It’s hard not to find at least one slice of the labor force that hasn’t been battered , one way or another, by this horrific recession, whether it’s in the manufacturing or automobile industries, careers in retail sales, the newspaper industry, transportation and construction; all have suffered record cutbacks during this economic slump.
One industry, often overlooked, but also suffering their share of employment hardship are lawyers or those in the legal profession.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, lawyers nationwide have incurred a decrease of 21,400 jobs from May 2008 through May 2009.
A more recent statistic from the Website LawShucks, which maintains a layoff tracker, reports that as of July 5, 2009, over 12,829 employees have been laid off by major law firms (4,985 lawyers ;7,844 office staff) since January 1, 2008.
To help laid-off lawyers weather this unrelenting storm, LexisNexis®, a leading global provider of online content, an indispensable database to any legal professional, introduced on June 30th, the Lend-a-Hand program to any lawyer laid-off from a firm with 50 lawyers or more, which, among other benefits, provides legal professionals with a free six-month profile on Lawyers.com and Martindale.com , free access to Martindale-Hubbell Connected to network with other legal professionals, along with free access to the Martindale-Hubbell Career Center.
Nationally, the unemployment rate was at 9.5 percent in June; and many economists expect the number of unemployed to rise above 10 percent by the first quarter of next year, which would make this economic downturn the highest level it’s been at since 1983.
So as the economy continues to sputter, the Dayton, Ohio legal publishing company recently announced it was extending the Lend-a-Hand program enrollment eligibility through September, 2009. Such valuable networking tools will undoubtedly help those less fortunate members of the legal profession concerned about more and more major law firms unloading lawyers as they suffer through these harsh economic conditions.
The most punishing downsizing among major law firms began early in the year; as early as February in fact, when St Louis based Bryan Cave laid-off 58 attorneys and 76 staff members; while DLA Piper, one of the world’s largest legal service providers with 65 offices in 29 countries, announced in the same month, it was shedding 80 associates and 100 office workers in its U.S. offices. At the beginning of July, DLA Piper began yet another round of layoffs, announcing it was laying off 21 associates and 100 staff members. According to the National Law Journal’s annual survey, DLA Piper is the largest law firm in the United States with 3,758 attorneys.
In April, Chicago-based Baker & McKenzie announced it was forced to let go 38 attorneys and 86 paralegals and support staff. And just last week, Dechert, a corporate securities and real estate firm, feeling the pinch from the housing sub-prime fiasco, announced another round of layoffs; since December, the Philadelphia firm has laid-off 200 employees during four separate announcements
For those interested in monitoring recent developments of law firms downsizing its staff; in addition to Lawshucks.com, Incisive Media publishes a layoff list at Law.com, which maintains an updated archive of published articles announcing layoffs at major law firms nationwide.
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
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Websites to keep in mind:
• Economic Recovery Resources for the legal profession (From the American Bar Association)
• Market Research/Statistical Data about the legal profession (From the American Bar Association)
• The Hildebrandt Institute provides cutting edge research and analysis on the latest trends within the legal profession.
• 2009 Chief Legal Officer Survey (From Altman Weil Inc., a leading legal consulting firm)
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Posted by: lexus dealers in westchester | 11/10/2009 at 05:52 AM