US firm Latham & Watkins is to lay off a total of 440 employees across its global network.
Earlier this morning managing partner Bob Dell emailed the entire firm announcing a plan to shed 12 per cent of its associate ranks, the equivalent of 190 people, and 10 per cent of all paralegals and staff.
The firm’s London office will lose 15 employees.
Dell said: “We deeply appreciate the many valuable contributions and committed service of those affected by this decision.
“We made this painful decision with great reluctance and only after concluding that demand for legal services in this troubled economy will not provide enough work for all of our attorneys.”
Dell added that the firm’s diverse global network and practice range was built to thrive on greater demand.
He added: “While this brief email announcement is not an ideal form for communicating this type of decision, it’s the only realistic way for a firm of our size to inform everyone directly and at the same time.”
The firm is offering severance packages that include six months’ salary and six months’ of continued medical benefits.
The announcement comes after Latham saw its average profits per equity partner (PEP) fell 21 per cent from $2.27m to $1.8m during 2008.
Just see the deference!
“We deeply appreciate the many valuable contributions and committed service of those affected by this decision”.
“We made this painful decision with great reluctance and only after concluding that demand for legal services in this troubled economy will not provide enough work for all of our attorneys.”
See the deference between Simon Davies email dated 23rd Jan and the email of LW.
Linklaters is fully of argent and griddy pigs. They even didn’t care of people feeling when Simon said ” as you are aware….! And links people just knew of the redundancy news through this website.
Just see the deference!
I will come back with more comments!
Spot the deference
Sorry Joe, who’s deferring to whom?
Why don’t these firms just say:
“Dear employee, as you know, your sole purpose in life is to generate huge profits for my partners and myself in the pathetic and deluded belief that one day you too will be able to screw people like yourself.
Although there’s still plenty of work around our numero uno priority must, as I’m sure you will understand, be to preserve our PEP.
To keep you and your like employed might mean us having to take home less than a mill, which would be wholly unacceptable.
So thanks for your loyalty and hard work, now kindly f*** off.
Joe the plumber
Of course they’re going to say things like how they appreciate their staff and so on, they just might not mean it.
Well… still there is deferent…
The deference was people in links knew through the http://www.thelawyer.com, and end of Friday Simon sent very very humiliating, careless and very cold email to everybody!
It was absolutely threaten email!!! F*** pig!
Whereas, LW, at least, their managing partner sent sympathised and pleasant email.
I still say deference!! However, I agree with you both that all them F****** griddy pigs
Joe the plumber
Law firm leveraging
As I see it this is only the tip of the iceberg – L&W’s figures are those for 2008 which started well. 2009 will be much much worse. Your article does not mention this but other reports say that their revenue in 2008 dropped only 5%. What happens if there is a 20% drop (as is more than likely).
The law firm I was with until a couple of years ago had a turnover of £24m and a fixed cost base of £20m. It only takes a drop of 17% to move into loss. I doubt whether the economics of most firms above the smallest is much different. Cutting staff is the only option but even that will not stave of bankruptcy if work continues to drop.