Even a tiny law firm whose bread is buttered by fattening and relatively recession-proof patent litigation has had to lay off lawyers.

Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder, the Cupertino firm of high-end IP boutique fame and Qualcomm discovery fiasco infamy, cut seven associates and two staff around election time last fall. As of last summer, the firm had been 38 lawyers strong, so that’s a pretty sizable chunk, nearly 20 percent of the firm’s lawyers. Today, the firm has 27 lawyers.