March lived up to its reputation by coming in like a lion, out like a lamb.
The first week of March saw 1,132 people (337 attorneys, 795 staff) lose their jobs. On March 3, Orrick kicked things off with a bang – laying off 100 attorneys and 200 staff. DLA Piper (54), Freshfields (10), and Shearman & Sterling (18 in the UK) followed. Before anyone had a chance to process what was then the fifth-worst layoff day, six more major firms had layoffs on March 4: O’Melveny (200), Dewey & LeBoeuf (130), Clifford Chance (115), Shearman & Sterling (60, in the US), Wiggin & Dana (28), and Haynes & Boone. The day’s 536 layoffs were the fourth-most.
That was 11% more than the previous worst week‘s record.
Then came March 9 – the single worst day of layoffs at major law firms. While only three firms had layoffs, they were massive in scope: White & Case (400), Morgan Lewis & Bockius (216), and K&L Gates (121). That set the bar for the single-worst day of layoffs at major law firms, with 737. The rest of the week saw additional layoffs from firms like Sidley Austin (229), Paul Hastings (131), and Baker & McKenzie (85).
1,477 law firm layoffs for the week ending March 13. That set the bar fully 30% higher.
Charts and analysis, after the break.
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Then, a break. Three consecutive business days without a layoff for the first time in 2009. “Only” 158 people were laid off all week. Speculation began that perhaps the worst was over, although we disagreed.
The last week of the month saw a return to a somewhat more normal pace: 459 people laid off (200 lawyers, 259 staff) from such firms as Katten Muchin (69), Skadden (50), and Gibson Dunn (36).
Regions
The first region that had a notable trend for the month was California. By March 6, Orrick, O’Melveny & Myers, Latham & Watkins, Pillsbury Winthrop, and Sheppard Mullin had all laid people off. By the end of the month, Quinn Emanuel, Manatt Phelps & Phillips and Gibson Dunn had also had layoffs. Munger Tolles & Olsen and Irell and Manella as the only two California law firms that hadn’t had confirmed layoffs.
Chicago was the other area where firms moved like a herd of cattle: Sidley Austin, Katten Muchin, Jenner & Block, and Mayer Brown all reported layoffs within a week of each other. Baker & McKenzie has had a series of layoffs, and Kirkland & Ellis, McDermott Will & Emery, Schiff Hardin, and Seyfarth Shaw had all had previous layoffs. At the time, we said “by our non-Chicago-practicing assessment, that leaves Locke Lord and Winston & Strawn as the major Chicago firms with no announced layoffs.” And then there was one. Locke Lord laid off some staff and 10% of its associates (thanks to a tipster, we were out ahead on reporting that firmwide meeting) at the end of the month.
We also commented briefly on Texas:
Texas was the region in the news this week. It’s impossible to get a straight answer out of those people. We’ve railed against stealth layoffs for a while, but AmLaw Daily did a fine job of calling the firms out. Practice among a certain set of firms down there has been to confirm layoffs when pressed but not provide any details. Baker Botts, Andrews Kurth, Gardere Wynne Sewell, and Winstead are all identified as having confirmed layoffs. Bracewell Giuliani claims it had to let a few people go for “performance reasons”. Haynes and Boone and Vinson & Elkins deny layoffs and hope to be able to avoid them going forward. We’ve had a few tips and seen a number of comments that V&E in particular is being disingenuous. Rumors of deep stealth layoffs at both firms are rampant.
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Data
March set new records for total layoffs in a month, layoffs of attorneys, and layoffs of staff.
There were also more layoffs in March than any previous month:
Interestingly, though, firms were more aggressive in February. The average layoff in March affected 83.57 people, down from the 87.13 average of February.
Finally, one other notable trend, which we’ve commented on before. A month ago we noted that London firms have been cutting greater percentages of attorneys than US firms. As American firms have been more actively cutting people, the trend of staff bearing the brunt of layoffs has accelerated.
March ends with an abysmal 3,677 people laid off by major law firms: 1,334 attorneys, 2,343 staff. The total for the first quarter is 7,999: 3,149 lawyers, 4,850 staff.
