Given the lingering effects of COVID on lawyer morale, there’s even more reluctance to move into those kinds of layoffs and furloughs than before.

— Jim Jones, a senior fellow at the Georgetown University Law Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession, in comments given to the American Lawyer, referring to the way leaders of Biglaw firms plan to broach the topic of layoffs in 2023 and beyond, which continues to be a top concern. referring to how firm leaders are handling the possibility of layoffs this year. “Indeed, if there is anything the legal industry’s reaction to the pandemic showed us,” Jones wrote in the latest State of the Legal Market report, “it’s that in the post-pandemic, return-to-the-office environment, it is crucial for firms to find ways to convey that they value the talent, skills and humanity of their lawyers and not just see them for their billable hours.” Several firms have already conducted outright layoffs, citing their over-hiring in 2021 as the reason for the cuts.

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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