An underreported aspect to all of the mass layoffs affecting the legal industry is the plight of in-house counsel. The day after Lehman folded, we wondered if the collapse meant the closing of a popular Biglaw exit option.

We all know that banks and other financial services institutions are laying off tons of employees. In-house attorneys are far from immune to these reductions.

But in-house lawyers also get laid off when banks merge and two legal departments have to be downsized into one. It happened when JPMorgan Chase acquired Bear Stearns. It happened when Bank of America swallowed Merrill Lynch.

And it looks like lawyer layoffs will be a negative externality of Wells Fargo’s merger with Wachovia. A tipster reports:

[Wells Fargo] is moving forward with a 15-20% across the board layoff in the law department (the new combined law department; WF and Wachovia). Layoffs will start as early as next week through June 1st…. Internal meetings with all employees in the department have already taken place.

After the jump, a Wells Fargo spokesperson responds to these reports.

Continue reading “In-House Counsel Layoff Watch: Wells Fargo Could Be Making Cuts”