News and Notes From the Legal Profession

One of the biggest law firms in the country, Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner, looks like it will be laying off a significant portion of its associates and support staff. Depending on who you talk to and how you count the layoffs, it ranges from 4% of the total lawyers at the firm or up to 10% of the associates on the payroll, which is roughly 600 lawyers at present.

That's a pretty hefty chunk of lawyers who will be looking for work elsewhere. Thelen Reid had recently acquired Brown Raysman & Steiner, so this suggests that the deal wasn't as good for Thelen's bottom line as they had suspected. While Above the Law posits that this is the result of a slowing economy and a recession, blaming it on the recession is a good way for the managing partners to shift the blame for the mess at the firm to someone other than themselves.

UPDATE:
Via law.com:

Thelen may be the first major West Coast firm to announce layoffs, but lawyers have been laid off from two New York firms -- Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and Thacher Proffitt -- and national firm Dechert over the past six months.