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The Layoff List: By the Numbers

TOTAL LAYOFFS: 3,136     PERCENTAGE LAYOFFS: 2.82%

How deep have the cuts been at Am Law 200 firms? To find out, we analyzed reports from The American Lawyer, sibling publications at Incisive Media, and other confirmed sources, including statements from firms, going back to January 2008. Since that time, more than 3,000 attorney jobs have vanished, or 2.78 percent of the 111,377 lawyer positions that existed at Am Law 200 law firms a year ago.

"Total Lawyers" --the numbers are from The American Lawyer's most recent Am Law 100 reporting-- includes partners, associates, counsel, and other levels of attorneys. (NOTE: Many firms have not provided a breakdown of the positions eliminated.)

This list is updated as additional layoffs by Am Law 200 firms are confirmed. Coverage of law firm layoffs can be found on our original Layoff List, available here.

TOP FIVE FIRMS BY PERCENTAGE OF LAWYER LAYOFFS (AS OF OCT. 26, 2009):

Cadwalader - 36.3% 
Sonnenschein - 15.3%
Dechert - 14.6%
Orrick - 14.3%
McKee Nelson - 13.3%

Law Firm Lawyer Layoffs %age Layoffs Total Lawyers
Adams and Reese n/a   233
Akerman Senterfitt 5 1.06% 468
Akin Gump 47 5.82% 807
Allen Matkins n/a   221
Alston & Bird n/a   777
Andrews Kurth 20 5.52% 362
Arent Fox 13 4.04% 322
Arnold & Porter n/a   594
Baker & Daniels n/a   283
Baker & Hostetler n/a   584
Baker & McKenzie n/a   3,626
Baker Botts 1 n/a   745
Baker, Donelson n/a   513
Ballard Spahr 2 n/a   515
Barnes & Thornburg n/a   399
Bell Boyd 10 4.78% 209
Bingham McCutchen 16 1.98% 808
Blank Rome 20 3.91% 512
Boies Schiller n/a   250
Bracewell & Giuliani n/a   423
Bradley Arant n/a   249
Brown Rudnick 20   202
Brownstein Hyatt n/a   220
Bryan Cave 58 6.74% 861
Buchanan Ingersoll n/a   483
Cadwalader 190 36.33% 523
Cahill Gordon 3 n/a   265
Carlton Fields n/a   265
Chadbourne & Parke 25 6.23% 401
Chapman and Cutler n/a   207
Choate Hall n/a   162
Cleary Gottlieb n/a   993
Cooley Godward 52 8.06% 645
Covington & Burling n/a   561
Cozen O'Connor n/a   457
Cravath n/a   440
Crowell & Moring n/a   399
Curtis Mallet-Prevost n/a   220
DLA Piper US 101 7.32% 1,380
Davis Polk n/a   652
Davis Wright n/a   475
Day Pitney 20 5.19% 385
Debevoise & Plimpton n/a   631
Dechert 130 14.59% 891
Dewey & LeBoeuf 11 0.87% 1,268
Dickinson Wright n/a   214
Dickstein Shapiro 4 n/a   379
Dinsmore & Shohl n/a   332
Dorsey & Whitney n/a   584
Dow Lohnes n/a   160
Drinker Biddle 5 n/a   619
Duane Morris n/a   578
Dykema Gossett 17 4.92% 345
Edwards Angell n/a   554
Epstein Becker 23 6.63% 347
Faegre & Benson 29 5.72% 507
Fenwick & West 15 5.53% 271
Finnegan Henderson n/a   348
Fish & Richardson 35 7.82% 447
Fitzpatrick, Cella n/a   138
Foley & Lardner 39 4.17% 934
Foley Hoag 17 7.76% 219
Fox Rothschild n/a   397
Fragomen, Del Rey 8 2.86% 280
Fried, Frank 41 7.21% 569
Frost Brown n/a   331
Fulbright & Jaworski n/a   916
Gardere Wynne 6 n/a   256
Gibbons n/a   203
Gibson, Dunn n/a   923
Goodwin Procter 38 4.72% 805
Gordon & Rees n/a   326
Goulston & Storrs n/a   173
GrayRobinson n/a   215
Greenberg Traurig n/a   1,734
Haynes and Boone n/a   461
Herrick, Feinstein n/a   171
Hinshaw & Culbertson n/a   462
Hogan & Hartson 30 2.71% 1,107
Holland & Hart n/a   385
Holland & Knight 70 6.80% 1,030
Holme Roberts n/a   211
Honigman Miller n/a   213
Howrey n/a   659
Hughes Hubbard n/a   267
Hunton & Williams 23 2.39% 960
Husch Blackwell 10 1.65% 604
Ice Miller n/a   258
Irell & Manella n/a   199
Jackson Lewis n/a   474
Jackson Walker n/a   308
Jeffer Mangels n/a   156
Jenner & Block 10 2.29% 437
Jones Day n/a   2,348
