Pennie & Edmonds to fire staff in Jones Day takeover

Employees at New York’s Pennie & Edmonds face a difficult Christmas after management broke the news that job losses would follow the firm’s takeover by Jones Day.

Pennie is on the cusp of finalising a combination with Cleveland’s Jones Day that is expected to be resolved in days.

Due to the takeover, Pennie management said in a memo earlier this week that it was the intention to wind-up the 120 year-old firm by 31 December, according to the New York Journal.

It is expected that the majority of Pennie’s partners will join Jones Day, but the offers have been extended to lawyers individually and not the firm as a whole.

As a result the firm will cease to exist as an entity by the New Year. The memo also stated that not all employees of Pennie would receive offers from Jones Day and some would therefore lose their jobs. It is understood that this will hit support staff in accounting, recruiting and marketing departments.

Ed Henry, executive partner at Pennie said: “We especially regret that the timing coincides with the holiday season.”