Cooley layoffs Forum

[Anonymous User]

I’m glad I got out of there last year before the slowdown. Even in summer 2021 there was general consensus that tech stocks were due for a correction (I saw valuations double and triple in a matter of months in 2020), but they kept bringing in laterals and large summer classes to meet the demand. Cooley gave me bad reviews as a junior too btw. Then I got great reviews as a midlevel and at my new firm. It is probably BS that your issues weren’t fixable. That place is a sweatshop for juniors and they don’t train you.

lol at this hindsight bullshit. I expect that you shorted tech stocks hard based on the "general consensus" and have now retired on your wealth?

I was all cash starting in late summer 2021 and started buying back around May (should’ve waited longer). I don’t play around with options because it’s difficult to time the market and they can easily expire worthless. Plus, I’m talking about VC-backed companies that aren’t publicly-traded. These were term sheet valuations of privately-traded companies with almost zero revenue.

[thisismytlsuername]

I’m glad I got out of there last year before the slowdown. Even in summer 2021 there was general consensus that tech stocks were due for a correction (I saw valuations double and triple in a matter of months in 2020), but they kept bringing in laterals and large summer classes to meet the demand. Cooley gave me bad reviews as a junior too btw. Then I got great reviews as a midlevel and at my new firm. It is probably BS that your issues weren’t fixable. That place is a sweatshop for juniors and they don’t train you.

lol at this hindsight bullshit. I expect that you shorted tech stocks hard based on the "general consensus" and have now retired on your wealth?

I was all cash starting in late summer 2021 and started buying back around May (should’ve waited longer). I don’t play around with options because it’s difficult to time the market and they can easily expire worthless. Plus, I’m talking about VC-backed companies that aren’t publicly-traded. These were term sheet valuations of privately-traded companies with almost zero revenue.

Post receipts.

[swiftyredalbum]

swiftyredalbum wrote: ↑
Fri Nov 11, 2022 12:18 pm
100% agree.
This is very important and must never be forgotten.

See above from Anonymous (of course Anonymous):

"Yet you say the laid-off associate should pay back the severance. Obvious shitpoast troll is obvious."

Nothing whatsoever above is me contradicting myself.

Pay back the severance but know the partners will step over your body in the street. No contradiction there.

I refuse to say "The partners are ruthless so I will grab all I can with both hands".

[Anonymous User]

I got laid off from WSGR last month during my "performance review." Stay away from these firms.

But don't worry! They want you all back in the office so they can fire you in person.

[Anonymous User]

I got laid off from WSGR last month during my "performance review." Stay away from these firms.

But don't worry! They want you all back in the office so they can fire you in person.

What was your class year?

[Anonymous User]

Wonder if people are gonna keep drinking the koolaid and forget about this when Vault surveys come around just like they did with Goodwin (which was baffling given that Goodwin lacked any pretext to compensate for the stealth layoffs they did during covid)

[Anonymous User]

Cooley associates too scared to speak out? Shameful.

I mean people have known this was happening at Cooley all the way back in like August-September and Cooley associates/former associates have definitely discussed it on this board and fishbowl. I got let go from them as a junior and quickly landed on my feet elsewhere at a place that was probably a better fit for my life anyway. They gave me three months severance, so honestly it resulted in me getting a nice windfall while I doubled-up on salaries for two months.

Is this second and third years mainly?

Couldn't say. I was so floored by my firing and the firm handled it so callously (literally got my name wrong on some of my separation documents) that I basically removed them from my brain entirely the instant I closed the Zoom.

Damn, typos, how callous.

(1) It wasn't a typo like Marc vs. Mark or something, it was the wrong name entirely like Brandon vs. Brett.
(2) Obviously that was just a quick example. No one gave me any indication that anything was seriously wrong prior to my review, told me that they were letting me go because my "issues weren't fixable" (despite me talking directly to the people I worked with and them saying that's absolute BS), said that they'd help me on my job search but offered no resources to do so and never followed up, the partner who was in charge of my separation basically told me not to talk to him when I reached out for help offloading my work, etc.

Sounds really unpleasant, and you should absolutely not take any of their "performance critique" seriously, we all know the real reason. Happy to you bounced back quickly and best of luck.

Thanks.

