Redundancy Watch: Orrick, Nabarro, Hammonds. And Some Justice for Cadwalader Cast-Offs!
With the eagerly anticipated litigation boom yet to take off, there is more bad news for law firms as redundancies hit the headlines yet again. According to Ministry of Justice Âstatistics, the number of cases being launched in the High Court has reached a six-year high, with 64,046 civil cases recorded in the High Court in 2007 but this was just 1.6 per cent higher than in the previous year, when 63,027 cases were heard. ADR is to blame apparently. So while …
With the eagerly anticipated litigation boom yet to take off, there is more bad news for law firms as redundancies hit the headlines yet again.
According to Ministry of Justice Âstatistics, the number of cases being launched in the High Court has reached a six-year high, with 64,046 civil cases recorded in the High Court in 2007 but this was just 1.6 per cent higher than in the previous year, when 63,027 cases were heard. ADR is to blame apparently.
So while the world of litigation waits patiently to get busy, more unfortunates lose out elsewhere…
Orrick Herrington & ÂSutcliffe is the latest US firm to announce layoffs, with two associate jobs and one support staff post at risk in the firm’s London office. The London branch appears to have got off fairly lightly as 40 associates across its real estate, structured finance and corporate practices are understood to be in the firing line elsewhere.
Nabarro is reviewing a total of 22 jobs across its offices in London and Sheffield. Thirteen fee earners are likely to go along with nine support staff from the real estate and commercial groups. It is understood that the unlucky ones are being offered outplacement services, notice pay and redundancy pay as well as an additional discretionary payment. Not exactly an early Christmas present but a softer landing than recent victims elsewhere who received statutory minimum.
Hammonds has confirmed that around 95 jobs, including a large number of fee earners, are under threat after the recently launched consultation. Most of job losses are likely to be in the firm’s corporate and real estate groups.
And finally, following massive redundancies at Cadwalader earlier in the year, the partners of Wall Street’s fifth most profitable firm have revolted against their managing partner  Bob Link who will be removed from the management committee. This may be seen as a bit of justice for many of those who got the boot, although Link will continue at the firm as a partner. It is understood that Link presided over the firm’s growth by focusing on capital markets and real estate finance, but when the credit crunch unfolded it had little to cover its exposed underbelly.
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November 18, 2008
Wow, someone has been found accountable at a major organisation. If this sort of thing was echoed across the board you’d see heads rolling like it was the French Revolution. Shame its seems to be motivated by the greedy blame game of those staging the coup rather than the fact that this guy felt accountable.
November 18, 2008
Yea, funny how the world has been screwed by people at the top of these trees for the last decade and you can probably count the heads with both hands from that crop of vultures now the house of cards has crumbled. The people who will suffer will always be at the bottom of the chain – maybe that creates a bitter cycle so when they eventually reach the top they feel inclined to behave the same way?
November 18, 2008
I hear that they’re recruiting in places like Dubai at the moment.