Berwin Leighton Paisner has launched a redundancy consultation today affecting 85 people in its London office.
The review will target 30 lawyers and 55 support staff, including 25 secretaries.
In a statement, managing partner Neville Eisenberg said the firm had avoided making redundancies in the face of short-term pressures and had waited until there was a clearer view of the longer term effects of the recession on the economy and BLP’s business.
“We now need to take these difficult decisions to align our resources with the future requirements of the markets,” Eisenberg added. “The decision has not been taken lightly. We are now focused on ensuring that the process is fair and transparent and we will be providing a package of measures to support anyone affected.”
No partners are affected by the redundancy consultation. However, BLP recently completed a separate review of the partnership which, according to a spokesperson, “has led to some changes in status for some partners”.
The spokesperson declined to confirm how many partners were affected by this change in status or whether it has led to members taking on non-partner status.
