Archive for March 2009

Non-Sequiturs: 03.19.09

By Elie Mystal

Laurence Tribe Above the Law.gif* Not that anybody asked me, but I think Jeff Steiner should be a little less judgmental towards his laid off friends that are “partying” instead of “diligently volunteering and considering his next career steps.” It really doesn’t take all day to send out resumes and refresh your barren email account, and some people are able to consider all of their career options while playing a little Golden Tee. Everybody’s got their own coping mechanism. [Legal Blog Watch]

* Larry Tribe thinks that a 90% “ever dance with the Devil in the pale moon light” tax is cool. I’m waiting for John Larroquette to weigh in with a cricket bat. [TaxProf Blog]

* I’m ashamed I didn’t put this together earlier. If you don’t have the technical chops to work in IP, think about pulling out your old Property books and brushing up on squatters’ rights. I’m not sure your future clients will be able to pay you, but you are going to have future clients. [Law and More]

* I used to hope the future of criminal investigations would look like an episode of Star Trek, but now I see it’s going to look like an episode of CSI. Oh well, it’s still better than watching five minutes of Minority Report. [Slate]

* No cats were harmed in the writing of this post. [Popsquire]

  • 19 Mar 2009 at 5:08 PM
  • UNC Law

Snafu at UNC Law Raises Hopes, Then Dashes Them

By Elie Mystal

UNC Law Logo.jpgThere was a snafu over in the admissions department at UNC Law School. A tipster reports the basic details:

UNC Law sent out a number of e-mail invitations to their admitted student weekend today leading to the recipients of the e-mail believing they had been accepted. 15 minutes later they sent out this e-mail to the students who had received the invitations.

Kind of like the ultimate “sike” isn’t it? Here’s the copy of the retraction letter the almost-admitted students received:

Hello [Redacted],

You just recently received an email inviting you to the UNC School of Law admitted students days. That email was sent in error. Please disregard the email. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. If you have any questions regarding this. Please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes,

Dean States

Another tipster didn’t hesitate to cross UNC off of his list:

I received an email welcoming me to the University of North Carolina Law School. Thirty minutes later I received a second email telling me to disregard the first. When I called the admissions office to clarify, I was stonewalled by an overly defensive and patently unapologetic Dean of Admissions. Please let me know if you would like me to forward the emails to you guys. North Carolina can “go to hell!”

Coach Roy Williams probably thinks this student should focus more about basketball and spend less time worrying about which law school he’s getting admitted to.

How did this happen? Assistant Dean for Admissions Michael J. States explains after the jump.

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Nationwide Layoff Watch: Instant Reports From The Katten Meeting

By Elie Mystal

Katten logo.JPGEarlier today, we reported that Katten was holding a firm wide meeting this afternoon. Predictably, the talks soon turned to layoffs. Here is what some of the people who were at the meeting are telling us:

20% pay cut if average billables were less than 150 last year and less than 145 for the last 3 months. 12 associates laid off (seems VERY low …). Incoming associates deferred until Feb 2010 start date.

The 12 number seems low to other tipsters too. But the meeting isn’t over in all of the firm’s offices yet. And these numbers do not take into account how many (if any) staff were laid off, or income partners.

I say income partners because we have received more reports that some of them were let go as well.

Update (4:38): Katten has released an official statement. 69 people were let go. Like Jenner earlier today, Katten describes the layoffs as “relatively small.” It looks like we have a new “official euphemism,” but in both cases it happens to be true. Read the full statement after the jump.

But we are also getting some very interesting news about the severance package Katten is offering. Details on that after the jump.

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Ropes & Gray: Defers Start Dates, Offers ‘New Alternatives’ For All Associates

By Elie Mystal

ropes gray logo.JPGRopes & Gray is locked in a fierce battle with Davis Polk in our ATL Bracket (remember, voting doesn’t close until Sunday). I’m not sure if this latest news helps or hurts their chances.

Ropes isn’t laying anybody off, but it is deferring the start dates for its incoming first year associates. The firm informed 3Ls today that their start has been pushed back to January, 2010.

But that is not all. All Ropes is taking alternative steps to deal with the challenging market. According to a firm wide email that just went out:

In response, we are rolling out a program that offers all associates non-traditional opportunities for continued professional and personal development both outside and inside the firm…. The program comprises the following initiatives, all of which are described in greater detail on a new infoNet area that you can access [Redacted]

* Public interest fellowship opportunities–including both practice of law work and non-practice of law work.

