Staff Layoff Watch: Dorsey & Whitney Shows 55 Employees the Door
Bad news coming out of Minneapolis today. A Dorsey & Whitney spokesperson has confirmed to Above the Law that 55 staffers have been let go.
The firm tell us that the 55 staffers represent about 7% of Dorsey & Whitney's support staff. The layoffs took place across seven of the firm's offices, but the spokesperson tells us that Minneapolis was the hardest hit.
Tipsters report that 38 of the 55 staffers were based in the firm's Minneapolis office.
As far as we know, this is the first round of economic layoffs for Dorsey (#87 in your Vault guides). The firm has frozen associate salaries, but has largely avoided some of the more aggressive cost cutting measures we've seen from other firms.
Of course, the firm's overall ability to avoid the worst of the economic recession is of little solace to the staff that lost their jobs today.
Good luck to those let go. Who knows, maybe Thor Anderson needs some extra help?
Earlier: Nationwide Pay Freeze Watch: Dorsey & Whitney
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First from the Midwest, punks!
You can touch my Whitney, but hands off my Dorsey.
The ship be sinking...
Who?
Also, I just came on Elie's moobs.
I am unable to provide details for obvious reasons, but I can confirm that Partner Emeritus is a real partner at a real firm. Maybe not as elite a firm as he seems to think, but it is a legit biglaw firm in NY. Some due diligence went into this by a few people here, and I know it sounds ridiculous, but it is true. Not sure why I am bothering to post this, but I know that there have been some accusations that he is a fraud. As much as it pains me to say, I can say that absolutely is NOT the case.
@5
Still a fraud.
SOTOMAYOR: "I find all this talk about 'western civilization this', and 'American values that' to be hostile to the traditions of diversity and tolerance in our community. I also think that all white males should be put in concentration camps."
If PE were a fraud, how could he come up with this?
http://abovethelaw.com/2009/06/mofo_associates_are_you_at_wor.php?show=comments#comment-1078538
Although not a peer firm, D&W merits some praise for sacrificing their support staff at the expense of preserving their associate rank and file. This is a great way to improve morale amongst the remaining staff and personnel who will all undoubtedly work harder and be in more awe of the associates they work for.
To the 55 outplaced staff and personnel: Do not despair, I am sure the "Chosen One" feels for your loss and is working towards easing your pain.
Sadly, staff-only layoffs are inevitably followed by attorney layoffs.
I think we're seeing firms slow their layoffs, but cuts will continue to happen. I think this is the period that Obama might refer to as cutting with a scalpel, not a hatchet.
PE not a fraud. Trust me on this one.
Salusa Secundus here I come!
Sotomayor is a racist and kills puppies.
I also just expelled my ectoplasm all over Mr. Mystal's "moobs."
<----------- was kind of hoping Midwest firms would just duck and cover and ride out the rest of this recession.
no one cares about STAFF.
Every week someone claims that they know the "real" Partner Emeritus. For real. No joking. He used to be a 1L at a 2nd tier school. Now apparently he is an actual partner and a small shop in NY.
Unless you are going to name names, shut up and go away.
Michael Ray,
Just curious how far?
-Denny Crane
17 - Every partner used to be a 1L. I'm not sure what you're trying to say.
Modus operandus secretarius rectus poundus
Modus operandus sotomayorus rectus poundus
While "staff" = "unwashed", it would still be interesting to know whether they are thinning the secretarial pool versus records, IT, accounting, etc.
20 - Not every Latin word ends in "-us." There's five declensions, for cryin' out loud!
Also, partner emeritus is a senior associate at a major law firm in LA. Heard it at a Federalist Society gathering.
I could careus lessus about declensions. Just give me sweet secretary's ass to pound.
You are all wrong, Partner Emeritus is an actor. He played the President in "Clear and Present Danger." We once worked together in an afterschool special.
22,
I sure hope they cut that Human Resources department. I can't stand HR women...they have this over-inflated sense of importance with absolutely no skills to show for anything. Truly the most insufferable people in all of business. Not to mention they are usually severely overweight...again, no tubsters here at CP&S
Agreed 26. And that goes for all industries, not just law.
26 -
HR leads are always thin cute 20something girls.
26 -
HR leads are always thin cute 20something girls.
28-
......says the overweight 30 something HR representative.
