Time to resume our series of open threads covering small (or smaller) law firms, focused on different practice areas. We’ve already written about small law firms in general, insurance law, personal injury law, trusts and estates, immigration, real estate, intellectual property, ERISA / employee benefits, and family law / divorce law. Some of these threads are still active (or could be resuscitated), so do check in on them.

Today we turn to the booming field of BANKRUPTCY. This practice area might seem depressing, given its focus on financial distress, but some people find it quite sexy.

A long time ago, the field was generally shunned by large firms, so that most firms doing bankruptcy were on the smaller side. But Biglaw embraced bankruptcy years ago, and it’s probably glad it did. The bankruptcy departments of large law firms are super-busy these days, providing a partial hedge to the weakness on the transactional side.

What about bankruptcy boutiques — how are they doing? Some material to kick off the discussion, after the jump.

Let’s return to our series of open threads on small law firms in different practice areas. We’ve covered seven fields so far; check them out here.

The latest topic to tackle: FAMILY LAW. This is the area of law that our somewhat cantankerous, dearly departed grandmother urged us to enter. She was firmly convinced that when a couple splits up, the divorce lawyers end up with all the couple’s money.

But not everyone is a fan of this practice area. Dahlia Lithwick, Slate’s fabulous and funny Supreme Court correspondent, previously practiced family law at a small firm in Reno, Nevada. It seems that she found divorce law depressing rather than enriching.

Here’s what Lithwick said during a talk at UVA Law School last year, when we asked what led her to move from practicing law to writing about it:

“One thing that really helps is doing doing divorce law.” After representing clients in their “bickering over the pots and pans,” she said, everything else starts to look much more attractive.

That seems like a rather negative take on the field, doesn’t it? In fairness to family law, it has its upsides.

Find out the advantages of this field — and check out the inside of this greeting card (above right), courtesy of the folks at Pig Spigot — after the jump.

Back to our series of open threads covering small (or smaller) law firms, focused on different practice areas. We’ve already written about small law firms in general, insurance law, personal injury law, trusts and estates, immigration, and real estate. Some of those discussions are still active, so feel free to look back at them.

Today we turn our attention to what’s widely viewed as a hot field: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. The reader who requested IP law as a subject offered an overview of the field:

IP is a very variable, different, and often forgotten practice of law that is mostly inhabited by engineers and science geeks who have no problems wearing Cosby sweaters and bad shoes around their workplaces.

More serious reflections, plus some questions, after the jump.

Today we resume our series of open threads about small law firms focused on different areas of practice. For background on the series, see this post.

We’ve received lots of positive feedback on the series. Here are some representatives comments from the last thread, on insurance law:

54 - This is a GREAT GREAT GREAT thread - please do more. I’d be interested in seeing threads on immigration practice, real estate practice, prosecution and public defense (state/municipal, not federal - reality check here - the DOJ is not an option for 99% of attorneys).

86 - [K]eep open threads on small law like this coming! They’re informative for everyone, whether or not they are interested or not in working in such an area.

94 - This is a good thread. (I can’t believe it.) Thanks to the veterans who are providing substantive info and advice.

Our latest practice area for focus: PERSONAL INJURY LAW.

If this subject interests you, read more after the jump.

The comments on last month’s post about small law firms were uncommonly good. Readers shared valuable insights and information about life beyond Biglaw, including discussion of the pluses and minuses of working at a small — or smaller (size is relative) — law firm.

One commenter — after pointing out that non-Biglaw firms come in many shapes and sizes, making it hard to generalize — had this excellent suggestion:

You know what would be really helpful? A variety of open threads on different types of small firms. Do one or two threads a day getting people’s input on salaries in boutique regulatory firms, other types of transactional, plaintiffs firms, insurance defense, class action boutiques, whatever.

As someone that’s focusing my search primarily on small firms, it’s been really difficult trying to get a sense of what my salary demands should be. Short of asking my friends how much they make, the information really doesn’t exist in any useful form. A variety of open threads focusing on specific practice areas and what people can expect for salaries and benefits would probably be really beneficial to many readers.

Salary demands? How about just hoping that you have a salary?

But we like this idea for an occasional series of open threads, focusing on small firms with different specialties. Today’s topic: firms that practice INSURANCE LAW.

If this interests you, read more after the jump.

As super-big law firms suffer through the recession, many midsize and small firms are thriving. Back in June, we discussed these firms as a viable alternative to Biglaw. (A number of smaller firms — e.g., Stone & Magnanini, Silver Golub & Teitell, and McKool Smith — are even hiring, with the help of job postings on Above the Law.)

