Renowned Townsend IP Firm Lays Off 61

In today's dismal economy, even relatively strong practice areas such as intellectual property aren't as strong as they were. That was underlined today by news that Townsend and Townsend and Crew is letting go 16 lawyers and 45 staff.

"As you know, Townsend expanded rapidly over the past few years to meet our clients' burgeoning need for IP services. By the fourth quarter of 2008, however, those clients began scaling back their spending because of the enormous financial uncertainty they faced," writes firm chairman James Gilliland Jr. in an internal memo provided by Above the Law.

Hence, the layoffs, which Gilliland says were "the most painful decision any of us has ever had to make at this firm."