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05/30/08
Most firms don't like to announce layoffs since they are a sign of troubling times at the firm, and that hurts in the game of getting the top new legal recruits. But sometimes the firms have no choice except to announce layoffs.
And then there are the firms that announce layoffs with absolutely no regret. One such firm is Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal. In a shocking move, Sonnenschein has laid off almost 40 attorneys and 90 staffers.
Most of the time, when layoffs are announced, it is implied the poor attorneys getting the ax are underperformers, which does nothing good for their efforts to get jobs elsewhere. But Sonnenschein flat out admitted why these attorneys are being let go: profits! Yes, profits per partner are dragging, so they chose to, in their own words, "separate" the attorneys and staffers. This will let the profits per partner soar, which is apparently all that matters anymore — how much the equity partners can bring in.
The real kick in the shorts for the attorneys is the fact that they will receive no severance pay. Instead, the affected people got 60 days' notice instead of the normal three months' severance pay. This is yet another move to maximize profits. Under the severance pay policy, the firm would have to cough up salaries without getting any work; with Sonnenschein's 60-day notice policy, they'll get a full amount of work for their money. No hush-hush release papers are required, though.
In a rare case of the staffers doing better than the attorneys, the staffers let go will get severance, while the attorneys won't.
On the other hand, Sonnenschein is at least not doing stealth layoffs like other firms such as Paul Hastings — they are upfront about it. So that's something at least.
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