The job cuts come as Heller’s management continues to warn partners that profits may be less than what the firm projected at the beginning of the year.
Although leaders say the plan to get rid of some back-office positions has long been in the works, one Heller lawyer said that a lull this year “made it easier” for the firm to make the decision.
Robert Hubbell, firm-wide managing partner, acknowledged that “in some places for some part of the year there have been some modest reductions in work level due to the natural life-cycles of cases that come to an end” - but he emphasized that the staff cuts had nothing to do with those slowdowns.
“Having been someone who has been involved, it takes a long time of careful thinking to try to meet your business objectives - it is not a short-term, reactive thing,” he said.
The 700-lawyer firm with
The top 50 US firm, a traditional rival of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, lifted its profile in the