Harbottle & Lewis cuts staff for first time

The redundancies are all below partner level, and the majority are support staff rather than fee-earners.

"All the partners are sad we've had to do this," managing partner Samantha Phillips told The Lawyer. "Staff are extremely important to us."

It is the first time that the 19-partner West End firm has had to make staff cuts. The firm has around 90 fee-earners.

Other firms that have made redundancies this year include Berwin Leighton Paisner, Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Morgan Cole.