2008 Layoffs? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi all,
Sorry to pile onto the fear mongering. I'm in a state that pushed court deadlines. So, my works going to dry up by next week. Never thought there would be an instance where the courts closed, but here we are.

For older than I, do we remember what happened with respect to layoffs in 2008? How long were people given to stay employed with little to know work? I'm assuming that i'll make it to May. Well, I don't know if that's actually a fair assumption.

I get that this is slightly different than 2008, but does anyone know how long firms took to lay people off? Did Latham just Latham people in a single day? Were people offered severances? Just general questions as I prepare for life without work. I'll try taking a look at some OG TLS threads.

Thanks all.

[JusticeChuckleNutz]

I've been thinking about all of these questions as well as this situation has unfolded. Also, did 3L offers get rescinded first and then attorneys let go? Was it mostly first-years who got laid off?

[bbsexclusively]

Don't want to make people nervous. But it's 10 times worse than 2008.

[s1m4]

Its not worse than 09 - funds has lots of cash on hand to deploy and want to deploy it, and we are not in a credit crunch infact credit is widely available (fed just approved a huge facility). The nature of deals will change but corporate work will go on.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah, it may or may not be as bad. But does anyone have any insight as to how long you get before layoffs. I see that Latham laid off in Feb. 2009, which means that they waited a few months before making that decision. Albeit not many months. I’d be cool with two months billing zero hours then getting severance.

I recognize not everyone is in my position. But if litigation could maybe save a few bucks and hang a shingle if necessary.

[Anonymous User]

Regardless of whether the question is based on strong premises (which I can't really speak to, though I would be very hesitant about assuming "we'll just bounce back in 3 months"):

I think the best answer is it depended on the firm. A lot of firms don't talk about what happened now, and I think you'll find people will be reluctant to admit that they were canned, especially as there's so much of an assumption/excuse/stigma that people were fired for performance reasons, as opposed to economic ones.

For example, I know people who summered in 2008 whose offers were rescinded almost immediately, such that one person who accepted their offer got in, and the person who delayed in accepting didn't.

I know another firm who gave people (e.g., less profitable partners) the six month talk one or two years after 2008 in such quantities that it was almost assuredly for economic reasons.

Supposedly another firm I worked for iced all of its associates except for 1 or 2: it's unclear what the timing was or whether severance was offered.

I'm sure you'll be able to dig up other stories from the ghosts of TLS' past--probably all true, or close to it.

[Neff]

Latham gave everyone six months of severance plus health insurance for a good amount of time. Hell as a fifth year if I was offered that right now I’d raise my hand in a heartbeat. $140,000 gross lump sum payment to leave a shit job and binge Netflix and video games for six months? Yes please!