To be fair to Cooley, I was definitely behind my peers and made mistakes along the way. I knew I was. But I was looking forward to my review as an appropriate time/place to talk to them about what I need to do to improve and make a plan moving forward to show I have the ability to be a good attorney. They decided it was easier to cut ties before I even got the chance.

I knew it was a layoff and not a straight-up firing when I asked for a copy of my review summary and it basically agreed with what I said above: "smart with high potential, well-liked, but is behind and needs improvement." Which is literally an incompatible statement with my meeting when the same person who drafted my review summary said my issues "weren't fixable."

[Anonymous User]

I got laid off from WSGR last month during my "performance review." Stay away from these firms.

But don't worry! They want you all back in the office so they can fire you in person.

What was your class year?

First year/second year ECVC practice

[Anonymous User]

I got laid off from WSGR last month during my "performance review." Stay away from these firms.

But don't worry! They want you all back in the office so they can fire you in person.

What was your class year?

First year/second year ECVC practice

A performance review last month? Mid-year with no prior warning? Yikes. I hadn't heard of performance reviews being scheduled before January (we just submitted self assessments a few weeks ago; selected reviewers now completing write-ups). Any severance at least? Sorry to hear this and hope you find another opportunity quickly.

[Anonymous User]

I got laid off from WSGR last month during my "performance review." Stay away from these firms.

But don't worry! They want you all back in the office so they can fire you in person.

What was your class year?

First year/second year ECVC practice

A performance review last month? Mid-year with no prior warning? Yikes. I hadn't heard of performance reviews being scheduled before January (we just submitted self assessments a few weeks ago; selected reviewers now completing write-ups). Any severance at least? Sorry to hear this and hope you find another opportunity quickly.

It was literally dropped on my calendar the day before. Solid move WSGR. Avoid future lawyers.

[Anonymous User]

I mean people have known this was happening at Cooley all the way back in like August-September and Cooley associates/former associates have definitely discussed it on this board and fishbowl. I got let go from them as a junior and quickly landed on my feet elsewhere at a place that was probably a better fit for my life anyway. They gave me three months severance, so honestly it resulted in me getting a nice windfall while I doubled-up on salaries for two months.

Is this second and third years mainly?

Couldn't say. I was so floored by my firing and the firm handled it so callously (literally got my name wrong on some of my separation documents) that I basically removed them from my brain entirely the instant I closed the Zoom.

Damn, typos, how callous.

(1) It wasn't a typo like Marc vs. Mark or something, it was the wrong name entirely like Brandon vs. Brett.
(2) Obviously that was just a quick example. No one gave me any indication that anything was seriously wrong prior to my review, told me that they were letting me go because my "issues weren't fixable" (despite me talking directly to the people I worked with and them saying that's absolute BS), said that they'd help me on my job search but offered no resources to do so and never followed up, the partner who was in charge of my separation basically told me not to talk to him when I reached out for help offloading my work, etc.

Sounds really unpleasant, and you should absolutely not take any of their "performance critique" seriously, we all know the real reason. Happy to you bounced back quickly and best of luck.

Thanks.

To be fair to Cooley, I was definitely behind my peers and made mistakes along the way. I knew I was. But I was looking forward to my review as an appropriate time/place to talk to them about what I need to do to improve and make a plan moving forward to show I have the ability to be a good attorney. They decided it was easier to cut ties before I even got the chance.

I knew it was a layoff and not a straight-up firing when I asked for a copy of my review summary and it basically agreed with what I said above: "smart with high potential, well-liked, but is behind and needs improvement." Which is literally an incompatible statement with my meeting when the same person who drafted my review summary said my issues "weren't fixable."

A serious question assuming you’re a first/second year: how can you be behind? What substantive knowledge are you expected to have? It’s literally just be responsive and attention to detail.

[Anonymous User]

Is this second and third years mainly?

Couldn't say. I was so floored by my firing and the firm handled it so callously (literally got my name wrong on some of my separation documents) that I basically removed them from my brain entirely the instant I closed the Zoom.

Damn, typos, how callous.

(1) It wasn't a typo like Marc vs. Mark or something, it was the wrong name entirely like Brandon vs. Brett.
(2) Obviously that was just a quick example. No one gave me any indication that anything was seriously wrong prior to my review, told me that they were letting me go because my "issues weren't fixable" (despite me talking directly to the people I worked with and them saying that's absolute BS), said that they'd help me on my job search but offered no resources to do so and never followed up, the partner who was in charge of my separation basically told me not to talk to him when I reached out for help offloading my work, etc.

