February picked up right where January left off on the layoff front. At the time, we were astonished by the 1,540 laid off during the month – that was more than triple the two preceding months. This month, almost twice as many again have been fired. 2,708 people were fired from major law firms in February (1,104 lawyers, 1,604 staff), compared to 1,540 in January (694 attorneys, 846 staff).
Law firm layoffs have permeated the highest levels of firms and the cuts are getting deeper. Latham & Watkins, DLA Piper, and Allen & Overy not only rank in the top half of the Vault 100, but they were among the firms laying off the largest numbers. Trimming 10% of headcount is becoming de rigeur.
Data and analysis after the jump.
The first noteworthy trend is the aggressive stance the Magic Circle and other UK firms have taken in cutting attorneys. UK firms laid off 471 attorneys out of 916 total, which meant attorneys constituted just over 51% of the headcount.
In the US, however, it was 633 attorneys out of 1,756, or just 36%. Staff are being laid off in the US almost twice as frequently as attorneys. Within the US, California firms laid off 235 attorneys, but only 56 came from New York firms this month.
As we’ve mentioned previously, the two hotbeds of activity were London and California. A&O (247), CC (80), DLA (80), Lovells (24), Linklaters (20), and Simmons (20) laid off 471 attorneys in total. Latham (190), Sheppard Mullin (25), and Pillsbury (20) accounted for 235.
The next interesting data point is that while the total number of people laid off in February increased by 75% over January, the number of firms laying people off decreased from 34 in January to 29 this month.
Thus, the average layoff in January was approximately 45 people (attorneys and staff). In February, that jumped to just over 93, meaning that when firms laid people off, they laid off more than twice as many, on average.
For more-granular detail of the month’s activity, check the weekly “This Week in Layoffs” series for the weeks ending February 6, February 13, February 20, and February 27. As you can tell, we’re experimenting with the best ways to present the data. If you have any requests, let us know. Also, don’t forget to follow us on twitter (@lawshucks).
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A quick note to say kudos on a terrific site! Just thinking of the many stories out there about attorney layoffs and considered compiling staff layoffs but came across your site and quickly shelved that idea — really impressed at the fantastic job you folks did in short order. Believe me, I know how consuming it can be. Keep up the good work!
A quick note to say kudos on a terrific site! Just thinking of the many stories out there about attorney layoffs and considered compiling staff layoffs but came across your site and quickly shelved that idea — really impressed at the fantastic job you folks did in short order. Believe me, I know how consuming it can be. Keep up the good work!