Firms that have reportedly kept offer rates near 100%:

Cravath
S&C
Debevoise
Davis Polk

It's WhiTTTe & Case

I'm not sure if Schulte has had even one "round" of layoffs, let alone two.

What about Orrick, Proskauer and Cahill?

Davis Polk has had major stealth layoffs.

Dewey gave 100% offers--take them off the list.

1,

Shearman has actually had at least 3 distinct rounds of layoffs already, so it might not be the best fit. However, their terrible version of a "stealth layoff" policy does make it a little hard to count accurately (no severance, no continuing health coverage, insulting reviews, excessively mean attitude, etc). They could have easily disillusioned themselves into thinking that they have only had two rounds and called the consultant for advice. Either way, they are definitely going to lay off a bunch more people so it doesn't really matter.

7 - Where are you getting your info, rumors were flying that Dewey was getting ready to slay a good portion of its summers

Cross reference with Five O'Clock Club's client roster.

4 - clearly out of the loop.

white & case = shithole

Boies Schiller

The Bert Agrela Firm is planning layoffs. He will anounce via conference call. Mass email with call in information soon to follow. Take it to the bank!

The Bert Agrela Firm is planning layoffs. He will anounce via conference call. Mass email with call in information soon to follow. Take it to the bank!

Latham has had two rounds of layoffs.

Number 4, you clearly are a Schulte partner. Schulte canned a whole hoard of associates in January, and did so again in June. All firings were stealth layoffs (ie, they were clearly economic layoffs, but to save face, they told the associates let go that it was performance based).

SRZ is a TTT.

Crimson Permanent Assurance is still hiring, what with that boat disaster and all.

Latham has booked the Javits center for Friday.

I'm Secretary of State! Not Bill!

Its Kirkland.

Paul Hastings

I doubt it's Cahill since they offered all but one of their SA's this summer.

The list should be expanded to include layoffs that occurred in December of last year, just in case the tipster's "this year" comment was off the cuff.

Rumor has it that OCI this year Latham will extend offers to 2Ls at the beginning of their interviews and then lay them off at the end. Just there way of cutting to the chase.

dickstein shaprio is laying off

Guys, I think you are missing the undertow of the story: WHy do they need to hire a gun at this point if they've already had two rounds of layoffs? What's different about this time? Or, what went wrong the last two times?
Are they firing partners? All first years? Why the need of this expert suddenly?

Dickstein is a DC based firm, and at TTT, do they even have a corporate department anymore, or is it just an insurance boutique?

Better yet, name a biglaw firm in New York City that has not had two rounds of layoffs so far. Are there any?

lol 25

11 & 17: You two are missing the point of my post. I have also heard that SRZ has conducted a trickle of layoffs. But seeing as how they were stealth, why would they be characterized as "rounds" and why would a firm that conducts stealth layoffs now feel like hiring a PR consultant?

CWT?

27 - if you read the site of the outplacement firm it appears to concentrate on admin level positions - this is not news -

ty 25 i enjoyed that

I want to summer at Dickstein this upcoming summer. Has anyone heard any rumors about layoffs at Dickstein?

#33-#27 here. Thanks for the correction/expansion. I went and read the article. Hiring her eases the pain for everyone. She's a Band-Aid for hire. Still, very depressing.

It is def Loeb adn Loeb. They have a commerical real estate div that does nothing all day.

Any follow-up as to whether Schulte ended up making offers to their summers?

It could easily be Schulte - they have had a series of small layoffs. Anybody who doesn't think there have been layoffs at Schulte - look at the total number of attorneys now versus 18 months ago - the difference is about 100 (and don't forget, we had a bunch of first-years start last fall). Those who have been at SRZ for a while will recall that we published an attorney chart every month showing the attorneys in every group by class year...I can only assume the reason it isn't published anymore is to make it harder to determine how many people have been let go.

9: I was a summer and they told us that everyone got an offer.

-7

Has any other firm that used to publish monthly billables stopped besides the TTT I work for?

How can they forget the firm that started it all, Cadwalader? Similar to Orrick (also not mentioned on list, surprisingly), they are still invested in the structured finance area.

Cahill had two rounds of stealth lay-offs this year. Once in January and once in July.

Dewey did give 100% offers to summers, and only laid off 8 people in January, out of over a thousand, that shouldn't put it on the list. Take it off.

what about Milbank?

