Chadbourne to cut global headcount

Chadbourne & Parke has launched a global review of staffing levels in the wake of the financial meltdown.

The US firm, which is thought to be axing up to six staff members from its London office, is in the midst of a review that will result in a decrease in support staff across its global network.

Chadbourne managing partner Charles O'Neill said: "We've had to look at our staffing in our offices and we believe that our support staff levels are out of kilter for the number of lawyers we employ. Analysing staffing ratios is wise in any economy. However, the downturn has encouraged us to look more closely at this."

O'Neill added that associates and partners will not be included in the review.

Last year Chadbourne instituted a firm-wide hiring freeze for legal and non-legal staff to help ease the tension of the economic downturn (28 October).

O'Neill said that lawyers from less-busy practice groups will be shifted to areas of the firm that require additional legal personnel rather than hiring laterally.

To receive our free Lawyer in New York US legal news and comment email, click here. Or get the latest news, features and comment as it's published with our free RSS feed.