New York-based firms scored some high-profile work as part of the federal government’s response to the economic meltdown. But that hasn’t touched off a hiring boom in their Washington offices, the Legal Times 150 survey shows.
Overall, Big Apple players saw head count decline 2.8% between April 2008 and April 2009, the period covered by the survey. Of 19 New York firms that made the 150, 11 posted decreases. The hardest hit include Chadbourne & Parke, down 16.1%; Kaye Scholer, – 13.3%; Epstein Becker & Green, – 13%; Kelley Drye & Warren, – 10.1%; and White & Case, – 9.1%. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, the New York firm with the largest office in Washington, saw its head count slip from 320 to 308 lawyers, a 3.8% drop.