Sounds really unpleasant, and you should absolutely not take any of their "performance critique" seriously, we all know the real reason. Happy to you bounced back quickly and best of luck.

Thanks.

To be fair to Cooley, I was definitely behind my peers and made mistakes along the way. I knew I was. But I was looking forward to my review as an appropriate time/place to talk to them about what I need to do to improve and make a plan moving forward to show I have the ability to be a good attorney. They decided it was easier to cut ties before I even got the chance.

I knew it was a layoff and not a straight-up firing when I asked for a copy of my review summary and it basically agreed with what I said above: "smart with high potential, well-liked, but is behind and needs improvement." Which is literally an incompatible statement with my meeting when the same person who drafted my review summary said my issues "weren't fixable."

A serious question assuming you’re a first/second year: how can you be behind? What substantive knowledge are you expected to have? It’s literally just be responsive and attention to detail.

Right, when juniors get fired it’s because they are horrendous. It’s super obvious doubt this was out of the blue.

[Anonymous User]

Couldn't say. I was so floored by my firing and the firm handled it so callously (literally got my name wrong on some of my separation documents) that I basically removed them from my brain entirely the instant I closed the Zoom.

Damn, typos, how callous.

(1) It wasn't a typo like Marc vs. Mark or something, it was the wrong name entirely like Brandon vs. Brett.
(2) Obviously that was just a quick example. No one gave me any indication that anything was seriously wrong prior to my review, told me that they were letting me go because my "issues weren't fixable" (despite me talking directly to the people I worked with and them saying that's absolute BS), said that they'd help me on my job search but offered no resources to do so and never followed up, the partner who was in charge of my separation basically told me not to talk to him when I reached out for help offloading my work, etc.

Sounds really unpleasant, and you should absolutely not take any of their "performance critique" seriously, we all know the real reason. Happy to you bounced back quickly and best of luck.

Thanks.

To be fair to Cooley, I was definitely behind my peers and made mistakes along the way. I knew I was. But I was looking forward to my review as an appropriate time/place to talk to them about what I need to do to improve and make a plan moving forward to show I have the ability to be a good attorney. They decided it was easier to cut ties before I even got the chance.

I knew it was a layoff and not a straight-up firing when I asked for a copy of my review summary and it basically agreed with what I said above: "smart with high potential, well-liked, but is behind and needs improvement." Which is literally an incompatible statement with my meeting when the same person who drafted my review summary said my issues "weren't fixable."

A serious question assuming you’re a first/second year: how can you be behind? What substantive knowledge are you expected to have? It’s literally just be responsive and attention to detail.

Right, when juniors get fired it’s because they are horrendous. It’s super obvious doubt this was out of the blue.

Yeah… except in this case we’re talking about a firm that’s allegedly parting ways with a bunch of associates after seeing a large drop-off in work, which makes some of us suspect that performance was not the primary motivation.

Get a life, guys. I want to hear from laid-off associates and you guys can’t help but pile on the first one that responds.

[mvp99]

Damn, typos, how callous.

(1) It wasn't a typo like Marc vs. Mark or something, it was the wrong name entirely like Brandon vs. Brett.
(2) Obviously that was just a quick example. No one gave me any indication that anything was seriously wrong prior to my review, told me that they were letting me go because my "issues weren't fixable" (despite me talking directly to the people I worked with and them saying that's absolute BS), said that they'd help me on my job search but offered no resources to do so and never followed up, the partner who was in charge of my separation basically told me not to talk to him when I reached out for help offloading my work, etc.

Sounds really unpleasant, and you should absolutely not take any of their "performance critique" seriously, we all know the real reason. Happy to you bounced back quickly and best of luck.

Thanks.

To be fair to Cooley, I was definitely behind my peers and made mistakes along the way. I knew I was. But I was looking forward to my review as an appropriate time/place to talk to them about what I need to do to improve and make a plan moving forward to show I have the ability to be a good attorney. They decided it was easier to cut ties before I even got the chance.

I knew it was a layoff and not a straight-up firing when I asked for a copy of my review summary and it basically agreed with what I said above: "smart with high potential, well-liked, but is behind and needs improvement." Which is literally an incompatible statement with my meeting when the same person who drafted my review summary said my issues "weren't fixable."

