CC had already laid off 20 US litigators last year
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CC had already laid off 20 US litigators last year
CC set to lay off up to 80 lawyers in the City
Published: 08/01/2009 10:32
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Clifford Chance (CC) has launched a redundancy program in its London HQ with the magic circle firm potentially set to cut around 70-80 lawyers.
The consultation, which kicked off today (8 January), does not include business support services, which the firm said will be subject to a separate review.
The move, which will put nearly one in 10 of CC’s London lawyers under threat, makes CC the first top London law firm to launch a formal redundancy programme in the UK in recent memory.
CC had already laid off 20 US litigators last year, citing a general lack of disputes work. In contrast, the UK job cuts are expected to come across the board as CC carries out a comprehensive review of its practice.
London regional managing partner Jeremy Sandelson (pictured) said: “We have not taken this decision lightly. However, like any other business, we have to respond to prevailing market conditions.
"Our clients and their legal services needs have undergone significant change over the past year. We need to reflect that in the London office, and that includes ensuring that our level of staffing is appropriate for today’s economic realities. By taking action now, we believe we will be well-placed once conditions begin to improve.”
A CC spokesperson added that the firm’s 200 UK trainees were unaffected by the review and stressed that CC intended to maintain its current level of graduate and trainee intake. The spokesperson also said that the firm has no current plans for job cuts across its foreign offices.
Job cuts early in the New Year had been expected by partners after it was confirmed in December that CC’s revenues had shrunk by 5%-7% in the first half of the current financial year.
However, the scale of the proposed cuts will be seen as stark evidence that the global recession is now having a substantive impact on some of the world’s largest law firms, despite their status as downturn-resistant businesses. CC is regarded to have so far fared worse than its London peers, in part due to its heavy exposure to struggling practice areas such as private equity and capital markets.
Attention will now focus on whether other leading City rivals will follow suit. Top-tier London firms have in recent years avoided making formal redundancies in the UK, though such firms are sometimes accused of disguising market-related cuts on performance terms.
CC’s move makes the firm the latest in a string of top 100 UK law firms to cut jobs in response to the sharp slowdown in the global economy. At present more than 1,000 UK jobs in the legal services industry have been cut in the last 12 months.
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