Reed Smith set to cut 28 UK jobs in new layoffs

Reed Smith has made its second round of job cuts, with the layoffs affecting US lawyers as well as staff for the first time this recession, writes the Legal Intelligencer.

The firm has began a redundancy consultation with nine UK associates and 19 UK staff members, while 17 associates and 55 support staff have been laid off in the US.

Firm managing partner Gregory Jordan said the lawyer cuts were geared toward the firm's corporate and real estate practices, where demand is slow and is expected to remain that way in the "near to medium" future. Jordan said the lawyers cuts equate to about 4% of the firm's associate ranks with the staff cuts accounting for about 5% of the firmwide staff headcount.

Severance will be paid to all of the employees in accordance with the firm's severance policy, which includes outplacement services.

Reed Smith laid off 115 staff members in early December and put 11 associates and seven staff members from its London office into redundancy consultation.

The firm had reduced its legal secretary headcount by 50 in April 2008, but said that was done in an effort to achieve a desired lawyer-to-secretary ratio rather than for economic reasons.

Jordan said the latest cuts are tailored mainly to the parts of the business that are slow, though the staff reductions are more broad-based as part of an overall belt-tightening.

Reed Smith announced about a month ago that it would be shortening its summer program by about two weeks and delaying its first-year associate start dates until January 2010.

The Legal Intelligencer is a US sister title of Legal Week.

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