Addleshaws set to cut 85 jobs and freeze salaries

Addleshaw Goddard has launched a redundancy consultation which could see 85 staff laid off, as well as announcing a salary freeze until 2010.

The consultation, which kicked off last week (13 May), will affect business services and secretarial staff across all practice areas in the UK top 20 firm's London, Manchester and Leeds offices.

The firm is hoping that a number of staff will agree to take voluntary redundancy.

Fee earners will not be affected by the current programme, with the firm hoping to stave off further job cuts by consulting on flexi-working schemes such as sabbaticals, unpaid holiday and reduced working hours.

If the flexi-working plans are adopted, the measures will be introduced on 1 July for a 12-month period.

In addition, Addleshaws has frozen salaries for all fee earners and business services staff at 2008-09 levels until 2010.

The firm is cutting newly-qualified salaries from £64,000 to £58,000 in London and from £40,000 to £36,500 in Leeds and Manchester. Trainee pay is also being reduced - by £1,000 to £35,000 in London and by £500 to £24,500 elsewhere.

However, unlike many other firms, Addleshaw is not asking any trainees to defer their start dates, with 39 due to start at the firm in September.

Addleshaws' new managing partner Paul Devitt, who took up his position on 1 May, commented: "Our priority during this sustained downturn is to continue to manage our firm in a way which is appropriate for us and our clients. We addressed overcapacity in the partnership earlier this year and with conditions remaining challenging, we now need to address our wider resource and cost base.

He added: "These decisions have been reached only after the most careful and thorough consideration and we are giving as much support as we can to the affected individuals. We are confident that the full range of measures being proposed, and decisions taken, will help to keep the number of roles `at risk` to a minimum and will minimise the need for any future similar announcements.

"Our business remains in a strong position, and in addition to responding to current conditions, we continue to plan and invest appropriately for the future."

In January, Addleshaws asked 19 partners - representing 10% of the firm's partnership - to leave the firm, citing economic conditions.

In addition, the firm carried out a number of de-equitisations as well as demoting fixed-share partners to non-partner status. The top 20 firm also closed off its equity to internal promotions for 2009.

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