Why assume its only lawyer layoffs?

I hear McDonalds is doing in stealth layoffs below 14th Street.

just bc a firm offers all summers does not mean there will not be layoffs - i could easily see a firm hiring 1st years for next September but laying off 2nd, 3rd and 4th years right now.

Any word yet on Settle Pou?

dewey likes young lawyers. they start to make the cuts in the middle tiers

It's probably McDermott

Only a sinking ship would hire a consultant to bail water during new rounds of layoffs. The firm in question has to think they are special, yet know that they are at risk of mass exodus.

The whiner of this week's "We won't survive the 1st quarter of 2010" contest is....

Morgan Lewis Backasswards

Without a doubt its Schulte Roth.

46 - Because nobody gives a shit about staff layoffs. Publicity about firms is not about how they treat staff, it's about how they treat lawyers.

Put another way, have you ever heard a firm worried about its standing at Harvard's "Staff OCI"?

I hear SRZ is getting ready for another monster purge. TIIIIIIMBERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

SRZ also has a commercial real estate group sitting around doing nothing.

Yea... SRZ is down about 100... 410 attys... 85 or so are partners... thats still about a 3:1 ratio. Add a class of 60 in January and they are at 4:1. That may be too high in this climate

SRZ was at 470 attorneys last year. It was never above 480 at the most.

At 410 now, so yes, that's a lot of layoffs, but not down over 100.

It’s definitely STROOCK. They have had two rounds of layoffs. One formally announced (and minimalized) and one stealth. With the state of affairs over there as of late ("A Very Expensive Typo"), it's a no-brainer. At least a dozen partners are set to depart in the fall and there will be layoffs to follow. Definitely STROOCK.

SRZ doesn't do "rounds" of layoffs. They will continue to downsize by pushing people out quietly. Call it a stealth layoff if you must, but the people getting pushed out are billing less hours and show less potential for partnership.

Whichever firm it is, I'll bet they're furious that a call made in confidence somehow wound up in the Washington fucking Post for all the world to see. Oh, and then it became the subject of an ATL thread. Joy.

59 is clearly an SRZ partner. Stop trying to save face.

Um, am I missing something here? What about Clifford Chance? They have definitely had 2 rounds of layoffs this year . . . or have they had more than 2? Is that why they're not included in this debate?

13 - You're an idiot. We're doing just fine over at Boies.

Are you people serious? Who cares?

59 - You are correct. SRZ does not do "rounds of layoffs." They are too spineless to actually come forward and state that they are laying people off, en masse. Instead, SRZ selects a group of 10 - 30 associates to "ease out the door." Their "lack of potential" is often evidenced by one single line from a review, usually the part of the review where the reviewer is asked, "How can the associate improve?" Unless the reviewer does not write anything - which is not helpful to the associate, because constructive criticism is a key aspect of professional development - that information is used as a rationale to let that associate go. An associate can have years of excellent reviews, but when they are looking for people to let go there is only one way to save yourself - make sure you are attached to a partner who will be willing to stand up for you, and make sure that partner has a nice book.

One reason why a consultant might be needed after 2 rounds of layoffs (a good point made earlier in this thread) is if you are letting go of partners. I have no knowledge of this situation, but this might have legs. Any thoughts?

shapiro howard sucks

I'm surprised so many people believe what they read in the newspaper. I'm Kate Wendleton, President, The Five O'Clock Club, the outplacement firm they wrote about.

Sorry to ruin the fun of speculating, but -- being the president -- I know that the author was using artistic license to make the article more dramatic.

There IS no law firm we're working with that fits that is planning those kinds of layoffs. What's more, we don’t have a “tally of destruction,” don’t pay monthly bonuses, have a larger office than he described, are not across from a laundry room where people come and go in their pajamas, Kim does not pop Tylenol -- ever -- and it's all meant to add drama to the article.

The technique obviously worked and I am sorry you were misled. We were upset at first, but then realized that this is what sells newspapers. That's show biz.

Warmest Regards,
Kate Wendleton

Comment removed by moderator.

I agree with 51. It's McDermott. They have had 2 rounds of layoffs so far in 2009, in addition to stealth layoffs at the end of 2008, and rumors swirl that there are more to come.

68 - please do. I'm intrigued.