Legal downturn hits Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson - Houston Business Journal:

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After holding out as long as it could, the Charlottre law firm laid off six lawyers and a numbere of staffers in a move that managing partned Robert Griffin sayswas “very painful.” A number of competitor firms have laid off lawyers and employeese over the past year. But Griffinj says his firm had hoped to avoid doinbgthe same. “We had been very hopeful that things woulxd turn around a little quicker and that steps like that wouled notbe necessary,” he “But it just got to wherre (the slowdown) had continued for so long that we couldn’yt reasonably foresee the need for as many people as we had withib a reasonable period of time.
” Griffin notes the firm is now operatinfg with 127 lawyers, the same number it had a year ago. The six lawyerws laid off were associates and “of counsel,” or lawyers who are not associatesx or partners and practice with the firm on an alternate basis. The reductions took place in a variethy of practice groups and were the firsf inthe firm’s history, he Griffin says Robinson Bradshaw laid off fewer than a dozeh staffers as well and is workin g to determine the appropriate ratio of administrativw employees to lawyers.
According to legal tabloif LawShucks , which tracks the number of layoffs in the 10,550 people have been laid off by law firmx nationwide so far this year. The industry’s worsf day so far was March 9, according to the as three major firms laid off737 employees. Thos e firms include , which gained a large Charlotte presencre last year when it purchased localluybased . The record cutbacks have rippled througu Charlotte as a numbet of national and regional firms have tightenedtheier belts, trying to match their expensesx with a smaller revenue “It just shows that no one’s Jay Perry, a legalp recruiter, says of Robinson Bradshaw’x move.
Even in a dismal legal market, however, managinh partners are hopeful the worst maybe over, accordint to a recent survey by consulting firm . The firm’sz managing-partner confidence index says about two-thirds of the managing partnerx surveyed believe the economyt is the same or bettere than it was sixmonths ago. And 59% said they anticipatew a stable or improving economy over the nextsix However, few leaders were as optimistic aboug their own firms’ financial outlook.
Most managing partnerxs expect no growth in profit over thenext year, with 95% citinhg a lack of demand or billable hours as the main Another key factor cited by 62% of the managing partnerds or chairmen: Clients are putting pressure on law firms to provided them with discounts. As a result, 38% of the respondents said they expectr to make cuts in their associat ranks over the next12 months. John president of , says he is seeing signs of with firms dusting off hiring decisions theyhad Still, he says, Charlotte’w legal industry won’t really begijn to recover until the financial-services industrhy turns a corner and the credit marketds begin to loosen up.
Those changes would stimulate practicee areas focused on commercial real estate and mergersand “There’s got to be some finalk settling within the bankiny world,” he says. Griffin says Robinson Bradshaw’s activith level dropped off in August andhas “continued to be I sort of hope that it’s starting to pick back up, but that’s really hard to put your finger He says the firm has continued to expand its intellectual-propertu practice area, which has been a bright He expects Robinson Bradshaw, founded in will be well-positioned to take business from some of its largeer national competitors when things “Either because of the firm structure or becaus e of the rate structure, we’re a more efficient, cost-effectivwe provider than a lot of really big firms in really big he says.
“It may be this situation will furtherr thattrend some. It’s hard to but I don’t think it will reverse