When Mayer Brown announced firmwide layoffs for economic reasons in April affecting 90 administrative employees and 45 lawyers (two of those were associates in Houston), it said it would take other steps to adjust staffing levels, such as delaying the start date for most incoming associates until January 2010. It also said it would seek placements with clients and pro bono groups for some laid-off associates.
And the 1,800-lawyer firm came through for a number of associates who were laid off. Nine former associates, including one in Houston who will start work at Cameron International Corp. in June, were placed with the firm’s assistance in year-long in-house jobs at seven Mayer Brown corporate clients. The firm will keep the lawyers on payroll and pay a $60,000 salary as well as provide benefits for a year for each of the lawyers, says Robert Gray, a partner in Houston who helped develop the outplacement program.
