Reed Smith Cuts 100 Lawyers & Staff
In a second round of layoffs since December, Reed Smith is letting go 26 attorneys and 74 staff members in its United States and United Kingdom offices because of a slowdown in its transactional practices.
“Specifically, we are initiating the outplacement of 17 associates in the U.S. and have started a consultation process in London that will potentially result in nine associate redundancies,” the firm says in a written statement provided to Above the Law. “All of the affected associates are in the corporate and real estate areas of our practice, where demand for our services continues to be slow.”
The firm is also letting go 55 support staff in “a number of” U.S. departments and offices, and expects another 19 potential “redundancies” of support staff in London, the statement continues.
The layoffs affect less than 4 percent of the firm’s associates and 5 percent of its staff, Reed Smith notes.
In December, the firm announced that it was eliminating about 115 support staff in its U.S. offices and anticipated that another seven staff members and up to 11 associates in its London business and finance practice would become redundant in the U.K., explains a firm memo reported in an earlier Above the Law post.
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