* Sabbatical opportunities.

* Enhanced access to potentially non-billable training and development assignments, and credit towards our 1900 hour target for certain training activities on client matters even though they are not billed to clients.

* Deferred start for the incoming class of 2009 to early January 2010 (this is being communicated to the incoming class in a separate memo).

The memo doesn’t mention what kind of stipend is available to Ropes associates that take the “alternative” path towards career development.

Just like with Skadden’s expansion of the Sidebar program, we don’t know what will happen if Ropes associates choose to stay the course at the firm and ride out the tough times. But this plan at least gives people the option of doing something while work is slow.

Read the full memo after the jump.

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This Week in Sponsored Content

By David Lat

Each week, Above the Law’s sponsors generate content for your edification and entertainment. You can find their posts in Sponsored Content, which runs along the right-hand side of the ATL main page.

Here are the latest offerings:

1. Ask the Experts: Straight Talk on Bankruptcy Hiring

How hard is it to break into bankruptcy? Lateral Link’s Justin Flowers offers some pointers.

2. A Job Opening!

Yes, there are jobs out there. Silver Golub & Teitell, a Connecticut litigation boutique, is looking for a junior associate. For more details, check out the job posting.

3. The Asia Chronicles: Partner Chances in Asia: You Got Any?

Robert Kinney, of Kinney Recruiting, discusses what it takes to make partner in Asia.

Thanks to our sponsors for their contributions and their support. To learn about advertising opportunities on ATL, click here.

Biglaw Brawl: Cravath’s Chesler v. K&L’s Kalis

By Kashmir Hill

biglaw partner brawl cravath evan chesler k&l gates peter kalis.jpgIt’s not unusual for Biglaw partners to find themselves on opposite sides of the ring when they face off on behalf of clients in litigation. But Cravath, Swaine & Moore’s Evan Chesler and K&L Gates’s Peter Kalis are staring each other down for a different reason: their opinions on law firm billing structures. Not as sexy as fighting over Lady Justice, but we’ll take what we can get.

UK-based legal publication The Lawyer is hyping the fierce match between the two Biglaw heavyweights to promote an upcoming issue of the magazine that will explore “whether the current economic downturn represent[s] a paradigm shift for the world’s leading firms.”

In one corner, we have Cravath presiding partner Evan Chesler, an NYU Law grad (’75) and a “Leading Litigator” per the Lawdragon. In the other corner, we have K&L chairman Peter J. Kalis, a Yale Law grad (’78) who has also been recognized by the Lawdragon but is, more importantly, a member of the Elect (clerked for Justice Byron White).

See the fight unfurl, after the jump.

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Staff Layoff Watch: Jenner Block Has More Bad News For Chicago

By Elie Mystal

Jenner Block logo.JPGIt’s been a rough week in Chicago. Sidley laid off 229 people, something is happening at Katten today, and we have received confirmation that Jenner & Block has had to lay off 34 staffers.

Above the Law obtained this official statement from Jenner’s managing partner, Susan Levy:

Given the efficiency and productivity gains from these various sources, Jenner & Block is eliminating 34 support staff positions in our Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices. No attorneys are affected by these changes. We are offering generous severance packages to the individuals affected as well as outplacement services.

That is not a huge number compared to what has been going around. But it’s still pretty tough to be replaced by productivity gains during these difficult economic times.

Good luck to those let go from Jenner today. Read the full statement after the jump.

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ATL March Madness for Law Firms, Round 1 (Part 2):
Which Biglaw Firm is Safest?

By Kashmir Hill

Above the law march madness.jpgWe started our ATL March Madness for Law Firms on Tuesday. Through this NCAA-style tournament, with brackets and seeding, we will crown Biglaw’s safest firm — the place where you’re least likely to get laid off. Yes, we know it’s irreverent; but we’re a legal tabloid. Irreverence is what we do.

We’ve taken the top 32 law firms from the Vault prestige rankings. Last year, we asked you to vote on the coolest law firm. You chose Latham. Yeah…

This year, we’re posing a more important question. We are asking you to vote to decide which of the firms is the safest. Where are you most likely to keep your job?

Here are the brackets:

2009 March Madness brackets above the law.jpg

Voting on the first eight match-ups started on Tuesday; now, we bring you the face-offs between the other 16 firms at the top of the Vault. Polls close on Sunday. You vote to determine who will go to the Sweet (Safe) Sixteen, after the jump.

