Maine law firm Pierce Atwood confirmed layoffs of seven attorneys and 14 staff members in Maine and New Hampshire, but said it plans to expand the firm's Boston and Rhode Island footprint.

The Portland, Maine-based Pierce Atwood laid off attorneys from the Portland and Portsmouth, N.H., offices last week, plus staff members from those offices and the Augusta, Maine office, said managing partner Gloria A. Pinza. The firm now has 122 attorneys and 100 staff members.

Despite the Northern New England cutbacks, Pinza said Pierce Atwood is in the process of adding three Boston attorneys to that office, which lists seven resident attorneys. The firm is also planning to open a Providence, R.I., office with two new lawyers, she said.

"When the economic climate is so uncertain and tenuous, we have to align our resources where the client needs are," Pinza said.

Pinza also said the firm's lower cost and rate structure is well-received Boston area legal marketplace.

"We have very high-quality expertise we're able to offer into places like Boston at very reasonable rates compared to Boston firms," Pinza said. Pierce Atwood, which has a wide range of corporate, litigation and intellectual property practice groups, also has small outposts in Concord, N.H.; Washington, D.C.; and Stockholm, Sweden.

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