Wedlake Bell set to make seventeen redundancies

Wedlake Bell has become the latest firm to kick-off a redundancy consultation with up to six lawyers and 11 support staff facing the axe.

The consultation follows a slowdown in a number of Wedlake's business areas, with the cuts likely to affect the commercial property arm and other underperforming divisions.

Wedlake managing partner Phillip Matthews said : "As with nearly all other major commercial law firms we have had to review how the turbulence in the credit markets is impacting on our portfolio of services and the composition of our respective teams."

"It is obviously regrettable that we have had to consider redundancies and we will be looking to offer all the support that we can to any departing colleagues."

"As a result of this process we are confident that Wedlake Bell will become far better focused on the legal and business issues our clients are facing now and in the future.

Once the programme has been completed affected staff will be offered redundancy packages and out placement services.

News of the consultation comes in the wake of a host of similar programmes at other firms, with property departments heavily affected. As Legal Week reported last week, Eversheds has extended its redundancy consultation by a month, with the potential job losses likely to be higher than initially expected.

The firm announced the consultation at the beginning of September stating that 33 fee earners plus support staff in its real estate group could be affected. The consultation has now been extended until the end of this month.