Layoffs
Legal Sector Lost 2,000 Jobs Last Month, 58 Jobs Last Week
Posted Oct 5, 2009 5:44 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The legal sector lost 2,000 jobs last month, according to seasonally adjusted numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The decline was much higher when the numbers aren’t seasonally adjusted. In raw numbers, a total of 13,600 jobs were lost last month, likely because of summer associate programs ending, the Am Law Daily reports.
While the news isn’t good for those who lost their jobs, there is a bright side: The numbers are lower than last spring. Seasonally adjusted numbers showed 2,700 lost jobs in March and 4,200 lost jobs in February.
Meanwhile the layoffs of 58 staffers last week at Cooley Godward dashed hopes that large law firms would go two weeks without any job cuts, LawShucks reports. By its count, 4,474 lawyers and 7,316 staffers have been laid off from law firms in 2009.
- How B of A’s GC Got Fired: Leave Now, and Leave Your BlackBerry Behind
- Schools Ranked by 'Super Lawyers' Produced
- Law Firm Price Wars Break Out as Some Try ‘Loss Leader’ Bids for Work
- Five Questions for Law Firms Abandoning Lockstep Compensation
- Judge Jails 2 Attorneys for Contempt in 4 Days
- Reed Smith Will Ask Nonequity Partners to Pony Up Possibly 15% of Pay
- Court Deputy Ordered to Apologize or Face Jail After Taking Lawyer's Paperwork
- Skadden Jumps on the Bonus Bandwagon
- ABA Executive Director Resigns
- Nasty Attitude to Co-Worker, Naughty Word in E-Mail Cost 2 Their Jobs
Should Supreme Court Justices Be Able to Review News Accounts Before Publication?
Comments
B. McLeod
Oct 5, 2009 9:26 AM CST
Yes, despite the happy talk about the economy, it looks like another ugly autumn for the legal business. On the bright side, some of our BigLaw colleagues were making their annual reapperance on the comment boards last Friday (signifying that they have made or are close to making their 2009 target billables). Soon it may be time to revisit an issue from 2008: Will there or will there not be some lavish 2009 holiday parties for the survivors at large firms?
Flag this comment
Esq.
Oct 5, 2009 10:37 AM CST
Summer associate jobs count as legal employment? Talk about manipulation of numbers.
Flag this comment
Add a Comment
We welcome your comments, but please adhere to our comment policy.
Commenting has expired on this post.