Rare Partner Layoffs Contemplated at Major Canadian Firm

As stunning layoffs have been made at United States and London-based law firms in recent months, Canadian law firms—thanks to the relative stability of Canadian banks—have been much less likely to wield the ax. When they do, it's ordinarily associates who are cut.

But in a rare exception a prominent Toronto-based law firm has notified Ottawa partners that their office may be closed down, reports the Globe and Mail. Since then, several partners at the Ottawa office of 650-attorney McCarthy Tétrault have hired an employment lawyer and others are seeking new jobs.

The firm also let go a dozen associates last week, mostly from its corporate practice.

Such layoffs are relatively unusual—and concerning partners, especially, since cuts at that level can spark partnership capital disputes, the newspaper writes. But while many other Canadian firms have avoided layoffs—so far—they aren't as sanguine as they'd like to be.

“We're nervously looking out at the horizon," says Bill Tuer, managing partner of Macleod Dixon. The Calgary-based firm has laid off only what the Globe and Mail describes as a "handful" of associates last fall and doesn't plan additional cuts.

"We have things to do today," Tuer says, "but the pipeline is not as full as we are used to."