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Some law firms avoid layoffs by adjusting…

Law Firms Some law firms avoid layoffs by adjusting associate class years downward

By Debra Cassens Weiss

April 25, 2023, 9:31 am CDT

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Law firms looking for a way to save money without layoffs are increasingly adjusting associate class years, according to legal recruiters in California and New York who spoke with Law.com.

One of the recruiters who spoke on the record is David Nicol, a partner and owner at legal recruiting firm Marsden. He has seen several firms holding people back from advancing with their associate class or asking associates to go down a class year.

Nicol said a lot of firms “overhired or didn’t balance their hiring appropriately” when there was a big increase in demand. Now, they must deal with a downturn.

“The cost of talent has been dramatically pushed up, which weighs heavily on firms’ cost bases, and now, something’s got to give,” Nicol told Law.com.

Lauren Symington, the chief talent officer of Phoenix-based Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, agreed that cost is a factor.

“A lot of firms raised salaries higher than I think they were comfortable with,” she said. “They had no choice. And then the world happened,” Symington said.

She thinks that firms “should approach the talent pool as something to invest in, rather than something that can be reduced in the future.”

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