But are smaller firms all they’re cracked up to be? We try to present both sides of the story. Check out this letter, from the ATL mailbag:

I’m an Ivy League law grad with a couple of years in big law. I got laid off and eventually found a job at a smaller firm. Like, way smaller. Unsurprisingly, I know a couple of people to whom this has happened (and a couple who haven’t found jobs as well, of course).

The commonly held wisdom is that the trade off in big law is money for your time and soul, while smaller firms pay less, but ask less. I’m not finding this to be really true, and neither are my friends.

So what exactly are we talking about, in terms of hours and compensation at small firms?

Akerman Senterfitt is a Florida based firm, so — given the economy in Florida — it’s not all that surprising that the firm has decided to join the salary cutting party.

Multiple tipsters independently confirm that Akerman has instituted an across the board, 10% pay cut on all class years. Here is the internal email about the salary cuts obtained by Above the Law:

We are announcing today a 10% reduction in all associate salaries, effective immediately. This action is being taken in response to market conditions, which I know you are all aware of and which I need not belabor. I want to make it clear that our firm’s financial condition remains very strong, and even clearer as to how much we appreciate all your hard word and effort on behalf of the firm.

As previously announced, the associate bonus hours grid that we have used during the past few years has been eliminated. Instead, we will be carefully reviewing each associate’s performance at the end of this year as we consider paying merit-based discretionary bonuses to those meeting the established minimum qualitative and quantitative requirements.

As the email suggests, everybody is well aware of the terrible situation happening in the legal economy. But is the terrible economy forcing Akerman into this situation, or is the firm simply taking advantage of the difficult economic situation to roll back salaries?

After the jump, tipsters who have seen Akerman’s books claim that this is a salary cut of choice, not necessity.

Ed. note: Welcome to the latest installment of “Notes from the Breadline,” a column by a laid-off lawyer in New York. Prior columns are collected here. You can reach Roxana St. Thomas by email (at roxanastthomas@gmail.com), follow her on Twitter, or find her on Facebook.

At the Big Law Firm where we used to work, my friend Giovanna was the kind of associate that every partner dreams of. She spent nights and weekends at the office. She took on the most tedious tasks without complaining. She did the work of three people. She was conscientious. Sometimes, the partner for whom she worked would call her late at night, at home, with a frantic last-minute request for something that probably could have been done earlier in the day; Giovanna would turn around and go back to work to get it done.

Giovanna survived working for this partner for four years, but she did not survive the round of layoffs that eventually trimmed the herd at the Big Law Firm. In the months before she was “let go,” she had been certain that the figurative guillotine was poised above her waiting head. So, when she was summoned to the managing partner’s office to hear her fate, she said later, she was shocked, but not particularly surprised. She cried when she got the news, but then she gave them a piece of her mind and cleaned out her desk. A few days later, she left without looking back.

For the first few weeks, Giovanna and commiserated about life in the breadline. “I’ll never find a job!” she wailed, and threatened to cash in her 401(k). “Don’t do it,” I told her repeatedly, picturing her out on a ledge, cell phone in hand, ready to take a financially unwise leap.

“This is infuriating,” she said at one point. “No matter how many times I explain that more than 6000 people were laid off from firms, I swear people still look at me and think, ‘You suck, and that’s why you were let go.’ But AT&T lays off 50 people and it makes the CNN scroll and everyone empathizes.” I complained that Cliff didn’t understand that lawyers had emerged as the lepers of the new job market. She complained that her boyfriend, Tony, kept telling her to get a job at the local diner.

But Giovanna is one of the lucky ones. After a few weeks of unemployment, which we spend planning our eventual relocation to the shantytown which, she insists, is bound to spring up in Central Park, a former colleague passes her resume along to a friend of a friend and … before we know it, she has a new job.

Read about Giovanna’s new gig, after the jump.

Biglaw is suffering — big time. Meanwhile, many smaller and midsize law firms are doing just fine, even thriving. (A number of them — e.g., Silver Golub & Teitell, McKool Smith, and Stone & Magnanini — are expanding, with the help of job postings on Above the Law.)

These days, Am Law 200 firms are generally doing better than their Am Law 100 counterparts. This generally hasn’t been the case, at least in recent years. Industry observers are wondering: Is small beautiful?

That was one theme of Casting a Wider Net: The Rise of the Small to Mid-Sized Law Firm, another panel at yesterday’s conference, co-sponsored by the New York City Bar and Vault, entitled Getting Back in the Game: How to Restart Your Career in a Down Economy. (We wrote about an earlier panel here.)

