Last week was another ugly one for Big Law, with more than 1,300 lawyers and staff members across the country receiving pink slips.
White & Case topped the list, axing 200 lawyers and 200 staff. A statement from the firm says partners weren’t spared, either, though the firm would not say how many lost their jobs. The firm conducted a round of layoffs in November when it cut 70 lawyers and 100 staffers. (No more than 13 were affected in White & Case’s Washington, D.C., office in November.
Some D.C. 20 firms were part of the carnage, though none would comment on how deeply the layoffs would affect their Washington, D.C., offices.
Nationwide, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius laid off 55 lawyers and 87 staffers. The firm’s Washington, D.C., office is its second largest, with about 300 lawyers.
Sidley Austin, which has over 260 lawyers in its D.C. office, let go of 89 lawyers and 140 staff members firmwide.
Washington, D.C.-based Venable, which has more than 240 lawyers in its D.C. office, cut 16 lawyers and 48 staff members across its seven U.S. offices. Venable is also delaying the start date of its associate class until 2010.
A spokesman for Baker Botts, which has more than 100 lawyers in Washington, D.C., confirmed that the firm underwent a round of layoffs, but he would not say how many people were affected.
The list also includes Blank Rome (27 lawyers and 52 staff let go nationally); Chadbourne & Parke (25 lawyers); Husch Blackwell Sanders (17 lawyers, 45 staff); K&L Gates (36 lawyers, 79 staff); Proskauer Rose (23 lawyers); and Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (44 lawyers, 87 staff).
Staff reports from The American Lawyer contributed.
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