Comments on 3 Geeks and a Law Blog: Are Above the Law and Law Shucks Layoff Alerts Mor...

David... first of all, thanks for commenting on th...

2009-10-15T16:16:05.253-05:00

David... first of all, thanks for commenting on the blog and following up with more information back on ATL
Following the story of the BigLaw layoffs (announced, stealth and everything in between) is a difficult job at best. It is not surprising that firms would try to do stealth layoffs, but in this day and age of instant video reporting and leaks that are only an anonymous email away, firms that try it are risking much more of a public black-eye than they would receive by just admitting the layoffs in the first place. I'd hope firms wouldn't attempt to do stealth layoffs, but... people are people, and will do dumb things in order to try to hide problems.

I haven't taken a close look at the Nixon Peab...

2009-10-15T10:08:54.678-05:00

I haven't taken a close look at the Nixon Peabody case, but for the record, these days most of our information about layoff numbers comes from (1) an official firm statement released to ATL in response to an inquiry, (2) an internal memo leaked to ATL, or (3) an authorized firm representative giving us official numbers, but on background (i.e., they don't want it known that the numbers came from the firm).

It could be that the firms are lying to us. Unfortunately, we don't have a good way of determining that.

- David Lat

I have found that the rosters are usually pretty g...

2009-10-13T21:53:22.659-05:00

I have found that the rosters are usually pretty good at removing people as soon as they are no longer associated with the firm. However, I have seen a few that wait until the "official" date of departure is met before taking them off the roster. So, it depends upon the individual firm. But, most firms don't want people showing up on their rosters when they are no longer affiliated with the firm, so they come down pretty quickly after leaving the firm.

Bios aren't left up for months, I think. When ...

2009-10-13T21:45:22.883-05:00

Bios aren't left up for months, I think. When I was laid off, the bio was gone the next day. Same with the other folks let go.

I thought that too (leaving bios up for many month...

2009-10-13T18:23:30.228-05:00

I thought that too (leaving bios up for many months.) However, once I started tracking them, once the person "officially" left the firm (sometimes after their vacation time, or "buy-out" time expired) the names come off immediately. There is a difference of seven months between the two lists -- the initial list coming right after the big February layoffs. So, this should be a pretty good sample to use.

I hope you realize that firms often leave up the b...

2009-10-13T17:52:50.799-05:00

I hope you realize that firms often leave up the bios of laid off attorneys for many months.

I guess I should have put in my post that I'm ...

2009-10-13T15:48:34.582-05:00

I guess I should have put in my post that I'm a big fan of ATL and LS... so, don't take this as a "don't trust these sites" kind of post. But, you're Daily Show reference is a good one. Unfortunately, there aren't any really good "Nightly News" channels that are telling the whole story of law firm layoffs. Somehow, we have to balance the hype we get from ATL and LS with the under-reporting we get from AmLaw and the other legal rags.

ATL and LS are both more like "The Daily Show...

2009-10-13T13:15:03.486-05:00

ATL and LS are both more like "The Daily Show" than "The Nightly News". Take some facts and have some fun with it. The truth is that a lot of young lawyers are disillusioned with the reality of law firm life, big firm and small firm. It isn't the glorious stuff of film and TV that they were hoping for. The ones who aren't type A personalities and know they won't ever be a rain maker are now regretting their choices and the loans they accumulated and are looking for an outlet for their pent up frustration. ATL and LS gives them that outlet. Not that big firms aren't doing the things of which they've been accused, some certainly are doing them. But so what, they always have been all about the partners and always will be.