The panel on small to midsize law firms consisted of:

ALLA ROYTBERG (moderator), Solo Practitioner, and Director, City Bar Small Law Firm Center;

PAUL LIPPE, CEO, Legal On-Ramp;

CORIN LINDSLEY, Managing Director, Major Lindsey & Africa; and

RON GEFFNER, partner, Sadis & Goldberg.

The discussion covered such topics as how to learn about high-quality small firms, how to apply to them, and how to grow one, once you’re there.

A short discussion, after the jump.

Not all firms are cutting back on the perks. The Memphis Commercial Appeal has an enthused article today about the perks to be had at the small Tennessee firm of Burch, Porter & Johnson.

The article, “Legal firm helps its employees find essential balance,” talks about the firm’s AMAZING perks:

Something refreshing for body and soul is happening within the 119-year-old walls that house a venerable Memphis law firm.

Refreshing as a good yoga session. Strengthening as a brisk core-body workout. And uplifting as guest speakers whose work has made Memphis a better place.

Sweet. You can work out at work! And they friggin’ bring in guest speakers at lunch. Wow! Do they have as much free coffee as you can drink too?

If you thought firm life in Memphis couldn’t compare to Biglaw in the big city, think again:

That quest for balance explains why Leah Hillis strolled down the hallways on a recent lunch hour wearing workout clothes for a yoga session.

The associate attorney headed for the firm’s large, third-story storeroom overlooking Court Square… Other exercise classes to strengthen the core-body are Mondays and Fridays in the same unfinished space, which holds files of old cases, surplus furniture and cleaning supplies.

The classes are inexpensive: $4 for yoga and $3 for the core-body sessions.

Only $4 to work out in the storage closet!

If that’s not your cup of tea, you can spend lunch with a guest speaker during one of the firm’s “fireside chats” in the Crump Room. A recent speaker mentioned in the article is a Holocaust survivor. Fun times.

Law and life: Legal firm helps its employees find essential balance [Memphis Commercial Appeal]

Parker Poe, a Charlotte-based law firm, laid off 13 attorneys and an undisclosed number of support staffers yesterday.

A firm spokesperson confirmed the news last night:

Parker Poe did, today, separate 13 attorneys from our firm.

The attorneys had less-than-one to 3 years of experience with our firm.

Depending upon their years of service with the Firm they received up to 3 months severance.

At least they waited until after the holidays before they “separated” people from gainful employment.

Read what our tipsters are saying after the jump.

While Southeastern United States Senators are busy making the world safe for Toyota, Southeastern law firms are busy just trying to survive.

The latest bad news comes the 132-year-old law firm Womble Carlyle. The North Carolina based firm has decided to freeze salary increases for all attorneys through the first half of 2009 at least:

In these times, prudent management requires that we minimize our expenses in order to retain the flexibility that is necessary to deal with unforeseen developments. Accordingly, in addition to a variety of expense cuts that are included in the budget, we have decided not to increase base salaries for salaried attorneys and staff at the beginning of 2009. As we approach the midpoint of the year, we will review the situation and decide whether to provide any increases for the balance of the year. The only exceptions are those attorneys who become salaried members or of counsel on January 1, 2009.

I imagine that if you are a lawyer that relies heavily on the disaster area of the Charlotte banking market, just having a job is reward enough. You don’t want to be laid off in North Carolina right now. Womble Carlyle hopes to avoid that worst case scenario after the jump.

We’ve been caught up in bonus announcements and coverage of that-which-must-not-be-named, so we’ve neglected to mention that a bunch of firms have gotten hitched in the last month.

Since there are so many, we’re giving it to you LEWW-style:

1. Greenebaum Doll & McDonald (Louisville) and Ice Miller (Indianapolis)

2. Bradley Arant Rose & White (Birmingham) and Boult, Cummings, Conners & Berry (Nashville)

3. Frost Brown Todd (Louisville/Cincinnati) and Locke Reynolds (Indianapolis)

We have two Louisville-Indianapolis pairings. The result of the Green Ice pairing is a merged firm of 443 attorneys, while Frosty Locke will have about 450 attorneys. Bradley Arant Boult Cummings will be comprised of 350 attorneys, mainly in Bible Belt offices.

We reported last week on the latest feast in the K&L Gates merger feeding frenzy, joining forces with Chicago’s Bell Boyd & Lloyd, and taking its numbers up to 2,000 lawyers in 30 offices.

