Another BigLaw firm says any associate job cuts are due to performance evaluations

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Another BigLaw firm says any associate job…

Associates Another BigLaw firm says any associate job cuts are due to performance evaluations

By Debra Cassens Weiss

April 14, 2023, 3:00 pm CDT

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Ropes & Gray has told Law.com that any job cuts being made at the law firm are the result of performance evaluations.

Law.com contacted Ropes & Gray after seeing “chatter” about associate layoffs at the firm on social media sites, such as Reddit and Fishbowl.

“The quarterly performance management process is a part of the normal course [of] our business operations,” Ropes & Gray said in a statement provided to Law.com. “We continue to use our same merits-based evaluation process.”

Kirkland & Ellis also attributed associate job cuts to the performance review process in a statement earlier this month.

Many firms are reviewing head count amid slower demand, especially in corporate practices, industry observers told Law.com. “Aggressive” performance reviewed are one option used by some firms.

The aggressive reviews “are resulting in an increasingly blurry line between layoffs and review-time cuts,” Law.com reports.

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