Credit crunch sees 312 law jobs cut… and counting

More than 300 law firm jobs have been made ­redundant at the UK’s top 100 firms since the onset of the credit crunch.

Research by The Lawyer shows that at least 312 jobs have been cut since last November, when Olswang and Dickinson Dees laid off 10 and 17 members of staff respectively.

The ;latest ;firms ;to announce cuts are Cobbetts and Thomas Eggar, which have begun consultations with six fee-earners and 20 staff members respectively.
The vast majority of cuts so far have been made in real estate departments, although there are fears that the job losses could spread.

Tony Williams, principal at legal consultancy Jomati, said: “We haven’t seen much serious pain yet. Those firms that have been [making cuts] are doing it for two main reasons: either areas of business have fallen off a cliff, for example in bulk ­conveyancing, or there have been office rationalisations.”