April showers bring May flowers, but the only thing that’s budding up at this Biglaw firm is layoffs. Which firm may be slimming down for summer by kicking up to 80 percent of its secretarial staff to the curb?
That would be Ashurst, which recently launched a redundancy consultation which may result in the loss of 80 of the firm’s London-based secretarial roles, plus a few jobs in the firm’s Middle East offices. Legal Week has details on Ashurst’s plans:
As part of plans to restructure the function, the firm is creating three new roles, with the downsized new team set to be split across the London and Glasgow offices.
Thirty-five practice executives will be responsible for practice management and client communications, while 31 team executives and 12 team assistants will undertake more traditional secretarial tasks.
All of Ashurst’s existing secretarial staff will be able to apply for the new positions, which will primarily be in London, with nine of the team executive and assistant roles moving to Glasgow. …
The consultation is due to end in June.
According to Jan Gooze Zijl, the firm’s financial and operations officer, “Responding to changing client needs, evolving technology, market efficiency drives and embracing new ways of working are strategic priorities for Ashurst. The way legal work is undertaken has changed considerably and we need an approach to service delivery that most effectively supports the practices and our business.” Once again, technological advances are taking jobs from law firm staff members. In the future, we may be forced to write about attorney layoffs that are due to “evolving technology.” Like it or not, the robots are coming, and they may be coming for your jobs.
We wish all of the individuals who may be affected at Ashurst the best of luck while they seek new job opportunities in the legal industry and beyond.
If your firm or organization is closing its doors or reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive — we’ll never ignore you. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477).
Ashurst kicks off redundancy consultation with 80 secretarial roles at risk in the City [Legal Week]
Staci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.