The initiative is said to be called “Linklaters New World.” We’ll let that sink in for a moment.
There will also be redundancies among support staff. The Magic Circle firm’s offices in Western Europe are said to be most vulnerable to cuts, which are expected to occur all at once in mid-February.
Last year Linklaters slashed its client base from 11,000 to 6,000, with the expectation that the list will number 3,000 by the time the scheme ends. The initiative saw the firm get rid of small clients that could conflict it out of acting for larger players.
Addleshaw Goddard, Britain’s fifteenth largest firm, is poised to lose 19 partners; while Ashurst, its City rival, has 223 partners as risk.
Founded in 1838 as Dods & Linklater, Linklaters has around 540 partners and 2,400 qualified lawyers, more than 60% of whom are based outside the UK.