Any Cadwalader associates out there can, it seems, rest easy.
The US firm known for having one of the largest structured finance practices in the country is not looking to lay off anybody. Not now, not later.
That, at least, is the story from management committee member and litigation chairman Greg Markel. Last Friday (9 October), as rumours of layoffs continued to reverberate around Manhattan, he maintained that Cadwalader had made no redundancies as a result of the collapsed credit markets and had no plans for any either. In fact, according to Markel, not only is Cads not firing, it’s hiring.
“For several years Cadwalader has been making a real effort to diversify its practices and broaden its scope,” he added.
To that end the firm recently added an antitrust practice, with ex-assistant attorney general for antitrust Rick Rule brought in six months ago. It also effectively launched an IP litigation practice with Chris Hughes from IP boutique Morgan & Finnegan.
“We had one or two IP litigators before Chris arrived but not really a group,” said Markel. “Now we have around 15 lawyers and I can predict that within the next three months there’ll be another 10 to 12 coming in. Chris’s arrival was the catalyst for that growth.”
It appears that Cads places a lot of store in Hughes. According to Markel, it took the firm five years of searching to find the right lawyer to launch the practice. “I can tell you that for a fact,” he added.
So, here’s another ‘fact’ for you. There haven’t been any layoffs at Cads and there aren’t going to be any; Markel says so.
“We have not had any layoffs and we don’t have any plans for layoffs.”
You heard it here first.
To read more of Matt’s ‘Byrne in the USA’ blogs, click here.
