Goodwin Procter plans layoffs of lawyers, paralegals and staff members

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Layoffs Goodwin Procter plans layoffs of lawyers, paralegals and staff members

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 5, 2023, 4:16 pm CST

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Goodwin Procter announced lawyer and staff layoffs in an internal memo Thursday that will affect 5% of its timekeepers and nonlawyer professionals.

Law.com and Above the Law obtained the internal memo.

“Tipsters from multiple offices have reached out to report that the firm is communicating layoff news to attorneys over the course of the day,” Above the Law reported.

The internal memo said the reduction in force affected associates, professional track attorneys, paralegals, science advisers and Go! Team members across multiple offices in the United States.

“Overall, this decision means a reduction of approximately 5% of our timekeeper and Go! Team population,” the memo said.

Go! Team is short for Goodwin Procter’s global operations team, which includes all nonlawyer professionals at the firm, according to the Goodwin Procter website.

The memo noted that Goodwin Procter’s lawyer population had increased by 60% since Oct. 1, 2019, to meet “significant and growing client demand.” The firm’s Go! Team “has grown significantly, as well,” the memo said.

While the law firm remains busy, demand has “dropped from its extraordinary heights of the past several years.”

“After much thought and careful reflection, we concluded that—regrettably—our current staffing levels are too high for our current and projected demand,” the memo said.

The memo said the firm was “purposefully choosing to be transparent” about layoffs instead of engaging in reductions during the performance review process.

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