Nationwide Layoff Watch:
10% of Attorneys at Carter Ledyard & Milburn Feel the Burn
As tips continue to roll in about layoffs, I am reminded of The Hangman, the poem by Maurice Ogden. It begins:
Into our town the Hangman came,
Smelling of gold and blood and flame.
And he paced our bricks with a diffident air,
And built his frame in the courthouse square.
Sadly, the Hangman has come to ply his trade at Carter Ledyard. We’ve heard that at least nine attorneys, ranging from junior associates (including first- and second-years) to counsel, were fired:
The 9 who were laid off last week were told last Monday, February 9, that they had to be out of the office by last Friday, giving them 4 days to clear out and wrap things up right before a holiday weekend.
Find out why nine may not be the loneliest number, after the jump.
Lawyers departing last week received two months severance. We have information that the nine who were laid off last week were in the corporate, trusts and estates and intellectual property departments. Nine is not a huge number unless you just lost your virginity last year, but Carter Ledyard is only 120 lawyers strong.
We’re also hearing that those nine departures were in addition to stealth layoffs that took place over the last two to three months:
All told, around 10% of Carter Ledyard’s lawyers were laid off over the last couple months, considering that it is not a huge firm in terms of numbers. Staff were also laid off.
A tipster rages, rages against the dying of the light:
Carter Ledyard says it is a different kind of law firm — not big law, friendlier, more flexible and so on. You can imagine what this has done to morale and how betrayed the people who have been laid off in such a brutal manner feel.
To our fallen comrades at Carter Ledyard: good luck, and do not go gentle into that good night.
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Comments
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I'm not done yet.
FIRST HELL YES.
Damn you Reaper.
Is this even a real law firm?
DECIMATION!
Carter Retard
Is it really necessary to use the scare tactic of 10% layoffs when the real number is much less scary. It is 9, gimme a break.
Has anyone ever been in Carter Ledyard's Wall St. offices?
Place looks like a Motel 6 with worse smelling carpets.
Fear the reaper
I pissed in their lobby once.
No one seemed to notice.
Clever poem...appropriate moral for some commentators.
Good luck to all of us
Can we have some good news please?
I'm getting sick of Marin's journalistic sensationalism. Please bring Elie back soon.
Pls Hndle Thx!
Didn't read, imaginary law firm
Given the high overhead at big law, the large firm layoffs could be expected in this economy. But this shows that layoffs are hitting hard at small/ mid-law, too, which is bad news because those smaller firms typically have a disporpotionately lower overhead. And a 10 % cut is a huge at a firm of this size. This means that we can expect more job losses at firms that may have been once viewed as safe havens.
Given the high overhead at big law, the large firm layoffs could be expected in this economy. But this shows that layoffs are hitting hard at small/ mid-law, too, which is bad news because those smaller firms typically have a disporpotionately lower overhead. And a 10 % cut is a huge at a firm of this size. This means that we can expect more job losses at firms that may have been once viewed as safe havens.
blah blah. prove it.
9 layoffs is peanuts. Peanuts, I wonder if they have those in the Club Car?
writing quality is simply in another league. that "9" joke was great, too.
is it just me, or does using "Counselors at Law" in one's firm name reek of faux pretensions i.e. TTT firm trying to sound prestigious?
Carter's Lobster?
@18 Please please continue this schtick...
Also, 10% is what most major firms are doing...it's not news it's just business as usual. It's like reporting a murder in Chicago...People get murdered here everyday...only when the shit is interesting does it make the news.
milbank ppp post please.
Marin is in a whole different league. How was it possible that she lost the vote?
What does Marin look like? Trying to decide whether I want to support her over Mystal.
18 is THE best. Please give me more. Peanuts, cheese, and farts.
Marin is in a whole different league. How was it possible that she lost the vote?
21--Do I know you? Did you find something I had left? Maybe my inside voice?
7 - are you really as dumb as you appear? They said that it was AROUND 10% over the past couple of months, not to mention that 9 people in a 120 lawyer firm is 7.5% anyway. Moron.
@18/27 - Brilliant.