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Which Biglaw Firm is Safest?”

Mystery Meeting Set at Katten: 2:00 p.m. (CT) Today

By Elie Mystal

Katten logo.JPGSomething is going down at Katten today. Multiple tipsters report that a firm wide meeting has been scheduled in each Katten office for 2:00 p.m. central time today. According to the email announcing the meeting, the purpose is:

[T]o discuss the Firm’s Plan for dealing with the continuing weak economy and how that plan relates to the associates.

The firm has not responded to our inquires about this meeting. But our sources report some obvious (and not so obvious) details. Katten has already been through one round of associate layoffs, and many people expect that the firm is initiating round two today.

We’ll tell you what we know after the jump.

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Ask the Experts: Straight Talk on Bankruptcy Hiring (Part 2)

By Elie Mystal

Ask the Experts.jpg[This article was prepared by Justin Flowers, a director in Lateral Link's New York office.]

Part Two

Last week, in the first part of this article, I addressed some of the basic issues surrounding the current legal hiring market for bankruptcy and restructuring/reorganization practices, including: 1) What sort of real opportunities are out there and where are they; 2) How much real practice-specific experience is necessary: and 3) What are the realistic chances for re-tooling from another practice area into such a practice? In this second installment, I am focusing on some further analysis and predictions for what the near future holds for the world of bankruptcy and how it might affect hiring this year, as well as ways to strengthen the case for successfully making the jump if you are not a mid level bankruptcy associate right at this moment.

When will bankruptcy work hit the point that being hired as a re-tool candidate becomes a possibility?

I get a lot of questions like this on firms’ current and future capacity–have things hit the point where busy bankruptcy practices are unable to service the workload and need to bring in re-tools? And if not, when will that happen? The answer is that we don’t know, and no one else does either. No one’s crystal ball is working very well these days. Jack Williams, resident scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute, recently predicted that Chapter 11 filings will rise at least 40% in 2009 from their 2008 levels, which were already highly elevated in comparison to recent years, according to this article by Mark Douglas of Jones Day. If Mr. Williams’ prediction comes to fruition and the current trend continues or accelerates, it’s conceivable that there could be an eventual tipping point, but only if other practice areas have enough business to prevent further cross-staffing amongst groups. As I mentioned last week, this is the single biggest impediment right now for would be bankruptcy associates looking to lateral in from a corporate or litigation background.

***More after the jump.

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Associates Scrambling For Public Interest Jobs

By Elie Mystal

Will Work for Food 3 Above the Law blog.JPGOn Monday, we mentioned some of the difficulties deferred associates face when looking for the right public interest job. Today, AmLaw has an interesting piece on just how difficult it is for firms and law schools to find appropriate placements for 3Ls who will not be able to start with their firms in the fall:

Law firm are structuring their programs with differing requirements, covered costs, and degrees of involvement in the nonprofit job search. The deferrals themselves are required at some firms, including Morgan, Lewis & Bockius–the firm will bring its 2009 first years onboard in October, 2010. White & Case has announced delayed start dates into 2010 for 60 percent of its 2009 hires. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Latham & Watkins have announced an optional fall 2010 start date.

One of the most interesting aspects to this story is that we are seeing that “Biglaw” is not a monolithic collection of law firms. Each firm is different in ways that go far beyond normal law student concerns like “prestige” and “firm culture.”

Health insurance costs are a big concern, as Delany points out. The matter isn’t so simple, given that deferred lawyers technically are not yet employees of the firm, so coverage cannot be extended to these individuals. (Sidley Austin, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlet have existing nonprofit and fellowship programs that cover health insurance or COBRA benefits payments for the lawyers in these programs–the firms recently have announced that they will open up these fellowships to incoming first-year associates).

After the jump, it’s time for law school career services to earn their paychecks.

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The Deadliest Sin?

By Legal Tease

sweet hot justice logo.jpg[Ed. Note: The following piece was authored by "The Legal Tease" of Sweet Hot Justice fame. You can check out all of Legal Tease's other musings from Sweet Hot Justice here.]

