Chadbourne hiring freeze as recession bites
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Chadbourne & Parke has instituted a firm-wide hiring freeze for both legal and non-legal staff in an attempt to combat the economic downturn.
In a memo titled "How are we doing?" that was leaked to US legal market blog Above The Law, Chadbourne managing partner Charlie O'Neil confirmed the freeze on hiring.
He said those practice areas that had needs for additional legal personnel would now be met by temporarily shifting lawyers from less-busy areas, rather than hiring laterally.
O’Neil admitted Chadbourne faced "a challenging time” and said it was necessary for the firm to live within its means and watch expenses.
"We have taken a number of steps to better position us for the remainder of this year and next," O’Neil said. "We will be issuing new guidelines pertaining to controls over firm business expenses, including travel. We will also more closely monitor and limit certain other expenses which in a more robust economy might otherwise be acceptable.”
Other significant cost-saving measures include a decision to delay much of Chadbourne’s planned technology upgrade.
"We recognise the need to improve technology and certain of the more important upgrades will continue," said O’Neil. "Others, including the upgrade to new desktop computers and software, will be postponed. We will review this decision in 2009 as the economic picture becomes clearer. Should conditions improve we will begin the upgrade sometime in 2009; otherwise it will be delayed until 2010."
Readers' comments (4)
Anonymous | 29-Oct-2008 3:20 pm
We can all read between your lines
Bravo You have publicised excerpts from a confidential internal memo. But just what purpose does this serve. Please don't try to moralise with us that people need to know or cite freedom of the press. You really should question whether placing this information in the wider public domain is helpful to the people working at C&P, to the company itself or merely a sensationalist news story that by selective quotations briefly serve your own ends, but adds to peoples concerns rather than helping.
Did you not receive a similar memo from your company in the last recession? Do you really think that this is the only such memo now or will be the last? We can all read between the lines selectively edited or not. We know what is about to come. This is not 'news' nor information it is sensationalism not journalism.
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Anonymous | 29-Oct-2008 4:16 pm
Yawn
'Sensationalist' this isn't! It's not sensational at all. It's dull. All firms will be looking to probably carry out similar cost cutting exercises in the next 12 months - standard practice. The main interesting point is that it has incurred the wrath of one individual, the MP of C&P perhaps? Doubtful.
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Goldilocks | 29-Oct-2008 4:28 pm
Not too hot, not too cold
...and I think this is just right.
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Anonymous | 30-Oct-2008 5:39 pm
We can all read between the lines?
"Bravo You have publicised excerpts from a confidential internal memo." Err, well if someone from WITHIN the firm hadn't leaked it, then it would't have been a problem, would it?
Journalists report on events and facts and this is the case here. So, if I were C&P I'd be more worried about keeping my own house in order before throwing stones. Having staff brief against your own firm hardly fills one with confidence, does it now?
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