Layoffs at major law firms were down in October after the brief uptick in September.
However, there were confirmed stealth layoffs and layoffs without official numbers reported, as firms inexplicably continue to try to be coy.
The charts after the jump.
Layoffs remain at low levels. In fact, October’s 221 reported layoffs are fewer than in any of the 10 worst layoff days this year (232 on March 10).
Layoffs were reported at eight firms in October, although the tallies were only confirmed at five: Cooley Godward (58 total / 0 lawyers / 58 staff); Paul Weiss (49 / 0 / 49); Foley & Lardner (39 / 39 / 0); WilmerHale (57 / 0 / 57); and Drinker Biddle (22 / 22 / 0). Numbers have not been provided for Crowell & Moring, Akin Gump, or Nixon Peabody.
Only seven firms reported layoffs in September.
Taking those three firms out of the equation, the average layoff size in October was still smaller than September, and well off the peaks of the first quarter.
One interesting theme in October was that the reported layoffs at major firms were all American. If memory serves (for some reason the AmLaw 100 webpage is unavailable as we write this), all eight firms were in the top 100 firms by revenue.
The weekly analyses for October are:
- This Week in Layoffs – 10/30/09
- This Week in Layoffs – 10/23/09
- This Week in Layoffs – 10/9/09
- This Week in Layoffs – 10/2/09
All told, 221 people were laid off in October, of which 61 were lawyers and 160 were staff.
11,953 people (4,535 lawyers, 7,418 staff) have been laid off by major firms this year.
