Last week Cobbetts revealed that it was extending its part-time and flexible working arrangements in a bid to stave off further redundancies. The firm already had a number of fee earners in its corporate practice operating on a four-day week and now options such as job shares, sabbaticals and extended holidays at reduced pay are on the table.

This comes on the back of three redundancy rounds; the most recent, in October, affecting 61 fee earners and support staff. On top of that the firm has had a very tough financial year – revenues fell by 16% to £48.5m during 2008-09, causing the firm to drop out of the UK top 50 rankings by turnover. Unfortunate in many ways but at least it all makes sense; ex-employees may be unhappy but at least they can understand why they were let go and Cobbetts’ clients will take comfort from the fact that their lawyers are suffering alongside them.

It’s headlines like that in The Times at the weekend that draw the eye of the cynical observer – "Law firms enjoy vintage year despite dip in profits"

Britain’s biggest law firms suffered a dip in profits for the first time in a decade last year but still enjoyed one of their best years, earning more than £4 billion.

It has left City lawyers with an awkward dilemma: how to explain their embarrassingly high profits to clients who are struggling to survive the recession.

Yep and how to explain why they dumped large numbers of associates into the roughest financial waters seen for decades.