Nothing Will Be Certain For Biglaw This Year — Except Lots Of Layoffs

In general, most high-performing firms are trying to do two things at once in the current environment. They’re trying to be disciplined and pick up the pace on holding their attorneys accountable for meeting expectations on a multi-year basis, while also increasing their profitability in order to compensate higher-performing attorneys.

— Kent Zimmermann, legal management consultant at the Zeughauser Group, in comments given to the American Lawyer, on the likelihood that Biglaw firms will more frequently conduct layoffs in 2023. Zimmerman noted that it may now be easier for firms to perform layoffs due to the state of the economy than it was during the prior two years, when the legal sector was booming and bodies were needed to complete work.

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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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Biglaw, Layoffs, Quote of the Day