Restructuring the IP practice

More law firm reductions kicked off the week, with Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP laying off 99, Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP letting go of 25 and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP cutting 10 percent of its work force. Fried Frank confirmed Monday that it had reduced its head count by 41 associates and 58 administrative staff members, citing the negative impact of the financial crisis on clients.

Bryan Cave LLP has added another intellectual property litigator to the firm's list of partners, luring Kara E. F. Cenar from the newly merged K&L Gates LLP.
Cenar, who joins the firm's Chicago offices, has spent her career litigating intellectual property law, advising clients on their IP rights, and developing enforcement programs to avoid infringement.

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More Layoffs

According to Law360, layoffs in the legal industry continued to mount Tuesday, with rumors swirling of fresh rounds of firings at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP, Venable LLP, Chadbourne & Parke LLP and Blank Rome LLP. The deepest cuts were made at Paul Hastings, which reduced its work force in the United States by a whopping 131, including 44 associates and 87 staff.

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In the midst of all the layoffs, there are jobs

So in the last few months, all I have been writing about are layoffs which have occupied the media and of course our lives. Today, I post a few NY IP legal jobs that are out there waiting to be discovered. Enjoy.

Mid to Senior Level IP/Patent Law Scientific Advisor-Patent Agent/Associate @ Frommer Lawrence & Haug LLP

Patent Agent, Legal, Intellectual Property @ Forest Laboratories, Inc.

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The Layoff List

As I searched the internet on the news of more layoffs, specifically at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, I came across a compilation of this information in one place. Keep on top off all the layoffs, here.

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Bloody Thursday: Major Law Firms Ax Attorneys and Staff

In the single ugliest day for the legal industry since the economic downturn began, eight major firms announced a total of 748 layoffs Thursday, including 320 lawyers and 428 staff members.
The eight firms that announced staff cuts were Holland & Knight LLP, DLA Piper, Bryan Cave LLP, Goodwin Procter LLP, Epstein Becker & Green, PC, Faegre & Benson LLP, Dechert, and Nixon Peabody. Read more here.

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More and More Changes in the Legal Field

The London branch of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC is reportedly merging with recently formed claimants litigation firm Hausfeld LLP, which Michael Hausfeld started after his ousting from Cohen Milstein in November. The merger will be official later this month and will mark Hausfeld's foray into the international legal scene.

King & Spalding LLP has boosted its intellectual property practice with a three-partner team from Baker Botts LLP, including the former co-chair of the firm's international patent practice group. The group consists of Bruce W. Slayden II, who served as the co-chair of Baker Botts’ international patent practice group and as head of its intellectual property department.

As the worldwide economic crisis continues, DLA Piper has launched a formal layoff consultation that will likely eliminate 140 jobs in its United Kingdom offices. Nixon Peabody LLP, meanwhile, has decided to axe 20 attorneys and cut 36 other staff positions. The firms each released statements on the layoffs on Tuesday, couching the cuts as necessary to survive amid a relentless economic downturn.

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More Cuts

Approximately 250 to 300 support and secretarial staff at Hogan & Hartson LLP have been offered buyouts that include four weeks' pay and additional prorated payout if they leave the firm now, the firm confirmed Monday. Hogan & Hartson Chairman J. Warren Gorrell Jr. said that technological advances have decreased the demand for word processing and other secretarial work.


Lovells LLP has become the latest British firm to announce significant layoffs, reportedly saying Monday that it would soon cut up to 94 jobs, including those of 24 lawyers. Lovells has initiated a 30-day redundancy consultation designed to reduce jobs in practice areas most affected by the economic downturn, The Times of London reported.


California-based Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps LLP has joined numerous other law firms cutting ranks because of the bleak economic climate, saying it would lay off 12 attorneys and 15 members of its administrative support staff.
“The layoffs are due to the current economic condition and primarily impact the transactional practice areas of the firm,” Luce Forward said in a statement Friday.

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Loss of Legal Jobs

As US Law Firms continue to cut back legal jobs, the legal market dwindles. The U.S. legal sector has reportedly lost 1,300 jobs in January alone, as widespread cuts across a range of industries pushed the national unemployment rate to 7.6 percent, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics released Friday. The plunge likely reflected a series of continued cutbacks among several major law firms as a slowdown in clients' business takes its toll on the need for legal work. Read more here.

The most recent to show the door to its attorneys and staffers is Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP has reportedly handed out pink slips to 11 attorneys and 17 staff members as a cost-cutting measure in tough economic times. The Chicago-based law firm's managing partner, J. William Roberts, said the layoffs were made across the board last week and did not target a particular practice group or office.

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