Is there a pattern developing in Pittsburgh? A few weeks ago we reported that K&L Gates laid off a number of staff. Today, Gina Passarella of the Legal Intelligencer reports that another Pittsburgh powerhouse, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, laid off between 15 and 25 support staffers.

Buchanan Ingersoll CEO Thomas L. VanKirk confirmed the cuts. But in a move that makes a mockery of the English language, VanKirk refused to call the layoffs, "layoffs." Instead:

VanKirk said that the cuts were not layoffs, but that the positions were being eliminated in order for the firm to get more in line with its goal of a 3-1 lawyer-to-secretary ratio.

???

Here are some links for Mr. VanKirk, provided free of charge:

Layoff
Layoff
Layoffs

And of course: Layoff

Did your employees want to continue working at your firm? Are they currently allowed to do so? Do you have the slightest idea of what a moral and ethical principle is? Do you?

Having destroyed his own credibility, let's see what else Mr. VanKirk has to say -- after the jump.

While we continue to pester firms about no offer information, it appears that one firm dipped significantly below the 90% threshold for summer associate offers, at least in the New York office.

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is another firm that has reported an oversubscribed summer associate class. That said, Buchanan Ingersoll spokesperson Lori Lecker reports that the summers were at least busy:

[W]e had more than enough work to keep all of our summer associates busy throughout the course of the program, and we received positive feedback from the class on the quality of work. We generated over 300 projects for our summers to work on this year.

Most firms don't bother to tout how much work their summer class had, but Buchanan is fighting specific reports that attorneys are struggling to make their billables firmwide. Just two weeks ago it was reported that barely a quarter of the firms 500 lawyers were on target, and that average associate hours had fallen below 1,650.

So the summers had work, but did they get jobs? More on that after the jump.

Here are a few of the most notable moves within the legal profession:

Reunited and It Feels So Good:

* Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld has returned to the New York office of McDermott, Will & Emery. This year, Weld unsuccessfully ran for the chance to get trounced by Eliot Spitzer the Republican nomination for governor of New York.

* Intellectual property lawyer Brian O'Shaughnessy is back at Buchanan Ingersoll -- after Womble Carlyle crowed loudly about scooping him up. Nate Carlile of the Legal Times has the story:

O'Shaughnessy started at Womble the day after Halloween, never spent a moment there practicing law, and was gone before the end of the week. (Actually, it appears he cleared out at about the same time Womble was touting his hire.)

How bizarre, how bizarre.

Government to Private Sector:

* Guy Singer -- who worked on the Jack Abramoff corruption case, among several other high-profile prosectuions -- is heading for the D.C. office of Florida-based Akerman Senterfitt.

New Partners:

* Cravath, Swaine & Moore: Over at the Death Star, four new partners have been announced: corporate lawyer Craig Arcella, litigator Teena-Ann Sankoorikal, corporate lawyer Andrew Thompson, and corporate lawyer Damien Zoubek. The partnership decisions will be effective January 1, 2007.

A tipster tells us that both Craig and Teena are "very good-looking." (Feel free to send us pictures.)

* Paul Hastings: Sixteen new partners -- three more than last year. Evidently they enjoyed working at the firm more than this guy did. Their names appear here.

Firm Names Larger Class of New Partners [NYLawyer.com]
Well-Travelled Politician Rejoins Old Firm in NY [NYLawyer.com]
Abramoff Prosecutor Quits DOJ for Firm [NYLawyer.com]
NY Associates Making Partner [NYLawyer.com]
After Three Days, Flip-Flopping Partner Quits New Firm for Old Firm [Legal Times]
Paul Hastings Elects Sixteen To Partnership [Paul Hastings]