K&L Gates 36 2.32% 1,552
Kasowitz, Benson n/a   267
Katten Muchin 44 7.24% 608
Kaye Scholer n/a   497
Kelley Drye n/a   315
Kenyon & Kenyon n/a   164
Kilpatrick Stockton 24 5.39% 445
King & Spalding 37 4.60% 805
Kirkland & Ellis n/a   1,333
Knobbe, Martens n/a   199
Kramer Levin 18 5.42% 332
Kutak Rock n/a   391
Latham & Watkins 190 9.04% 2,102
Lathrop & Gage n/a   276
Lewis and Roca n/a   207
Lewis Brisbois n/a   651
Littler Mendelson n/a   731
Locke Lord 7 n/a   548
Loeb & Loeb 8 2.74% 292
Lowenstein Sandler 21 8.57% 245
Luce, Forward 12 6.45% 186
Manatt Phelps 29 8.06% 360
Mayer Brown 101 5.61% 1,801
McCarter & English n/a   395
McDermott Will 85 8.06% 1,055
McGuireWoods n/a   801
McKee Nelson 23 13.29% 173
McKenna Long n/a   428
Michael Best n/a   216
Milbank, Tweed 49 8.43% 581
Miller, Canfield 13 3.69% 352
Mintz, Levin n/a   412
Moore & Van Allen n/a   286
Morgan, Lewis 55 4.04% 1,363
Morris, Manning n/a   154
Morrison & Foerster 53 5.10% 1,040
Munger, Tolles n/a   177
Nelson Mullins n/a   391
Nixon Peabody 20 3.06% 654
Ogletree, Deakins n/a   411
O'Melveny & Myers 95 10.16% 935
Orrick 140 14.33% 977
Patterson Belknap n/a   158
Patton Boggs 9 1.74% 518
Paul, Hastings 44 4.14% 1,062
Paul, Weiss n/a   647
Pepper Hamilton n/a   481
Perkins Coie 12 1.85% 648
Pillsbury Winthrop 55 7.68% 716
Polsinelli Shalton n/a   296
Porter, Wright n/a   251
Powell Goldstein 9 4.39% 205
Proskauer Rose 58 8.38% 692
Quarles & Brady n/a   414
Quinn Emanuel n/a   400
Reed Smith 26 1.75% 1,484
Robins, Kaplan n/a   239
Robinson & Cole n/a   210
Ropes & Gray n/a   819
Saul Ewing 7 3.07% 228
Schiff Hardin n/a   333
Schulte Roth n/a   434
Sedgwick, Detert n/a   373
Seyfarth Shaw 30 4.06% 739
Shearman & Sterling n/a   858
Sheppard, Mullin 25 5.45% 459
Shook, Hardy n/a   482
Sidley Austin 89 5.23% 1,702
Sills Cummis n/a   160
Simpson Thacher n/a   801
Skadden n/a   1,994
Snell & Wilmer n/a   414
Sonnenschein 92 15.13% 608
Squire, Sanders 32 3.69% 865
Steptoe & Johnson n/a   421
Stevens & Lee n/a   163
Stinson Morrison n/a   306
Stoel Rives n/a   339
Stroock & Stroock n/a   350
Sullivan & Cromwell n/a   665
Sullivan & Worcester n/a   156
Sutherland Asbill 15 3.84% 390
Thacher Proffitt n/a   195
Thompson & Knight 17 4.29% 396
Thompson Coburn n/a   330
Thompson Hine n/a   394
Townsend and Townsend n/a   219
Troutman Sanders n/a   620
Vedder Price 9 3.45% 261
Venable 16 3.08% 520
Vinson & Elkins n/a   683
Vorys, Sater n/a   350
Wachtell n/a   216
Weil, Gotshal n/a   1,190
White & Case 270 13.02% 2,074
Wiley Rein n/a   284
Williams & Connolly n/a   228
Williams Mullen n/a   297
Willkie Farr n/a   583
Wilmer n/a   930
Wilson Elser 45 5.97% 754
Wilson Sonsini 45 7.13% 631
Winstead 20 7.35% 272
Winston & Strawn n/a   867
Wolf, Block 15 5.17% 290
Womble Carlyle n/a   505
 
Totals 3,136 2.82% 111,377



Footnotes:

N/A Not Applicable - Indicates firms that have not reported layoffs of attorneys.

(1) Baker Botts: Firm has confirmed layoffs but has not provided a number.

(2) Ballard Spahr: Legal Intelligencer reports 40-65 total layoffs, "with higher numbers including attorneys." The firm would not comment.

(3) Cahill Gordon: Firm has confirmed layoffs but has not provided a number.

(4) Dickstein Shapiro: Firm has confirmed layoffs but has not provided a number.

(5) Drinker Biddle: From Legal Intelligencer reports, "As many as 20 lawyers, according to Above the Law." The firm did not confirm number.

(6) Gardere Wynne: The American Lawyer reports 20 layoffs. Firm says number is not accurate but would not give their number. 

(7) Locke Lord Bissell: Firm has confirmed layoffs but has not provided a number.