While the industry’s attention has been focused on the layoffs playing out in Big Law, firm leaders, associates and industry observers say such drastic measures to reduce capacity aren’t the go-to method of managing personnel after a period of overhiring.

Layoffs are often the final resort by firms that have already endeavored to repurpose associates into other practice areas or administrative functions at the firm and used performance evaluations to weed out excess capacity and underperforming lawyers.