Layoffs, Staff Layoffs

Nationwide Layoff Watch: Staff Feeling The Pinch

Check out the update, no one is happy with how these lay offs were handled.

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pink slip LF layoffsAmid all the jubilation surrounding the recent associate salary raises, it is easy to forget that times are not rosy across the board. In fact, when Cravath first announced its new compensation scale Above the Law received missives from angry members of law firm staff, upset they’d remain overworked and underpaid. But there are worse options: layoffs.

Last week, Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto, an intellectual property firm with 150 lawyers in three offices, announced staff layoffs, and at least one newly out of work individual wasn’t told until after the rest of the office knew they were out of work:

[O]n Friday, Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto laid off another 10 employees. They were very unprofessional about it, including having a meeting with the entire support staff and reading off the names of those laid off. Some of which, who weren’t even told yet [because they were out of the office].

We reached out to the firm for comment, and they echoed a familiar refrain of changing technology and rising costs that forced them to make the move:

Law firms are operating in vastly different ways than they did in the past. Many marketplace factors – including developments in technology, client service requirements, price sensitivities, among others – have counseled firms toward taking a hard look at operations to find efficiencies. Fitzpatrick is no different. We have always taken great pride in being a great place to work, with a solid business as our core. Last week we took a step toward making our law firm stronger and more efficient by reducing our administrative staffing levels.

The firm also responded about the staff member that found out they were looking at a pink slip after they got back from vacation:

As to your question about whether the reductions were announced before all affected employees had been notified, there was one person that we were unable to speak with prior to having discussions regarding the reductions with other staff members, because that person was out of the office. While we did call that individual, unfortunately the call was not returned prior to the meeting. We called again following the meeting and finally spoke with the individual on Monday morning.

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I know lots of folks take vacation during the summer months, and it is probably hard to coordinate the optimal time to announce staffing cuts, but finding out while your sunburn is fresh seems like a gut punch. Best of luck to all the laid off staffers in their job hunt.

UPDATE 3:20pm: Apparently associates are also annoyed at the way that the staff layoffs were handled:

I work at Fitzpatrick Cella. They still haven’t even bothered to tell associates about the staff layoff. I found out by seeing staff being escorted to the elevators but no memo or comments at all from management. Some associates had no clue and found out from your article. One told me he was emailing his secretary and had no clue as emails didn’t even bounce back. On top of that radio silence on compensation. People here are upset and don’t understand the total lack of communication.

Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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