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Reed Smith Cuts Attorneys, Staff in U.S. and London
The Legal Intelligencer
March 31, 2009
Reed Smith confirmed Tuesday that it made its second round of economic-based cuts, saying for the first time in this recession that it is letting go of U.S. attorneys as well as staff.
The firm cut 17 associates and 55 support staff in the United States late Tuesday morning. It also put nine U.K. associates and 19 U.K. staff members into redundancy consultation, putting the firm's total potential layoff count for the day at 100, according to firm managing partner Gregory B. Jordan. He said the attorney cuts were geared toward the firm's corporate and real estate practices, where demand is slow and is expected to remain that way in the near future.
Severance will be paid to all of the employees in accordance with the firm's severance policy, which includes outplacement services. Jordan said the package, which is not new for this year, is competitive but is tied more to how long the employee has been with the firm.
Reed Smith had laid off 115 staff members in early December, which at that point was the largest single cut in raw numbers by any Pennsylvania firm. That has since been matched by K&L Gates and topped by Dechert and Morgan Lewis & Bockius. Along with its 115 U.S. cuts in December, Reed Smith put 11 associates and seven staff members from the London office into redundancy consultation.
The firm had reduced its legal secretary headcount by 50 in April 2008, but said it was done in an effort to get more in line with a desired attorney-to-secretary ratio rather than for economic reasons.
The Pennsylvania legal community has felt its fair share of the economic smack-down this downturn. When adding up just the number of those attorney and staff layoffs without including performance reviews or the number of cuts that haven't made it to the papers, the state has seen more than 1,200 law firm layoffs since they were first reported in March 2008. That does not include the 550 attorneys and staff from the disbanding Wolf Block. Several of those attorneys are in talks or have already found new homes with other firms, but it is still unclear where the bulk of the lawyers and staff will end up.
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