Black Thursday — 700 Lawyers & Staffers Laid Off

Yesterday, Thursday, February 12th, 2009, six prominent firms fired over 700 attorneys and legal staffers, in what is becoming known as Black Thursday in the legal industry.

DLA Piper; Holland & Knight; Goodwin Procter; Bryan Cave; Epstein Becker & Green; and Dechert all confirmed layoffs yesterday.

Faegre & Benson also confirmed it initiated layoffs, and Cozen O’Connor let go of staffers on Tuesday.

DLA Piper cut 80 associates and 100 staffers from its US offices, plus 30 attorneys and 110 staff in its UK offices.

Holland & Knight fired 70 lawyers and 173 support staffers across the firm’s 21 offices.

Goodwin Procter laid off 38 associates and 36 staffers.

Bryan Cave laid off 58 attorneys and 76 staffers.

Epstein Becker & Green laid off 23 attorneys and 30 staff members across the firm.

Dechert also confirmed that on Thursday it let go of associates and counsel. In December, the firm laid off 72 staffers in the US and 15 staffers in the UK. It also laid off 13 attorneys in March 2008.

Minneapolis-based Faegre & Benson dropped 29 attorneys.

Philadelphia’s Cozen O’Connor laid off 61 administrative staff and paralegals.