Despite a solid first-half 08/09 performance from Lovells, the top 10 City firm has launched a redundancy consultation that could see up to 94 London staff lose their jobs (the firm recorded a 15% increase in turnover in its last results).

Eighteen fee earners and six professional support lawyers are in the firing line with the remaining cuts coming from the firm’s support staff – 43 support staff and 27 legal and float PAs also face the chop. However, it is understood that partners and trainees will not be affected.

Following the flood of redundancy news from Linklaters, according to Legal Week the MC firm is understood to be planning cuts to its Stockholm office as part of its restructuring programme . Around 10 lawyers will be vulnerable, with a similar number of support staff also at risk.

In contrast to the blood letting going on at many firms, a group of lawyers and support staff at Mills & Reeve has volunteered to work a four-day week to avoid seeing any colleagues lose their jobs. A number of other firms including Simmons & Simmons, Taylor Wessing, Wragge & Co and Ashurst have also taken similar decisions to look at alternatives to redundancies recently . Such moves have obvious benefits for both sides of the equation…

The Lawyer states that staff in the corporate and private client group self-managed an initiative that saw six staff accept various reductions in their working hours so that no one would need to be made redundant. Furthermore, a number of other employees have arranged on an individual basis to reduced their working weeks, with 14 lawyers and 20 support staff now working fewer hours.

The moves are considered to have saved around 25 full time-equivalent jobs! Bravo…