Herbert Smith concludes redundancy consultation with 43.5 City roles cut

Herbert Smith is set to cut 43.5 full-time equivalent roles in London after concluding the redundancy consultation launched earlier this year.

The firm announced in April that 51 jobs had been placed at risk - equating to just over 3% of total City staff - including 28 lawyer roles, with 23 in corporate and a further five in real estate.

However, in a statement announcing the results of the consultation, the firm said that this number had been reduced to 43.5 due to due to internal moves and resignations. 

The total number of people leaving the firm is 47 - of which 24 are associates - due to the exit of a number of part-time employees.

All of the reductions have been achieved through voluntary redundancies, with departing staff to receive 3.5 weeks' pay per year of service. Those whose applications for voluntary redundancy have been accepted will begun to leave the firm as of mid-June.

In an internal note, managing partner David Willis thanked staff working in affected areas for their professionalism, in what he acknowledged had been an unsettling period for them. He also thanked employee representatives for their positive contribution and their commitment to ensuring affected staff were fairly represented during the process.

The news comes after Herbert Smith asked around 15 partners from its corporate and finance practices firmwide to leave at the close of last year. The departures, combined with low associate attrition, led to “uneven” junior staffing levels, according to Willis. Separately, five Dubai-based IT and business services staff were laid off last month.

The move also comes ahead of the much-anticipated tie-up with Australia's Freehills, which could see the two outfits merge in the coming months.

Click here for more on recent low associate attrition levels at City firms.

• Related: Herbert Smith attributes associate cuts to partnership restructuring