While Patton Boggs seems to be nearing its merger with Locke Lord, another 45 persons including 10 staff and 35 attorneys have lost their jobs, ostensibly as the last round of restructuring. The Washington Post reported the news first in its Capital Business blog.
According to Patton Boggs managing partner Ed Newberry, this round of job cuts was “the last piece of restructuring initiatives,” and possibly no more heads are going to roll until the merger is done.
Newberry told the Washington Post, that the first half of the year was very difficult for the firm and “We had to take action early in the year. Once we were able to take those actions, the firm started producing profit near historical levels…”
While the law firm is still the top lobbying firm in the country, year-on-year, it is losing revenue. The job cuts have returned balanced to its budget, according to the firm, and despite the layoffs, the firm has added 10 new partners and 18 associates in the past two months.
So, it’s not that Patton Boggs is reducing headcount without discrimination, but people are coming in as well as going out.
Patton Boggs currently has 98 equity partners and 119 nonequity partners and plans are on to run Patton Boggs more in the manner of a modern corporate business than in the pattern of a traditional law firm. According to Newberry, a new “practice management committee” will be formed with positions like chief operating officer, chief marketing officer, chief technology officer and etcetera.
While many in the market seems to be taking the news of Patton Boggs merging with Locke Lord to be granted, the firms themselves continue to be tightlipped, beyond admitting that due diligence processes are on at both the firms.
Layoffs however, are not very uncommon in pre-merger situations, and this round of layoffs might only indicate that.