesota? Unfortunately, nobody is safe, at least not today. We are now able to confirm that Faegre & Benson, one of the most prestigious firms in Minnesota, has informed 29 attorneys that they will be let go. Here is the statement that chairman […]

On Tuesday we told you that DLA Piper laid off 140 people in the U.K. At the time, we mentioned that the firm declined to comment on whether those cuts would be mirrored in the U.S. offices. We think the firm just commented. A firm wide statement was just sent to DLA employees: In light […]

You know how a lot of buildings omit the “13th floor” out of superstition? I’ve noticed that really superstitious people think about the 14th floor as the danger zone, because counting is not a particularly hard thing to do. I bring this up because tomorrow is Friday the 13th, and I’m just wondering if the […]

Here’s a little something to break up the layoff news. On Tuesday, we reported that U.K. firms might look to cut associate salaries (instead of just freezing them) in order to avoid layoffs. In response to our reader poll, 65% of you said that you preferred a salary cut to firm layoffs. We hope that […]

In case you are wondering, this is going to be a bad day for associates and staff working in Biglaw. We’ve already seen big layoffs at Dechert and Bryan Cave. And we’re sitting on even more bad news (waiting on additional sources). But we just received official confirmation from Goodwin Procter that significant cuts are […]

It wasn’t that long ago that Bryan Cave acquired Powell Goldstein, aggressively expanding during the recession. But then came news of a salary deferral. At the time, a Bryan Cave tipster said: I hope this actually means no layoffs, though, as many junior associates have been really hurting for work. I also hope it means […]

We published a series of reports about stealth layoffs at Dechert last fall. But given how many firms have laid off attorneys, there is no reason to be stealth about it anymore. Gina Passarella at the Legal Intelligencer (who has been all over Dechert) reports that 19 attorneys were laid off today across all Dechert […]

Ed. note: Welcome to the second installment of “Notes from the Breadline,” a new column by a laid-off lawyer in New York. To those of you who have been wondering, it is not fiction; we’ve just altered a handful of details to preserve the author’s anonymity (since she’s still looking for work). If you missed […]

*Some important notes about Cyber-Bullying from David Lat. [Portfolio] * Senator Schumer has recommended that Obama choose his chief counsel Preet Bharara as Manhattan’s next U.S. attorney. [The New York Times] * In other New York news, the state senate confirmed Judge Johnathan Lippman to replace Judith Kaye as chief judge. [Newsday] * South Africa’s […]