Law Shucks, Layoffs

This Last Week in Layoffs: 08.24.09

By  
on

[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.]

It seems so good, doesn’t it? According to the lead of a recent AP story, "The unemployment rate fell in 17 states and the District of Columbia last month, a positive sign even as the pain of joblessness remains widespread."

Don’t believe the hype. Even lawyers can subtract when it’s only double-digit numbers. Are we not supposed to notice that that must mean the unemployment rate increased, or at best was flat, in more than 30 states? In fact, it was up in 36 states and territories, more than twice as many as it was down in, but the AP is just drunk on White House Kool-Aid apparently, how else to explain that spin?

Other outlets aren’t so optimistic (or bedazzled, depending on your level of cynicism). Initial jobless claims were actually higher than expected for the week, at 576,000, and the overall unemployment rate was flat at about 9.4% (we touched briefly last week on why that number is particularly misleading right now). That rate is still expected to hit the psychologically-dreadful 10% level by early next year. Still, the S&P 500 had a nice little run for the week, finishing up about 40 points.

Law-firm news wasn’t terrible this week, although the "week without a layoff" streak ended at one. Details after the jump.

Unfortunately, firms are back to their old ways of not releasing numbers or publicly confirming the layoffs. Curtis Mallet-Prevost & Mosle (which is apparently now branding itself as the non-descript "Curtis") has reportedly laid off 10-15% of its corporate associates.

Sponsored

Fish & Richardson, which has been more-forthcoming in the past (announcing layoffs of 35 lawyers and 85 staff in May, and another 30 staff in January), has laid off corporate lawyers but won’t provide a solid number. Back in January, they also stealthed approximately 40 additional lawyers. We were hoping they’d stick to the full disclosure, but according to our sources, they’re keeping quiet. It looks like they’re scaling way back on corporate and focusing on their strength: IP.

More firms have thrown in the towel on next summer. Between deferred start dates and already-underworked junior associates, they’re not even trying to hire for next summer. Loeb & Loeb (which sounded ominously like they might not have a program again in New York) and Howard Rice are among the most-recent to go this route. Eckert Seamans has recently been getting reported for not having a program, but that’s old news (and a good move – they only hire experienced lawyers).

Hell, many firms are throwing in the towel on THIS summer. Offer rates are dropping, so even those "lucky" few who got jobs this summer and counted their blessings that at least they likely had jobs , can’t even count on that. Offer rates are plummeting. Even those students who were smart enough to be on their best behavior probably figured they just had to keep the salad and entree forks straight and they’d have a job (albeit starting a year and a half or so after graduation). Paul Hastings and its 75% offer rate is getting the headlines, but numerous other firms are offering at rates well below historical.

A few more stories from the week in the rest of the article on Law Shucks.

Also, an administrative note, unless there are some big developments, we’re going fishing for the rest of the summer. We’ll be back after Labor Day and will catch up on what should (hopefully) be a particularly quiet period.

Sponsored

Topics