Lateral Link survey guru Justin Bernold provides some recession merger insight:

Ah, the recession merger. No matter the industry, here’s the method:

Step one: Discover that one rock doesn’t float.
Step two: Tie it to another rock.
Step three: Fire the employees if it doesn’t float.

Adding, “If Cravath merges with SullCrom, those rocks are gonna float. On big bags of money.”

Report says Greenebaum plans merger with Indianapolis firm [Business First]
Indianapolis-based law firm Ice Miller’s merger follows national trend [Indiana Economic Digest]
Bradley Arant and Boult, Cummings to merge [Charlotte Business Journal]
Locke Reynolds: new name, clout [Indianapolis Star]
K&L Gates, Bell Boyd Consider Merger [American Lawyer]

Earlier: Law Firm Merger Mania: K&L Gates In Talks To Acquire Bell Boyd

If the second-most profitable law firm in the nation cuts bonuses by 73%, what do you expect regional firms to do?

Today, the management committee at Epstein Becker & Green made a decision that we will probably be copied at regional firms throughout the country. From the EBG internal memo:

The cautiousness of the Firm’s clients regarding their cash position has continued to affect EBG’s cash collections through November. We, like all law firms in 2008, are experiencing a slower pace of payments to the Firm from our clients than in prior years. While we are confident that these monies will be collected over time and we are well positioned for 2009, cash available at year end is, as a consequence, more limited than it has been in years when the economy was stronger.

Reflecting this reality, and on our history of conservative but responsible fiscal management that dictates prudence in retaining our cash reserves and not incurring additional debt for non-capital expenses — thereby protecting the Firm’s position as we enter 2009 — the Compensation Committee has determined that no bonuses will be paid at year end 2008. While we do not make this decision lightly, at a time when many law firms and businesses are engaged in large-scale lay-offs or worse, this decision is, we believe, a moderate response to what are unprecedented circumstances facing our industry.

Remember that a problem many firms are facing right now is that while attorneys keep billing, some clients have stopped paying.

EBG is the first firm that we’re aware of that is offering the “special bonus” of zero. But they won’t be the last. Don’t forget to send us your tips on other mid-sized and regional firms as they make difficult bonus decisions this year.

Read the unabridged statement that EBG attorneys received today, after the jump.

As we previously reported, the fate of Tyler Cooper & Alcorn, one of Connecticut’s most venerable law firms, was up in the air for a while. There were rumors of dissolution, but managing partner William Fish told ATL that the firm was merely in merger talks.

It seems that those talks have borne fruit. Over the past week, we started receiving many emails from Connecticut tipsters about Tyler Cooper. (We had no idea we had such a fan base in Connecticut.)

Here’s one of them:

Tyler Cooper’s collapse (reported last month here) is now official. A number of partners and associates are leaving Tyler Cooper to join LeClairRyan, a growing national law firm. The change will come later this month. The partners just started notifying friends and clients….

They will take over the space of Tyler Cooper in New Haven. No word on whether Tyler Cooper will even still exist, but the fact that LeClair Ryan will have the same mailing address as the former Tyler Cooper can’t be a good sign.

We reached out to both firms yesterday. Tyler Cooper did not get back to us. LeClair Ryan partner David I. Greenberg responded: “It is our Firm’s policy not to confirm or deny rumors related to lateral hires.”

But another firm that’s scooping up Tyler Cooper attorneys was willing to comment. Read more after the jump.

This sign captures the flavor of the past week in law firm news, including the massive layoffs at Cadwalader and the office closings at Akin Gump. If you have other tips for us, send them to us here.

The law firm pain is starting to be felt even by those still in law school. We’ve been forwarded various emails announcing that some firms or offices have canceled on-campus interviews for 2009 prospective summer associates, including the New York office of Dorsey & Whitney, the Chicago office of Midwestern firm Barnes & Thornburg, and, as we reported on Wednesday, Cadwalader (at certain law schools, e.g., Rutgers - Newark). Here are excerpts from the notices:

From John Marshall Law School:

I received notice from the head of recruiting at Barnes & Thornburg that the firm will not be having a summer program in its Chicago office next summer. Therefore, the OCI option for that firm has been removed from Symplicity.

---

From Columbia Law School:

The New York office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP will no longer be interviewing at EIP (ed. note: Early Interview Program) as they have decided not to have a formal summer associate program in 2009.

---

From Rutgers Law School:

Also, please note that Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, scheduled to interview on campus on August 13th, has had to cancel and will contact students independently to schedule interviews if they are selected.

