Nationwide (Impending) Layoff Watch: K&L Gates Could Make Cuts on Friday
Could Friday end up being another Valentine’s Day Massacre? We’re already waiting to see if Latham will announce its layoffs tomorrow, but now we’ll also be waiting to see what K&L Gates does.
We believe that K&L Gates will announce layoffs on Friday. We believe it will affect most of the firm’s offices — even the ones in Texas.
The news broke late last night. We don’t have any conference room bookings to report, but there was an emergency partner meeting yesterday:
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This rumor was sparked around last minute emergency Partner meetings yesterday afternoon. Some big decisions were going down in those meetings.
Tipsters from many K&L offices have written in about expected layoffs tomorrow.
Managing partner Peter Kalis did not respond to our requests for comment on the reports.
But K&L Gates has already indicated that layoffs were a possibility. Details after the jump.
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People who have been following K&L Gates already knew that Friday could be the big layoff day. Two weeks ago, we reported on Peter Kalis’s town hall meeting:
Possible layoffs: No associate layoffs — yet. At the end of February, management will evaluate how things stand at that point, and there may be a reduction in headcount after that.
Friday is the last business day in February.
At the meeting earlier this month, Kalis gave additional details about what associates might expect to see tomorrow:
There was a funny exchange about layoffs (well, as funny as such a subject can be). In response to questions about possible layoffs, Kalis said that at the end of this month, the firm would take whatever steps necessary to ensure “proportionality” between staffing and client needs. One associate then asked: “You’ve mentioned contractions, but are there any areas of growth?” Kalis responded: “For clarity, I did not use the word ‘contraction,’ I said ‘proportionality.'” This exchange generated laughter in some quarters.
Kalis stressed — twice — that if there are any mass layoffs, the firm will comply with all laws regarding such actions. Audience members viewed this as an assurance that K&L Gates would comply with its WARN obligations (and avoid WARN lawsuits).
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As Michael Keaton said in The Paper: “Sometimes you can just smell a horrendously s**** day on the way.”