February picked up right where January left off on the layoff front. At the time, we were astonished by the 1,540 laid off during the month - that was more than triple the two preceding months. This month, almost twice as many again have been fired. 2,708 people were fired from major law firms in February (1,104 lawyers, 1,604 staff), compared to 1,540 in January (694 attorneys, 846 staff).
Law firm layoffs have permeated the highest levels of firms and the cuts are getting deeper. Latham & Watkins, DLA Piper, and Allen & Overy not only rank in the top half of the Vault 100, but they were among the firms laying off the largest numbers. Trimming 10% of headcount is becoming de rigeur.
Data and analysis after the jump.
The first noteworthy trend is the aggressive stance the Magic Circle and other UK firms have taken in cutting attorneys. UK firms laid off 471 attorneys out of 916 total, which meant attorneys constituted just over 51% of the headcount.
In the US, however, it was 633 attorneys out of 1,756, or just 36%. Staff are being laid off in the US almost twice as frequently as attorneys. Within the US, California firms laid off 235 attorneys, but only 56 came from New York firms this month.
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