Flickr pic: Dan Ofer
Not surprisingly, for every misfortune, there’s someone finding a way to benefit.
This weekend, the Washington Post told us all about the “5 O’Clock Club,” an “outplacement firm at the epicenter of the economic crisis.”
Business is going gangbusters for the company, which provides consulting services to companies laying off staff.
Three minutes into her day being trailed by the Post, a principal received a call from a law firm.
After the jump, we provide fuel for your rampant speculation.
She rocks in her chair as she listens and scribbles notes: A law firm in Manhattan. Downsizing. Their third one this year. Twelve employees. Probably in August. More to come in October and November.
We ran a custom report off the Layoff Tracker data. Here’s the list of law firms in Manhattan that have had two layoffs (we’re assuming layoffs of lawyers) reported this year:
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Fish & Richardson
- Loeb & Loeb
- Mayer Brown
- Morgan Lewis & Bockius
- Schulte Roth & Zabel
- White & Case
Twelve employees would be a lot for Fish & Richardson and Loeb & Loeb, especially with “more to come.”
White & Case can’t possibly be thinking about doing two more rounds of layoffs, since they’re already carrying the shame of being the face of BigLaw gone bad.
The remainder: Dewey; Mayer Brown; Morgan Lewis; and Schulte don’t seem out of the realm of possibility. The real question with them would be “why so few?”
Will it be one of those? Do you think it’s someone else?
And, is this a worse way to find out layoffs are coming to your firm than a loudmouthed partner on Acela?
HT: Above the Law
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I wouldn't rule any law firms out of this one. Some of them conducted stealth layoffs (Weil, Gotshal, for example), so narrowing it to those that you already had TWO layoffs this year doesn't mean much. Weil has had two rounds of staffer layoffs. But with so many law firms making a sport of laying off employees, it's anyone's guess which one this is.
Yeah, it's definitely wild-assed guessing at this point. We assume that firms that deluded themselves into thinking their "performance based" layoffs weren't economically driven layoffs also wouldn't have the self-awareness to go out and seek help in managing a layoff.