We expected large law firms to power on with their summer associate programs, so we were somewhat surprised to hear that Dorsey & Whitney is suspending its program in New York. Then again, it was a rather small program — about five summer associates in 2007, per the firm’s NALP form (PDF). A Dorsey spokesperson had this comment:

It is true that the New York office of Dorsey & Whitney will not sponsor a formal summer associate program in 2009. We have made this decision based upon our hiring needs in the New York office at this time. This decision with respect to the New York office summer associate program does not preclude the possibility of hiring an incoming class for 2010 in our New York office. The firm’s other offices that have traditionally sponsored summer associate programs will continue to do so.

Have other firms canceled their OCIs at your school? Please let us know in the comments, including your school, the firm, and the firm office.

See full notices from firms regarding OCI cancellation, after the jump.

There have been lots of law firm “mini-mergers” in the past month or so. In addition to the two mentioned here — Husch Blackwell Sanders + Welsh & Katz, and Troutman Sanders + Ross, Dixon & Bell — most of Schwartz Cooper of Chicago recently got swallowed up by Dykema, and Ballard Spahr acquired IP boutique Needle & Rosenberg, of Atlanta.

Today brings the possibility of another non-mega merger — or acquisition, to put it more accurately. From Am Law Daily:

Atlanta law firm Alston & Bird is in talks to acquire Los Angeles-based firm Weston Benshoof.

If a deal between the firms is finalized, the combination would give 800-attorney Alston, which has six domestic offices, an outpost in California. The move follows the West Coast expansion of another Atlanta firm, King & Spalding, which opened offices in Silicon Valley and San Francisco earlier this year. Presently 20 attorneys work at King’s two California offices.

Alston’s potential merger with Weston would instantly give it 80 California attorneys specializing in litigation, real estate development, and environmental law.

Some ATL readers think the California legal market is best avoided these days. But Alston & Bird apparently disagrees.

Lately we’ve been hearing lots of law firm merger rumors — and some of them involve firms you’ve actually heard of. If you have a merger rumor you’d like to pass along for investigation, please email us. Thanks.

Alston in Merger Talks with Weston Benshoof [Am Law Daily]
LaSalle’s law firm disappears [Chicago Tribune]
Ballard Spahr Acquires Atlanta IP Boutique [American Lawyer]

Earlier: Law Firm Merger Mania: Two More Medium-Sized Mergers

Gossip about attorney or staff layoffs is so five minutes ago. Sure, we continue to receive such rumors (and investigate them, and report them out if they’re true). But these days, in a sign of how bad the economy is getting, lately we’ve started receiving rumors about far more dire outcomes: law firm dissolutions.

For example, last week we heard this rumor about one of Connecticut’s oldest and most well-regarded law firms, Tyler Cooper & Alcorn:

Allegedly, Tyler, Cooper, Alcorn LLP in New Haven, CT is folding in the very near future. This was told to a friend of mine directly from a partner at that firm. It’d be great if you could call them up and verify if this is indeed true. I know you usually focus on national law firms (many with the NYC connection), but in terms of firms in CT, this is major news.

Tyler Cooper is one of the more well-known and larger firms in CT (although its still about half the size of Day Pitney, Robinson & Cole, and Shipman & Goodwin). But [the rumor] demonstrates that the economy is hitting us hard….

Tyler Cooper is also well-known to Yale Law School students and graduates. The Morris Tyler Moot Court competition at Yale is named after one of the founding partners of the firm. As he often mentions, former YLS dean and Second Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi is married to Anne Tyler Calabresi, a descendant of Morris Tyler.

As it turns out, the dissolution rumor is not true. From managing partner William S. Fish, Jr.:

Tyler Cooper has no “plans to dissolve as a partnership in the near future” or otherwise…. Tyler Cooper is having discussions with other firms about combining, and I can only speculate that those discussions are related to or are the source of the inaccurate rumors that you have heard. We are not in a position to provide further details on our discussions with the other firms at this time.

So look out for a possible merger involving Tyler Cooper, at some point in the future.

Meanwhile, here’s a second dissolution rumor making the rounds, concerning Thacher Proffitt & Wood, a firm that’s no stranger to these pages. A tipster tells us: “Rumor mill around the office: the firm is shutting down by the end of the year.”

How accurate is this gossip? We’re not sure. We reached out to the firm for comment, but they did not get back to us.

