The end of last week saw Halliwells launch yet another round of redundancies – this is its fourth redundancy consultation in the last year. Another 30 staff face the axe and the entire 2009 trainee intake has been deferred. Equal numbers of fee earners and support staff are in the firing line.

The repeated redundancies must be taking their toll on morale at the firm as remaining staff wonder what’s on the horizon. All this on the back of the firm’s spiralling borrowing in the last two years – 2008 saw a major reorganisation of the firms’s finances. Partner contributions were required and bank loans of £19.4m have been racked up with Royal Bank of Scotland, secured by a debenture, giving RBS security over Halliwells’ assets. Not a pretty picture.

Following a rather different tactic is Norton Rose. Whilst we noted last week that the firm was offering its staff a four day week in an attempt to stave off redundancies, The Lawyer reports that the firm is also encouraging partners to take up part-time working under the scheme. The cost saving could see them through the crisis whilst maintaining a full compliment of lawyers.

The differing strategies pursued by firms in the downturn will no doubt be considered with 20/20 hindsight in the light of the way things pan out. On the face of it, Norton Rose seem to have a pretty positive plan with this idea which, when the upturn comes could put them in a great position to ramp things up much more quickly than rivals who simply slashed their headcount. Probably make for some good PR too – if it all works out…