Font Size: 
Baker & McKenzie Eliminates 124 Legal and Non-Legal Jobs
The American Lawyer
April 08, 2009
Baker & McKenzie announced on Tuesday that it is eliminating 38 attorney jobs and 86 paralegal and professional staff positions in its North American offices. The firm cited the adverse impact of the economic downturn as the factor contributing to the cuts.
"While our firm remains financially healthy overall, the current economic climate has called for unprecedented actions, and these are important steps to ensure our continued financial health and our ability to provide high-value service to our clients," the firm said in a statement.
Tuesday's announcement marks the third round of layoffs by the 3,600-lawyer global firm.
In January B&M let go of six associates in its 140-lawyer New York office. Two months later, Baker & McKenzie announced plans to shed between 60 and 85 jobs in its London office through a redundancy process mandated by U.K. law. Roughly 30 of those positions are expected to be attorneys (the redundancy review will be complete by the end of April).
"Although we have taken timely and aggressive steps to manage costs, it recently became clear that further steps were necessary," the firm said in its statement. "Individuals affected will receive severance packages."
B&M had gross revenues of nearly $2.2 billion and revenue per lawyer of $605,000 in 2008, according to The American Lawyer's Global 100 ranking.
This article first appeared on The Am Law Daily blog on AmericanLawyer.com.
