Biglaw, Layoffs

How to Lay People Off Without Getting Sued

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At the MGM Grand, I was making money and folding often. Happy and rich (before everything went horribly, horribly wrong), I started talking to a player on my right. He claimed to be a mechanic, and expressed incredulity that the economic downturn was hurting lawyers:

You can’t fire a f****** lawyer, they’ll sue you ass.

Spoken like a man that has made more than one unreasonable estimate in his day.

Outside of the Biglaw bubble, lawyers are viewed as particularly litigious. Who knew?

According to the National Law Journal, law firms are also worried about former associates suing the firm:

After the layoff criteria are established, Hathaway [a Littler Mendelson shareholder] said firms should conduct a statistical analysis to ensure there is not “disparate impact” — meaning no one group, such as women or minorities, is affected disproportionately. Ekelman suggests to clients that they form a small review committee to analyze layoff criteria and decisions to ensure that they are applied fairly and consistently.

This is increasingly important because more attorneys than ever before are taking legal action against their former firms, Hathaway said.

But is there really a right way to fire people? More after the jump.

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On Friday, we reported that McKee Nelson handled its most recent round of layoffs with class.

The NLJ reports that doing layoffs right is in the best long term economic interest of the firms doing the firing:

“Every one of the people law firms are laying off could become clients down the road or could become sources for referrals,” said Roy S. Ginsburg, a solo practitioner in Minnesota who also provides outplacement services to law firms. “A lot of attorneys don’t realize how important it is to retain a good relationship [with attorneys who have been laid off]. I don’t know why. It seems pretty obvious to me.”

People who still have a job (for now) also take note of how their former colleagues were let go:

One of the final steps in carrying out an effective layoff is delivering the message to those who are still at the firm. That conversation should happen only after the all the laid-off workers have been informed. Ekelman said firms should be careful not to promise there won’t be more cuts in the future. At the same time, firm leaders should reassure remaining workers that layoffs don’t mean the ship is sinking.

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And the band plays on.

How do firms lay off lawyers? Very carefully. [The National Law Journal]

Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: McKee Nelson (Redux)

(Or: The proper way to do layoffs.)

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