Font Size: 
Linklaters Review Set to Claim up to 270 Jobs
Legal Week
January 29, 2009
Linklaters has announced a formal redundancy consultation with up to 120 lawyers and 150 business support staff in London expected to lose their jobs.
The firm said Thursday that all U.K. staff are involved in the consultation, which is likely to between 100 and 120 lawyers -- representing up to 17.5 percent of the firm's U.K. non-partner fee earners -- and 130 to 150 business services staff losing their jobs.
The level of cuts would be one of the heaviest yet seen at a major U.K. commercial law firm in response to the global recession. Linklaters has around 680 lawyers in the U.K. excluding partners, consultants, trainees and paralegals, though the firm also has a number of U.K.-qualified lawyers based in foreign offices. The firm has 1,197 support staff in the U.K.
Trainees will not be affected by the cuts, which are expected to be concluded within the next few months, but paralegal roles are under threat.
Linklaters managing partner Simon Davies refused to comment on the breakdown of the consultation in terms of practice area or functions affected. It is also unclear what will happen within the firm's international network, although U.K. lawyers on secondment to international offices will be involved in the consultation.
Initial indications are that there will be cuts across the 520-partner firm's international network.
It is understood that the firm's New York office will lose less than five associates. Support staff cuts are still under consideration, with exact numbers set to be decided next week.
Davies told Legal Week: "We have very consciously disclosed the number of cuts in London because of the significance of them. We do not plan to comment on any other international offices."
Davies added: "Our strategy is the right one. It is the context within which we are working that has changed dramatically and we are working towards adapting to these changes the best we can."
Legal Week reported last week that the Magic Circle firm was working on a restructuring plan expected to result in associate redundancies as well as a number of partner departures.
The process, dubbed "Linklaters New World," is expected to see upwards of 35 partners worldwide leave the firm by the end of the current financial year in April.
Davies declined to comment on the predicted partner cuts. However, it is believed that there was a briefing of the firm's partners this week regarding the shake-up. One partner this week indicated that the likely range of the partner departures would be 35 to 40.
For more news, commentary and analysis on the U.K. legal market, visit LegalWeek.com.