A few things are bound to happen when you spend 76 straight hours closing a bond offering in a windowless office the size of a handicap toilet stall, eating nothing but stale candy corn from a nearby vending machine and fantasizing about unconsciousness. First, you make peace with the fact that showers are for people far luckier than you. Second, you start obsessively calculating what your hourly salary might be compared to, say, a teenage babysitter or a shoe-shine guy. Maybe you start to hallucinate a bit. Or wonder if it’s possible to slit your wrists with a stack of post-its. And then, finally, you catch sight of your pale, desperate reflection in the desktop monitor and you realize the pathetic, obvious, predictable truth: You’re wildly jealous of the people your firm recently laid off.

Don’t get me wrong, when it became obvious that my firm was conducting another round of layoffs, I wasn’t hoping to be axed. My day-to-day may indeed be a perverse merry-go-round of corporate inanity, bruising ego slams, romantic nonstarters, and bleak yearnings for my pre-BigLaw life, but when the time comes to end this cycle of misery, I want to do it on my own terms. Preferably with health insurance. So, when I found out that I wasn’t one of the Laid Off, I wasn’t disappointed–but I wasn’t exactly pleased, either. More than anything, I was just relieved that the waiting was over.

But now, in the aftermath of the layoffs, I can’t help but wonder if that relief was misplaced. If morale at my firm was low before the latest slaughter, the atmosphere now is pretty much unbearable. Within a matter of days, most of us went from billing a few hours a day, tops, to not being at the office for a few hours a day, tops. And yes, I get it, it’s BigLaw–it’s not supposed to be a day-spa experience, in any economy–but now, now, we’re supposed to be extra-super grateful for the sadistic pace. We’re supposed to bend over cheerily and smile while the firm’s powers-that-be alternately punish us, and then expect gratitude for, the very fact that we still have jobs. In the past few weeks, even the most docile partners I work with have had a taunting, lupine shine in their eyes every time they’ve doled out work on a Friday at 6 p.m., or announced an absurdly artificial deadline, or passed me in the hall at 5 p.m. as they were heading home and I was rounding midday. Just yesterday, one asked me if I was free to help on a new matter–and when I responded that 100% of my time was already committed, I could hear his smirk through the phone as he asked me to “define 100%.” (Note: you’re screwed no matter how you answer this one.) Now, regardless of how ridiculous, how unreasonable, how idiotic the demands of some prick partner may be, the subtext is the same: “Don’t like it? What are you gonna do–leave?”

More taunting, after the jump.

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Morning Docket 3.19.2009

By Eliza Gray

fortune cookie.jpg* Take a look at this legal analysis of the AIG bonus fiasco [The Hartford Courant]

* A new report from the Project for Attorney Retention (sounds like something we can all get behind) shows that it makes better business sense to have attorneys work reduced hours rather than laying them off. [The American Lawyer]

* More drama in the never-ending Minnesota Senate race: Al Franken says Norm Coleman should pay for the costs of the trial if he loses. [MSNBC]

* California’s 1996 ban of affirmative action in education, public hiring, or contracting is being closely considered by the courts. [National Law Journal]

* In spite of the recent blood bath at lawfirms–law school applications are still up. [The Wall Street Journal]

* China fell short of international anti-trust standards, rejecting Coca-Cola’s $2.4 billion bid for Huiguan Juice [Reuters]

* Enough Madoff already. Madoff’s accountant was charged with fraud and surrendered. [abcnews.com]

Non-Sequiturs: 03.18.09

By Elie Mystal

Team AIG takes nut shot from Congress.JPG* Could the United States Congress just get over itself with this AIG “outrage?” Enough already. Look, I’m a Democrat. I’d slap a progressive tax on nuns if they’d let me (more pious and virtuous = more tax, if you’re playing along at home. Eye of a needle baby). But this breathless “they tuk urrr jaaabs!” crap over people getting compensation has got to stop. If we keep on AIG like this, soon redheaded step-children will think they are allowed to speak in public. [Dealbreaker]

* We need to come up with another phrase for “drink the Kool-Aid.” I used to think “It’s. People.” would work, but apparently not enough of the kids have seen that movie. Whatever we’re going to call it, don’t forget to do it, if you want to keep you job and actually add value. [What About Clients?]

