Biglaw Adviser Says: These Layoffs Weren’t Personal, They Were ‘Appropriate’

For some reason, very few law firms are prepared to deal with the headcount issues. It is interesting because the reaction from them also is peculiar. I think it was reported—I don’t know, maybe 12 months ago—that Weil Gotshal had a significant layoff of lawyers. They reduced—I think it was their associates, but maybe it was of counsel as well—and there was quite a negative reaction in the press to that.

I am not privy to any of their numbers or anything that is going on in the firm, but, as a restructuring person, my reaction is, “Look, this is someone getting their house in order. This is an appropriate thing to do.” It is no secret that revenues across the industry are down. And, so, you either need to take market share, or you need to right size your organization.

– Joff Mitchell of Zolfo Cooper, during an interview with David J. Parnell of Forbes, speaking about how layoffs are frowned upon in Biglaw.

(For the record, Weil laid off 60 associates — about 7 percent of its associate ranks — and 110 staff members, about half of whom were legal secretaries.)