Is no one safe anymore?

Like Cameron Stracher (see below), many believe that litigation “thrives” in a “tightening legal market,” so litigators can rest easier than some of their deal-making colleagues. But this week’s layoffs at Clifford Chance—20 associates, all in litigation and dispute resolution—as well as the layoffs just announced at Katten Muchin Rosenman and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, suggest that, in this volatile climate, there’s more than enough doom and gloom to go around.

Julia Berris argues in The Lawyer that the pink slips at CC may reflect the group’s lack of traction (citing a U.S. partner: “The reality is that Clifford Chance doesn't have the heavy hitters it needs to build a practice") rather than an industry-wide slowdown. Undercutting that cool bit of comfort, however, is her concluding query: “If litigation can tank in current market conditions, which practice group will be next?”

- posted by vera