* There were a lot of reactions to the Travis the Chimp story yesterday. One really good question emerges from all of the coverage. How is it possibly legal to have a freaking chimpanzee in Connecticut? I mean, I’ve speedily driven through been to Connecticut. That state is barely capable of providing a suitable home to humans. [Law and More]

* I’m pretty sure this ad is racist, I’m just not sure how. Oh well, it’s from Russia so it’s likely that some of the offensive racial stereotyping that I would normally be all over got lost in the translation. Good thing too. It’s too nice a day in NYC to feel oppressed. I’m just going to hop in this cab here and go to the .. hey, HEY, I’m not even heading to Harlem right now you freaking jerk! [Copyranter]

* Don’t forget to join our Above the Law bracket challenge on ESPN (Group name: Above the Law. Password: abovethelaw). It’s free, we have over 300 entries, and somebody will be getting some ATL attire (unless I trounce all of you, which is a distinct possibility). You’ll have to put in your bracket before the games start tomorrow. [Above the Law Tournament Group]

* I don’t know any named plaintiffs that act this way, but I sure have met some named partners who do. [Litination]

Are Top Loyola Law Students Getting Poor Services?

By Elie Mystal

Loyola logo.JPGIs it right for a law school to discourage students from transferring? Is it right for a law school to deny services to students who are considering transferring? Because it looks like that is what happening at Loyola (L.A.) Law School right now.
Loyola has moved up its on-campus interview season; it now starts in late July. Unfortunately, that is too early for most students who are transferring to have received notice of whether or not their applications have been accepted. But now, at Loyola, students who have outstanding transfer applications are no longer allowed to participate in OCI. A tipster makes the situation clear:

Many schools have had similar policies for students who have accepted a position at another school, but Loyola’s policy is targeted at students simply applying for a transfer. This puts students in the very real position of applying, missing out on OCI, and then possibly not getting in at the higher ranked schools. Basically f*cking their chances at BigLaw.

Our tipster confronts the dean, after the jump.

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ATL March Madness for Law Firms, Round 1 (Part 1): Which Biglaw Firm is Safest?

By Kashmir Hill

Above the law march madness.jpg[Ed. note: To catch up on the latest round of the tournament, check out the March Madness 2009 category thread.]

The NCAA basketball tournament starts up this week. If your team is already out, or you’re only half-heartedly rooting for your team (Sigh. Go Duke.), we are offering you a different contest to take part in. And this is better than the NCAA tournament, because you’re not just a sixth man watching from the sidelines; you get to determine the course of the tournament through voting.

We’ve held March Madness NCAA-tournament style competitions before. UVA won the 2007 competition for coolest law school, and last year Latham eked out a victory over Cleary for coolest law firm.

Since Latham recently, um, cut a number of players from its team, we don’t think we can let it keep its crown, so we’re revisiting Biglaw firms with the 2009 ATL March Madness tournament. But rather than comparing “cool,” in a nod to the current climate, we are comparing “safe.” We bring you….

ATL MARCH MADNESS FOR LAW FIRMS!!!
WHICH FIRM IS THE SAFEST???

We’ve set up brackets based on Vault seeds. Thirty-two firms are entering the tournament. We invite you to vote on which firms are better at lay-ups than layoffs. At which firm are you least likely to lose your job?

After the jump, we give you the brackets, and the first eight match-ups. Look out for the next eight match-ups on Thursday. The polls close Sunday at midnight.

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Ending Lockstep Salaries, But What About Billing?

By Elie Mystal

Emperor Ends associate lockstep.JPGThere is a report in Bloomberg today, about the attempts some firms are making to end lockstep associate salaries:

The firms are responding to the plunge in corporate, real estate and finance work by overhauling compensation for associates, who often total as many as two-thirds of a firm’s lawyers. Some, like Orrick, are beginning to reward lawyers based on performance rather than seniority. Others plan to cut salaries for starting associates, just two years after top firms raised pay to compete for talent.

It looks like associates are dispirited, disorganized, and desperate to hang on to their jobs. If I was a professional business consultant, I’d think now is the perfect time to start stomping on dirty “workers” while they are down:

“In the current economic crisis, we see the final demise of the Medieval guild in the American legal profession,” said Joel Henning, a law firm consultant at Hildebrandt International Inc.

I am unarmed. Strike me down! Give in to your anger! With each passing moment, you make yourself more my slave.

Law firms have operated for decades with associate pay structures that don’t reward performance, Henning said…. “One of the best things firms are doing is breaking the ridiculous lockstep structure of associate compensation,” Henning said. “There is no other profession that operates that way.”

Young fool … Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the Dark Side. You have paid the price for your lack of vision!

But isn’t there something missing from this story? More after the jump.

