More job cuts in London

January 21, 2009 5:23 AM

Denton Wilde Sapte has joined the ranks of City firms launching redundancy consultations, with up to 80 jobs at risk across the firm's London and Milton Keynes offices.
The firm said that up to 40 fee earners could be laid off, with the remainder coming from other parts of the firm.

The consultation is expected to be completed by the end of February.

Although it is unclear which areas will be affected by the cuts, the firm says tax, competition, technology, media and telecoms, marketing, facilities and accounts will not be affected.

Last year Dentons posted 6% H1 revenue growth against the same period last year, with the firm citing strong performance in the Middle East.

Chief executive Howard Morris said: “There will be few people with their hands on their hearts saying they know what the future holds. One does not rush into staff reviews quickly, and we are hoping the numbers will be less than predicted.

The market in the City changed dramatically in October and parts of the business have found their pipeline drying up, but parts have not. Everything at the moment is exacerbated by the recession.

The news comes after Clifford Chance (CC) earlier this month became the first magic circle firm to announce a formal redundancy programme, with all 880 lawyers in London under review. The firm is expecting that roughly 80 fee earners will lose their jobs and will launch a separate review of support staff.

Allen & Overy (A&O), meanwhile, could lose around 10 fee earners in its Hong Kong office after this week announcing a restructuring of its Asian network.

(Source: Magazine LegalWeek)

20 January, 2009