Law Firms
A&O to Ax Up to 250 Lawyers and 200 Staff, Freeze Pay, Ask Partners for Capital
Posted Feb 19, 2009 11:54 AM CST
By Martha Neil
A top London-based international law firm has announced that, in response to unprecedented market conditions, it plans to cut up to 250 lawyers (including perhaps 47 partners) and 200 staffers; make "equity adjustments" concerning another 37 or so partners; and impose a pay freeze.
The Allen & Overy restructuring also involves a planned spin-off in May of the magic circle firm's private client team to form a new firm which will be called Maurice Turnor Gardner, reports Bloomberg. Many of the attorneys being asked to leave the firm work in its London headquarters.
After the restructuring, which the London Times describes as "the largest yet by a law firm in response to the global financial crisis," remaining partners will also be asked to contribute an average of 35,000 pounds each (about $50,000 in U.S. dollars), the newspaper says.
Bloomberg and the firm say the planned pay freeze will affect A&O staff; an Am Law Daily post reports that it will include associates, too.
The 47 partners to be eliminated represent 9 percent of the total partner roster at A&O, which is the United Kingdom's fourth largest-law firm measured by revenue, Bloomberg notes.
“There is simply not enough work to keep all our people sufficiently busy and we do not see that changing in the near to medium term,” says managing partner Wim Dejonghe in a press release attached to the firm's announcement of its restructuring plan.
Updated at 12:05 p.m. to include links to A&O materials and Am Law Daily post; revised at 1:20 p.m. to conform post with latest information reported by Bloomberg.
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Comments
B. McLeod
Feb 19, 2009 12:15 PM CST
In far-off Moscow, Diedre Dare is likely smiling a lazy, satisfied smile, as she sips from a crystal champagne flute.
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Bill Dugan
Feb 20, 2009 1:41 AM CST
Comment removed by moderator.
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About to cancel my membership
Feb 20, 2009 7:29 AM CST
When did the comments on this site descend lower than those on “Above The Law”? This article is about layoffs… Are we really posting about “red hot babes”?
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tim
Feb 20, 2009 7:39 AM CST
This is America. Why do we care if the Brits lay off lawyers.
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Ummm...
Feb 20, 2009 7:57 AM CST
Ummm, we care if the Brits lay off lawyers becuase, first, we now live in a global economy which is why the markets all across the world are falling at the same time. We also care about the Brits laying off lawyers because many of the biggest firms based in the US have offices in London and elsewhere OUTSIDE of the US.
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JFD
Feb 20, 2009 9:41 AM CST
Spot on, #5.
The first intelligent comment on this very bad news.
Don’t get #1’s remarks, other than I’d rather be someplace other than Moscow smiling about anything.
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The Litigator
Feb 20, 2009 10:34 AM CST
#4: We now live in a world known as the global village. Any economic action in a nation such as the US, UK or conglomerates such as the EU affects whole world?
Why do you think the iraq war caused a spike in the price of oil globally? Why do you think the current US economic situation is affecting all economies of the world?
The point is, don’t think the USA is the world, we are just one nation out of many others and we are all inter-connected. No country is self-sufficient regardless of its sovereignty.
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il
Feb 20, 2009 10:38 AM CST
JFD, there are far worse places in the world than Moscow. At least, folks who can afford champagne in Moscow do not need to worry about being laid off.
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Kalifornia Arnold
Feb 20, 2009 10:45 AM CST
Most people who live in Moscow can’t afford champagne because they are in the red.
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il
Feb 20, 2009 10:54 AM CST
#9, I appreciate the pun, they haven’t been in the red for quite some time. The days of communism are long gone and Russia is the land of unbridled capitalism. There are over 100K millionaires and 20 billionaires living in Moscow (second only to London).
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JFD
Feb 20, 2009 11:11 PM CST
Yes, il. If you consider organized crime, petrodollars, and rampant corruption all a part of “unbridled capitalism.”
Sorry,Comrade. Didn’t mean to offend your love of Moscow.
Not particularly my cup of tea, even with all the wealth there that you are so blushed about.
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B. McLeod
Feb 21, 2009 2:55 PM CST
JFD, except for the “petrodollars,” I think you’ve got it. At least, that’s how we do it in the good old U.S. of A.
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