Halliwells to cut up to 40 property staff
Halliwells has become the latest firm to launch a redundancy consultation across its real estate practice, potentially cutting as many as 40 staff.
The consultation will affect both fee-earners and support staff in the firm’s Liverpool, London Manchester and Sheffield offices.
The news comes just two days after Wragge & Co announced a similar consultation affecting 30 lawyers in its London and Birmingham offices (The Lawyer, 22 September).
Mike Edge, head of real estate at Halliwells, said: “The property market is experiencing a sustained downturn and, having conducted a strategic review of our real estate department, it is clear that a restructuring process is required. This has been a difficult decision to make but it is in the best interests of the business moving forward.”
The move marks the second time this year that Halliwells has had to make job cuts. In March the firm reorganised its London and Manchester offices in a redundancy consultation that affected a total of 12 solicitors and support staff (The Lawyer, 10 March).
For more on Halliwells and other North West firms, see this week's North West special report.
Readers' comments (2)
Anonymous | 24-Sep-2008 3:33 pm
Redundancies
More bad news. In 18 months' or so time there will be a clamour for Commercial Property lawyers and a dearth of available talent. The Legal Profession (especially larger commercial firms) has lagged behind just about every other walk of life which has recognised that fluctuating levels of work call for flexible work forces and that contract/temporary workers can help meet varying demand.
One can only hope that when demand does pick up again, the firms recognise that this method of employemnt can be in the best interest of both firms and workforce. Sure beats redundancy, anyway.
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Anonymous | 29-Sep-2008 8:53 am
No
I disagree. Temporary workers are not protected. Once a downturn comes along and they are not needed, they'll be shipped off quick as a flash. At least the redundancy procedure gives a degree of statutory protection.
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