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Letter from London: U.K. Confidential

By isaacsmith

Letter from London Queen.JPGEd. note: The legal world is much bigger than New York, or Washington, or even the United States. Welcome to the inaugural installment of “Letter from London,” a weekly dispatch from the other side of the pond. Our U.K. correspondent, Isaac Smith, will expose ATL readers to the latest goings-on in the London legal world. You can reach Isaac by email, at isaacsmithlondon@googlemail.com.

Firms in the U.S. often try to keep their layoffs nice and quiet, with instructions not to communicate with the media or the odd scare tactic… Cousins, you’re not alone.

A recent meeting between DLA Piper’s UK management team and employee reps over its stingy redundancy package got off to a bad start when London Managing Partner Catherine Usher pleaded for “ideas on how we can keep the information confidential” — words which were leaked, along with the rest of the minutes, to just about every legal news publication in London last week.

Some quick background: DLA, which launched its second redundancy consultation in January (with criteria including number of sick days taken), is paying out the statutory minimum to UK-based lawyers who get the chop. This equates to one week’s pay (capped at £350 a week) for each year’s service. By way of comparison, Linklaters is said to be offering three weeks’ pay (at the full rate, without any cap) for every year with the firm, plus three months’ notice. DLA’s US arm is also being considerably more generous.

More of the DLA minutes:

Meeting begins with Usher urging associates to stop leaking things to the press.

Employee rep points out link between firm’s less-than-generous redundancy package and press leaks.

Heated exchanges ensue.

Hapless HR manager tries to pacify the crowd, but her misguided recommendations that (a) associates go out for some morale-boosting team drinks and (b) the fired ones use an “an advice line” which provides “guidance about the impact of redundancy and what to do next” only make situation worse.

Anger boils over and Usher and HR Manager set upon by frenzied mob.

Ok, that last bit may not have happened.

Addition London news, after the jump.

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Dewey & LeBoeuf: Partners, It’s Your Turn

By Elie Mystal

Dewey LeBoeuf logo D&L DL Above the Law blog.jpgThe American Lawyer reports that Dewey & LeBoeuf is taking money out of the pockets of under performing partners:

Dewey & LeBoeuf has confirmed that 66 partners — about one in five of the firm’s 350 partners — have seen their compensation reduced by as much as 80 percent over the past 15 months. The reductions are meant to weed out less-productive partners, firm Chairman Steven Davis tells The Am Law Daily.

According to the report, some Dewey partners are now taking draws as little as $10,000 a month. That’s good money for a lot of people, but for a partner in a major American law firm? There are Dewey partners that are making less money than first year associates.

Both Davis and executive director Stephen DiCarmine characterize the recent actions as an intensification of the firm’s long-term strategy of replacing poor performers with higher-producing laterals.

AmLaw has more bad news for D&L partners, after the jump.

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  • 14 Mar 2009 at 4:07 PM
  • Layoffs

This Week In Layoffs: 03.14.09

By Law Shucks

Law Shucks layoffs layoff tracker.jpg[Ed. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks. Law Shucks has done excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker.]

The trend for this week is returning to the well. We’re seeing a number of firms that have had previous layoffs trimming further.

White & Case was one of the first top-tier US firms to do a massive layoff back in November. At the time, everyone was shocked by the numbers: 70 lawyers, 100 staff. The bar has been substantially raised since then, but W&C continues to surprise.

Round 2 was far worse: 200 lawyers, 200 staff. That vaulted the firm back to the top of the table. In fact, White & Case has completed a trifecta: #1 in total layoffs, layoffs of attorneys and layoffs of staff, an ignominious feat.

It’s on to Round 3 for Baker & McKenzie, one of the few US firms larger than White & Case, which has announced further cuts in London. The firm laid off 20 staff in London in January, and is now seeking to sever up to 85 more in the office. Bakers was the first to announce layoffs in calendar 2009, when six lawyers were fired in New York.

Paul Hastings is also on Round 3, following an unknown number in Atlanta in early February, and stealth layoffs in Los Angeles and Shanghai later in the month, the firm laid off 131 – 44 attorneys, 87 staff.

None can compete (yet) with Halliwells, a UK Top 50 firm that is on its FOURTH round of redundancy consultations. The firm has fired 40 people already and 30 are in scope of the current activity – 15 lawyers, 15 staff. I can’t imagine how horrible morale must be over there.

More trends and analysis after the jump.

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