Law Shucks, Layoffs

This Week in Layoffs: 06.06.09

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[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.]

In perhaps an overabundance of exuberance for even the faintest glimmer of good news, media are celebrating the May unemployment report. The 345,000 jobs lost for the month was half the average monthly decline for the preceding six months (and far better than expected), although unemployment was up to 9.4%. Much of the early giddiness ignored that second part, so despite some volatility, the markets ended the day basically flat. According to the report,

Job losses in professional and business services moderated in May, with the industry shedding 51,000 jobs. This compares with an average loss of 136,000 jobs per month in the prior 6 months.

More specifically, in the legal sector, just 1,300 jobs were lost in the month – from 1.141 million in the sector in April to 1.1397 in May.

We’ve chartified the trend for the visual learners, after the jump.

 

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Bear in mind, that number is net of new hires, layoffs, retirements, etc. To the extent it represents a leveling off, it mirrors what we tracked in major law firm layoffs for the month, which were slightly higher.

 

 

Elie called shenanigans on the seemingly irrational exuberance of a 9.4% unemployment rate, and we agree. It seems a lot more like Stockholm Syndrome than green shoots. One laid off lawyer thinks that not only are there more layoffs are to come (we agree), but those laid off early have the advantage because, between naps, they’re already well into the networking and job searching.

Still, the news from both the macro and provincial perspectives is good, layoffs in the second quarter are way down compared to the first, although there still haven’t been any signs of actual growth. Baby steps. We’re still expecting waves of layoffs in August (after the summers leave), October (after OCI ends), and November (when the reality of how abysmal this year’s results are sets in).

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So what did we see this week? Clearly, the big story was WilmerHale’s bumbling explanation of its stealth layoffs. It’s almost impossible to understand how the firm could fail to grasp the absurdity of its comments, but it was amusing to see a firm blithely hit on so many of the points Law Shucks calls the hypocrisy of stealth layoffs.

As if that weren’t enough foot chewing for one week, the firm also sent out a disturbing message that attorneys who left the firm for clerkships must reapply for their old jobs. What??? That’s another mindboggling change to a time-honored practice of treating clerkships as sabbaticals. Historically, attorneys who leave in good standing for clerkships are welcomed back with open arms (and, if the clerkship was prestigious enough), a nice bonus. Clerks from McDermott are instead being treated like they’ve quit.

Meanwhile, McDermott Will & Emery had its second round of layoffs, this time laying off 25 attorneys and 47 staff. While there were other layoffs this week, this one was refreshing for its candor. It’s been a while since a major US firm simply announced that it was laying off both lawyers and staff in significant numbers and without any pretense of performance reviews or other nonsense.

This piece concludes on Law Shucks with the final tally for the week, month and year to date.

Also, don’t miss the Law Shucks The Months in Layoff – May article for numerous other charts and analysis against prior periods.

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