Laid-Off Cadwalader Lawyers Got Little Notice, But Months of Severance Pay

The 35 lawyers who learned Jan. 10 that they would be laid off from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft got little more than a week’s notice.

One laid-off associate, who said he was getting three months of severance pay, was worried about his job search, the New York Observer reports in a column by Above the Law’s David Lat.

“It’s like dating,” he told Lat. “When you’re with someone, everyone wants you; when you’re on your own, it’s that much harder.”

But some associates who took buyouts at Thacher Proffitt & Wood may be able to profit if they land a new job while still receiving their four months of severance pay.

“It’s an ironic twist, making out like a bandit because your firm is in trouble,” the article says. “But considering how unfamiliar layoffs are to the world of large law firms, ironies are inevitable.”