Yes, 21 10% is what the big firms are doing, but smaller firms had been seen as less likely to suffer that fate. Now, we see that's not true. It would be interesting to get a list of other mid NY law firms doing layoffs. This info is often below the radar on this site, which is more focused on larger firms.
This also shows that the recruiting line that mid law firms often give prospective hires that they are "different/lifestyle firms" is complete BS. Mid law is just as likely to fire you as big law, but they will pay you less while you wait to get canned.
Damn, I thought Marin was leading with a new poem from the ATL Bard. Excellent stuff with the "nine is not a huge number..." line.
I heard there were layoffs and hours cut at Quarles & Brady? Any news on that?
Q&B rumor is patently false.
18 is indeed rocking the board today. Keep it up Robbins.
Coach Carter shot my MONKEY!
Marin sounds like a hot former English major.
18/21 is a one shtick pony that'll get old real quick. cf. Jim Mora's Layoffs??!?!
33 - Asshat partner, covering up
I am in Dallas. What is Ledyard?
9 is a large number. website shows 108 attorneys, only 42 of which are associates. If the 9 laid off are still up there, that’s a 21% reduction, not 10%. if there were stealth layoffs previously, then the % is even more. % of associates is how ATL needs to report the numbers, not % of all lawyers since the partners are the ones doing the layoffs.
Yes. Our layoffs were pathetic. That is why we are initiating a program of lateral hires to increase our headcount to allow for a sufficiently bold number of additional layoffs.
Nine is not a huge number...unless you are one of the nine.
36 -
Psychology and Medieval Studies. But thank you anyway :)
end of an era
The poem is a week late unfortunately so doesn't really pack any punch (i.e. last Thursday, when 800+ were shown the door).
By the way, while I feel sad for the individuals who are going through it, anyone else wondering who half the firms with layoff announcements this week are? I swear I hadn't heard of most of these firms.
My proposal is ATL go to full-time to the multi-editor format. No EIC. Let's make it like YLS Journal -- everyone gets on it. So Marin writes funny stories, Elie covers layoffs, etc.
Leverage (ratio of associates to partners) is what is causing the layoffs at big law. But these guys only have 42 associates out of 108 attorneys? That's pretty low leverage and they still needed to lay people off? Either the economy is really bad, this firm doesn't have a clue about running its business, or both.
What was so brutal about these layoffs? Two months seems pretty generous. What's standard these days?
Marin is only hot if she wears glasses and bleaches her sphincter.
Eric Holder
no one cares about this firm
4, 19, et al:
Carter Ledyard is a very old, very well-respected New York firm with about a hundred lawyers. This is from WIkipedia:
The firm was founded in 1854 by Henry Scudder and James C. Carter. The firm remained small well into the 1900s. It long represented American Tobacco and Standard Oil in early antitrust cases. The firm once represented the now-defunct brokerage house Dupont Glore Forgan as well as American Express...
Major clients include the American Stock Exchange, Fox Sports Net, Playtex, PR Newswire and UBS AG.
It's bigtime without being BigLaw
Carter Layedyouoff & Downturn, LLP
50: Crater Laidoff & Willburn LLP apparently ain't "bigtime" enough if it has to fire this large a chunk of its workforce.
The ship be sinking...
A. Where's the Marin pics?
B. People from Dallas should neither be seen nor heard.
Carter Ledyard has always been a well-respected firm (Faith Colish is certainly notable), but I agree with 52, if they are letting go this number of associates in an already "underleveraged" firm, they aren't in good shape.
Note to law students, just as you should be wary of overleveraged firms, watch out for firms with the "reverse pyramid".
I concur. Where are these supposed pics of Marin's bleached sphincter?
18: amazingly hilarious. please keep it up!
AcelaBob is my hero.
Oh, and insert usual LAYOFFS?! schtick here.
The firm is clearly on its way down. Bleeding clients and rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
#32, I am no longer working at Quarles & Brady Phoenix due to disability, but my former co-workers tell me that staff has been laid off and associates have just started being laid off this month with more coming in September. Several partners are jumping ship as well. They are making a huge effort NOT to let word get out that they are laying off in hopes of appearing healthier and more stable in a weak economy.