Don't sugarcoat it hun...your industry is worthless. You don't need a college degree, let alone a masters, to spend all day on the phone bitching with payroll/healthcare provider, talking gossip with the other overweight 30 somethings, aqnd monitoring vacation days.
30 -
i'm not female, 30, or HR. i have, however, interviewed for SA positions all over. i always see the tubsters, but the one who talks to you at first is so cute! :D
Elie Mystal's semen is equal parts powdered sugar and water.
guys at my high school jizzed frosting all the time. it was no big deal.
I see that another firm has adopted the Paul Bearer Neck Massage Law Firm Management Technique (PBNMLFM). Still, I'm somewhat concerned that there is no mention of severance for the departed 55.
They all get severance--some as much as 26 weeks.
They all get severance--some as much as 26 weeks.
They all get severance--some as much as 26 weeks.
Do the HR people get severance? They deserve immediate termination and no severance for being completely useless, overly annoying, and fat!
-Denny Crane
I'm really starting to like the "Guys at my high school..." guy. It just always gives me a chuckle.
- Not the "Guys at my high school..." guy
As one of the lucky(?) ones who got let go, it is bittersweet. I have been there for many many years but have also been extremely unhappy as of late. Part of it was an incompetent boss who is not concerned with the department but only how she looks to the firm had a lot to do with it. So much for loyalty. There are many support staff let go, I wish them all good luck in the future. I had good times also. I guess nobody works at a company until retirement any more.
really atl?
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune this morning, Dorsey has also cut their nonpartner attorney salaries by 10% across the board.
10%? was it across the board or aligned with productivity, as other firms have done? I imagine a cut that severe can't apply uniformly? did it hit the seattle office? if it's true, that's got to drop Dorsey a tier or even two in terms of peers. to my knowledge, very few Seattle firms have cut salaries (including my firm, one of the top in seattle), let alone a huge 10%. Firms don't cut salaries that significantly plus do serious layoffs unless they are in trouble. report ATL!!! this is big news in a city where firms aren't doing these things.
43 - Shamefully its true. Its an extreme decrease and the largest for a firm that wasnt overpaying its associates to begin with (like a NY firm, for example that has plenty of room to go down). You are correct about resetting peer groups.
43 - it's even worse than that.
Big news is right. Associates are beyond displeased. Take away 5%, maybe even $5,000, ok, fine, even $10K, but 10%? Who is running that place. 44 makes a good point about Midwest/Seattle firms who pay pennies to begin with.
Actually, Dorsey's not limiting their cuts to staff... that's just who they're laying off openly. There have already been associate stealth layoffs and de-equitized partners.
16 - Nobody? Such a snob you are.
The volume of posters here says that at least SOME people here care about staff.
Still, I would rather wrestle with a Fremen over a maula pistol in the desert than be a D&W staffer.
~Dune guy
As an insider, they have been cutting associates, paring down the numbers. Major restructuring is also going to drag that firm down. Massive cuts in the marketing department alone will give Dorsey its dooms day sooner rather than later. After all, doesn't marketing get the word out about the company and bring in work (along with the attys, of course).
40- High five!! I am sitting by the pool enjoying some severance... Life goes on...
50-True, life goes on but hey're still @#@$'s for giving us this stress and disrupting our lives......I'm working on the relaxing part......enjoy the pool. You from the mpls branch?
40- yes and i think they could have put a little thought into what they did. I know they could have made some better choices. I think I am still in shock.
Me too, although I'm trying to be artificially chipper to make things seem better. However I did have an interview today.....no sitting around for me!
Average tenure of the handful left in the marketing department is less than 2 years. One associate and one former partner will now "right the ship" under the direction of a law professor.
It's hard to market a company with very little staff actually left in the marketing department. It's hard to 'right the ship' when it's 3/4 sunk already. i hope the employees left at Dorsey have their resumes up to date and are out looking for employment. My hunch tells me that this is only the beginning of a long slippery slope of the titanic....
ears to doors tell me merger is forthcoming.
I wouldn't be surprised about a merger...time will tell
49
Way over valuing Marketing. Yes it is essential to market, but who need multiple marketing managers at such high salaries when most of the work can be done my fresh college graduates or event planners at minimal wages.
I agree about not needing multiple marketing managers but they need to at least keep somebody with some experience. Fresh college graduates don't cut it and event planners definitely don't cut it!
hhhuuummm, wonder if Coleman has any money to pay his lawyers???????????