Biglaw Firm Eliminates Jobs For Second Time In A Year

Looks like 66 jobs were eliminated by the firm.

There are more job cuts at Reed Smith. The firm, ranked 26th on the Am Law 100 with $1,310,596,000 in gross revenue in 2020, eliminated jobs last August — a round of layoffs which included lawyers. Now they’re back at it with another 66 jobs on the line. As reported by Law.com, following a redundancy review, the role of legal secretary will be gone at the firm, replaced by executive assistants.

In total, 66 legal secretaries have taken the firm’s buyout package:

The firm said on Wednesday that it expects 44 legal secretaries in the U.S. and a further 22 in the U.K. to take part in voluntary redundancy programs with enhanced severance packages as it launches its so-called Connectivity Initiative. The initiative will reimagine and streamline the firm’s administrative function, resulting in the creation of executive assistant (EA) roles replacing the legal secretary roles.

The firm provided a statement about those who took the severance package and the future of administrative support at the firm:

“In June 2021, recognizing that some of our secretaries may lack interest in the EA role, we offered a voluntary separation program to all legal secretaries in the U.S. and a voluntary severance program for all legal secretaries in the U.K., with an enhanced severance package.”

The statement added that the firm is grateful for the secretaries’ contributions.

“Those who chose to remain with Reed Smith will now move into the EA role and be provided with personalized development to ensure they have the necessary skill set for their new role. The firm has created a transition team to ensure continuity in administrative support during the transition to the EA role,” the statement continued.

Best of luck to those exiting the firm.

If your firm or organization is slashing salaries, 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. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477).

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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