One source of ours at the firm denied hearing any such gossip. But a second source did confirm:

Yup, I heard this one. Actually, to be accurate, the word I heard from [partners of the firm] is if the situation gets worse the firm will shut down by the end of the year (this year). There were whispers the firm may merge with another but I haven’t heard anything more of that. They just did about 10 more layoffs this past week.

So stay tuned. Law firm dissolutions, while rare, do happen. History is littered with the names of law firms, many of them quite distinguished and successful in their prime, that are no longer with us. E.g., Brobeck, Coudert Brothers, Finley Kumble, Testa Hurwitz.

Update: Thacher Proffitt’s managing partner, Paul Tvetenstrand, denies that the firm has any plans to dissolve. His statement is available here.

This latest economic downturn has yet to claim a major (i.e., Am Law 200) law firm. Which will be the first to close its doors? Your thoughts are welcome, in the comments.

This week brings more law firm merger news. These two deals are hardly earth-shattering, but they are noteworthy (and coincidentally both involve firms with “Sanders” somewhere in their name — the Colonel would be proud).

One of them may create a new Am Law 100 firm, as noted today by the American Lawyer:

The recently merged Husch Blackwell Sanders has merged once again, this time with Chicago-based intellectual property litigation boutique Welsh & Katz, the firms announced Monday. If ranked today, the combined firm, now called Husch Blackwell Sanders Welsh & Katz, would place 88th on The American Lawyer’s Am Law 100 list, according to their combined gross revenues.

Firm co-chair David Fenley says the gross revenue will “be a smidgen beyond $300 million” in 2008, which, if ranked today, would place it above Pepper Hamilton’s current $297 million, the firm with the 88th-highest revenue in 2007, and below Littler Mendelson’s $305 million, which placed 87th.

The shops sound well-matched:

Both their personalities and the firm cultures meshed, adds [managing partner A. Sidney] Katz. For one, neither firm maintains any debt. And both firms focus on attorneys’ quality of life above profitability, he explains. Further, profits per partner at both firms are in the $600,000 to $700,000 range and Husch agreed to take on all of Welsh’s 14 equity principals (the firm is organized as a corporation) as equity partners.

Ah, the elusive “quality of life.” Our second featured merger, combining Troutman Sanders (Am Law #75) and Ross Dixon & Bell, led one tipster to express concern on that front:

It just seems a little alarming that all the mid-size and smaller firms are getting gobbled up. Makes me wonder if it’s even possible to have a smaller “quality of life” firm (which is how Ross Dixon billed itself when it spun off from Hogan). (See also Kelley Drye buying out Collier Shannon Scott in DC).

From this morning’s press release announcing the deal:

The law firms of Troutman Sanders LLP and Ross, Dixon & Bell, LLP announced today they will merge, creating a 750-attorney firm with national and international reach and unparalleled depth.

The merger, approved by the partnerships at both firms and effective Jan. 1, 2009, combines Troutman Sanders’ multi-faceted corporate, finance, litigation, real estate and public policy practices with Ross, Dixon & Bell’s exceptional insurance, professional liability and commercial litigation practices, among other synergies…. The merged firm will be named Troutman Sanders LLP and will remain headquartered in Atlanta. It will have about 1,700 employees.

More opinions on the Troutman Sanders / Ross Dixon combination, plus links to articles and press releases, below the fold.

The bad news continues to roll in. Becker & Poliakoff, which just announced across-the-board pay cuts for its lawyers, isn’t the only Florida firm that’s hurting.

From a report by Julie Kay, for the upcoming issue of the National Law Journal:

In another sign of the hard times facing the legal industry, particularly in real-estate heavy South Florida, two local law firms — Holland & Knight and Shutts & Bowen — have laid off non-lawyer staffers.

On a day that could be dubbed Black Friday in South Florida legal circles, Tampa-based Holland & Knight, one of Florida’s largest and most venerable firms with 1,150 lawyers, laid off 70 staffers Friday, including legal secretaries, IT and accounting staff. No lawyers were laid off.

The layoffs of about four employees in each of Holland’s 17 offices represented 5% of Holland’s non-lawyer workforce.

Shutts & Bowen, a 200-lawyer, Miami-based firm, Friday laid off nine people, all entry level file clerks or paralegal clerks. No lawyers or legal secretaries were affected.

Holland & Knight spokeswoman Susan Bass told the Daily Business Review that the firm “had some redundancies and inefficiencies.” Seventy staffers is a whole lot of redundancies.

Read more — about prior layoffs at H&K, and the situation over at Greenberg Traurig — below the fold.