US law firms continue to announce layoffs with recruiters and others saying more layoffs lie ahead with overcapacity among noneqjuity partners. One of the issues is that lawyers working from home are less reliant upon staff members at law firms.
Altman Weil principal Eric Seeger told Law.com that he has spoken with about three dozen managing partners in the last month, and all are reviewing staffing “with the intention of a head count reduction.”
Similar grim news was announced by Peter Zeughauser of the Zeughauser Group, who told Law360 that law firms are moving resources to strong practice areas and cutting in areas that are less productive and the practice has also served to protect higher-earning rainmaking partners and also to prevent poaching.
The latest law firm to announce layoffs is Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom which is laying off just under 4% of its professional staff across its U.S. offices, a spokesperson said last week.
Nixon Peabody is also reportedly planning to lay off some furloughed staff members, even as other furloughed staffers and lawyers were returning to work. The plans were revealed in a confidential memo that also announced that full salaries would be restored for many staff members.
In addition, Baker + McKenzie are laying off 6 per cent of their workforce in North America and Mexico, including lawyers and other legal professionas.
Davis Wright is laying off almost 40 staff members who had been furloughed and Venables is also laying off furloughed employees.
- UK Minimum Wage Creeps Up on BigLaw Graduate Salaries
The UK government’s latest plan to bump the minimum wage is causing some serious eyebrow acrobatics across the City and among… Read more: UK Minimum Wage Creeps Up on BigLaw Graduate Salaries - Benefits of Hiring a Car Accident LawyerArticle source:Alpert Schreyer, Attorneys, GA A car accident leaves victims in pain, confusion, and financial distress. Medical bills pile up, vehicles… Read more: Benefits of Hiring a Car Accident Lawyer
- One in Three UK Law Firms Breach Anti-Money-Laundering Rules
A third of UK law firms have failed to meet basic anti-money-laundering (AML) standards, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s latest… Read more: One in Three UK Law Firms Breach Anti-Money-Laundering Rules - Building a Strong Case: How Employees Can Prove Workplace Harassment Workplace harassment can make your job feel bad sometimes; this can hurt your mind, the way you work every day, and… Read more: Building a Strong Case: How Employees Can Prove Workplace Harassment
- How Would Elon Musk Run Your Law Firm?
The man who sent rockets into orbit while simultaneously disrupting the automotive industry has articulated a management philosophy that’s equal parts brilliance and brutality. And while we can’t all aspire to his sleep schedule or his Twitter habits, there’s something law firms, those bastions of precedent and process, might learn from a leader who treats bureaucracy as “a substitute for thinking” and regards failure as the admission price to innovation. So what might the key to building a successful law firm be if Elon Musk was on the management committee? First, let’s consider the five key, “Musk steps{ that are simple but devastingatinlgy effective.
Skadden laid off its most vulnerable employees while making huge profits and promoted thirteen lawyers to partner. Sounds a little fishy to me.