As Consultant Advises Office Closings, Dewey Plans San Francisco Shutdown

Dewey & LeBoeuf plans to close its San Francisco office and move 17 lawyers there to its office in East Palo Alto, Calif.

The move “comes on the heels of a turbulent 2008 for the San Francisco legal business,” the Recorder reports. The publication notes a recent report recommending that law firms take a careful look at office locations that are not “strategically important to their core practices.” The report says offices should be analyzed with long-term strategy in mind.

Dewey & LeBoeuf said it is closing the San Francisco office to “centralize” its presence in the Silicon Valley, according to the Daily Journal (sub. req.) and the Recorder. The East Palo Alto office will now have 28 lawyers.

The Recorder says hundreds of associates and staffers in California have been laid off in recent months. It lists these cost-cutting moves:

• Bingham McCutchen announced last month that it is moving 19 out of 20 lawyers in its Walnut Creek office to San Francisco along with seven out of 14 staffers. Seven other staffers will be laid off.

• Morrison & Foerster is laying off 201 people.

• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Cooley Godward Kronish are each laying off more than 100 people.