Biglaw, Layoffs, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants, Staff Layoffs

Staff Layoff Watch: Bingham McCutchen Makes Cuts

Are staff layoffs at large law firms on the upswing? Bingham McCutchen just announced some cuts. How many individuals were affected, and what was the rationale for the reductions?

onFebruary 28, 2012 at 3:00 PMFebruary 28, 2012 at 3:08 PM

BINGHAM MCCUTCHEN — MEMORANDUM — REDUCTION IN FORCE

I am writing to let all of you to know that we conducted a reduction in force of our staff this week. We eliminated 42 positions across our U.S. offices, with the predominant impact being felt in Boston, as it is our largest office globally and our administrative headquarters. All of the staff members affected by this reduction will be receiving severance packages commensurate with their tenure and position level.

This action was undertaken after extensive and thoughtful review of our staffing levels in comparison to those of our competitor firms. We regularly undertake such analyses as part of our business planning to maintain proper balance between the ranks of our lawyers and staff.

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As most of you will also recall, we offered a Voluntary Retirement Program (VRP) in the fourth quarter of 2011 to a large segment of our long-tenured staff. Historically, these programs have been a generous and effective means of helping us manage the size of our workforce — in a manner that honors both the contributions of such longstanding employees and the firm’s ongoing commitment to being a “best place to work.” However, the acceptance rate for our 2011 VRP program was substantially lower than the one for our last program offered in 2007, which necessitated this week’s changes.

We deeply regret that we had to eliminate the jobs of any members of our tightly knit community. However, we must constantly manage our current staffing levels to reasonably align with those of our peer firms, in order to preserve our competitiveness over the long term and to support the majority of families dependent upon the firm’s success. We are confident that our staffing changes this week will help us maintain our strong position in the marketplace. We also have made every effort to take good care of the affected individuals.

Please direct any questions you may have about these actions to me or to Lynn Carroll, our Chief Human Resources Officer. We also will be available to answer questions about these changes at the local partner meetings and staff Town Hall meetings occurring in March.

Thank you,
Tracee