Reed Smith to shed 11 City associate jobs
Reed Smith to shed 11 City associate jobs" />Reed Smith has launched a redundancy consultation in the UK with 11 associate jobs under threat.
In a memo sent to staff the firm said it is looking to lay off 115 embers of support staff across its US offices as well as the redundancies in the UK, legal blog abovethelaw.com reports.
The announcement said: "Although our diversified business model has held up relatively well through a very challenging year, these decisions were difficult but necessary in light of the continuing slowdown in the economy and the projected demand for our services in 2009."
The statement added that layoffs would affect less than four per cent of the firm's entire workforce.
It said: "Many leading international law firms and other businesses are engaged in similar actions during the downturn, and these steps are fundamental to being a financially sound business that is intent on remaining strong for the future."
A number of US firms have announced layoffs in recent months including White & Case, which made 70 associate and 90 support staff layoffs in the US, and Orrick Herrington & Suttcliffe, which cut 40 from its corporate, real estate and structured finance teams.
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