Pic: U. Chicago
The National Law Journal has an extensive piece on corporate law departments’ layoffs. Not that it was any secret, but corporations have also been trimming lawyers. Unfortunately, it’s as difficult getting information about inhouse layoffs as it is getting straight information out of Texas law firms. According to NLJ,
Hyatt Corp., Cigna Corp., General Electric Co., eLoyalty Corp., Motorola Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and Yahoo! Inc. are among those that have reduced the number of attorneys in their law departments during the past year as their companies seek budget cuts amid the U.S. recession.
Based on anecdotal evidence, add Deutsche Bank and Bank of America to that list. Merrill Lynch’s layoffs were unique in that both word came out on who the actual affected individuals were, and because they were probably due more to the acquisition by Bank of America than specific economic factors (although even there, it was just a matter of time). Barclay’s also brought in a law department costcutter to much fanfare, although no specific cuts have been announced yet. In fact, there’s probably not a significant financial-services company that hasn’t had layoffs yet. Even technology giant Microsoft has fired inhouse counsel.
Andrew Schaeffer, managing counsel for operations and partnering at E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. has taken the more-traditional tacks for inhouse cost cutting. Charged with reducing costs by 10% this year, he is passing on or delaying less-critical work, not filling open positions, and taking a hard look at which counsel he’s using to make sure it’s cost-effective.
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