After Davis Wright Tremaine and Baker McKenzie both announced retrenchment efforts Tuesday and Venable followed with news of staff cuts of its own, legal industry watchers anticipate further reductions to attorneys and staff as firms use the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to tighten up their operations.

While firms are undoubtedly feeling some pain as a result of the coronavirus recession, many are looking to take preemptive measures to ensure that they can continue keeping their most productive partners happy.