CC set to cut 10 associates from Amsterdam office

The layoffs represent a 6% reduction in lawyer numbers in the office, which has slightly more than 160 lawyers in total - including 28 partners.

The affected associates are spread across a number of departments, with the Dutch redundancies following extensive cuts in London and New York, as well a reduction in headcount in Moscow.

No further cuts are expected in the 370-staff office at present, which has been attempting to reduce costs since the last quarter of 2008.

Allen & Overy - which has the largest Amsterdam presence of any UK firm - is also understood to have made cuts in the Netherlands as part of its broader plans to reduce headcount by 9% at all levels. The firm declined to provide specific figures.

News of the magic circle redundancies come as Dutch leader De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek looks set to become the first major local player to announce a significant cost-saving programme.

The firm has launched a support staff redundancy consultation set to affect between 60 and 90 jobs over a two-year period. Support staff salaries have also been frozen for both 2009 and 2010. No lawyer job cuts are currently planned although partners are expecting to see a substantial decline in profits per equity partner.

Despite the cost-saving measures, De Brauw has pledged to continue recruiting and is also in the process of preparing for an office launch in Beijing - a move which would gift the firm its first base in Asia.