On Thursday, Menlo Park’s Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian announced that it would send home 16 lawyers. That followed news earlier this week that San Jose’s Skjerven Morrill MacPherson let go of 11 associates. Palo Alto’s Fenwick & West has cut 32 lawyers, and Cooley Godward, also in Palo Alto, axed 86 lawyers.

Many of the top-grossing firms in the Bay Area quietly have slimmed their payroll since January through performance- based cuts.