Shearman & Sterling have confirmed that they had to let go of 38 employees which include 26 business services team members and 12 associates mainly focused on transactional practices. The New York-based firm says this was necessary to adjust to changing market conditions, which continue to show challenging times ahead, as per the recent Thomson Reuters report on the uncertain year ahead for firms.
“After careful consideration, like many other leading law firms, we have implemented a limited workforce reduction which includes 26 team members in business services and 12 of our legal personnel, focused mainly on transactional practice areas most affected by current and projected market conditions,” the firm said in a statement.
Other law firms are also going through similar changes as LawFuel has reported, like Davis Wright Tremaine who let go of 21 employees and Cooley who laid off 150 lawyers and staff due to slowing demand.
Goodwin Procter also said they were letting go of associates, paralegals, and professional staff. And Stroock & Stroock & Lavan cut 9 lawyers and 18 staff positions.
Shearman & Sterling said that while it’s never easy to say goodbye to colleagues, they had to take this step to align their capacity with current client demands.
The bonuses paid to associates at Shearman & Sterling have been less than impressive for associates, who believe the firm has been lagging in the big law salary scale stakes.