A serious question assuming you’re a first/second year: how can you be behind? What substantive knowledge are you expected to have? It’s literally just be responsive and attention to detail.

Right, when juniors get fired it’s because they are horrendous. It’s super obvious doubt this was out of the blue.

Yeah… except in this case we’re talking about a firm that’s allegedly parting ways with a bunch of associates after seeing a large drop-off in work, which makes some of us suspect that performance was not the primary motivation.

Get a life, guys. I want to hear from laid-off associates and you guys can’t help but pile on the first one that responds.

Think the one above you was being sarcastic

[Anonymous User]

I'm convinced the tech firms (Cooley, WSGR, Goodwin, Gunder) have HR people that have fake TLS accounts that throw shade on people here who tell the truth. Makes sense to me.

[coffeeaddict100]

I’m convinced the HR departments of all biglaw firms do that

[Anonymous User]

I got laid off from WSGR last month during my "performance review." Stay away from these firms.

But don't worry! They want you all back in the office so they can fire you in person.

What was your class year?

First year/second year ECVC practice

A performance review last month? Mid-year with no prior warning? Yikes. I hadn't heard of performance reviews being scheduled before January (we just submitted self assessments a few weeks ago; selected reviewers now completing write-ups). Any severance at least? Sorry to hear this and hope you find another opportunity quickly.

It was literally dropped on my calendar the day before. Solid move WSGR. Avoid future lawyers.

Junior at wsgr who's seen a very large drop off in work (I do mostly ecvc and m&a) in the past three months. My office has really slowed down and work is being horded by those higher up or only being given to favorite associates. Predicting I'll get laid off at my performance review or a few months after. Did you get severance? How's your traction been on the job hunt?

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Is this second and third years mainly?

Couldn't say. I was so floored by my firing and the firm handled it so callously (literally got my name wrong on some of my separation documents) that I basically removed them from my brain entirely the instant I closed the Zoom.

Damn, typos, how callous.

(1) It wasn't a typo like Marc vs. Mark or something, it was the wrong name entirely like Brandon vs. Brett.
(2) Obviously that was just a quick example. No one gave me any indication that anything was seriously wrong prior to my review, told me that they were letting me go because my "issues weren't fixable" (despite me talking directly to the people I worked with and them saying that's absolute BS), said that they'd help me on my job search but offered no resources to do so and never followed up, the partner who was in charge of my separation basically told me not to talk to him when I reached out for help offloading my work, etc.

Sounds really unpleasant, and you should absolutely not take any of their "performance critique" seriously, we all know the real reason. Happy to you bounced back quickly and best of luck.

Thanks.

To be fair to Cooley, I was definitely behind my peers and made mistakes along the way. I knew I was. But I was looking forward to my review as an appropriate time/place to talk to them about what I need to do to improve and make a plan moving forward to show I have the ability to be a good attorney. They decided it was easier to cut ties before I even got the chance.

I knew it was a layoff and not a straight-up firing when I asked for a copy of my review summary and it basically agreed with what I said above: "smart with high potential, well-liked, but is behind and needs improvement." Which is literally an incompatible statement with my meeting when the same person who drafted my review summary said my issues "weren't fixable."

A serious question assuming you’re a first/second year: how can you be behind? What substantive knowledge are you expected to have? It’s literally just be responsive and attention to detail.

Generally when a 1st/2nd year is "behind" it is less about substantive knowledge and more about attitude and approach. For example, not being careful with defined terms, formatting, or catching common sense mistakes (if you mark up a document and the senior associate suspects you are actually working for the other side, that is bad). Also, failing to start grasping what the transaction consists of at a broader level, beyond your specific task, which will inform the work product you produce. Definitely things that can be improved over time, but some juniors are natural superstars at the job, some are average, and some are clearly not cut out for the type of work that a large law firm does, and are going to be more successful doing something else in life (probably 20% of folks who walk through the door just don't have the interest or the capabality of sitting for hours and hours under agonzing stress to read through a 100 page document and catch every typo). It is a more systematic issue, where the law schools funnel people towards large law firms, but only a really small percentage of the law school population is going to find success in that environment.

[Anonymous User]

I got laid off from WSGR last month during my "performance review." Stay away from these firms.

But don't worry! They want you all back in the office so they can fire you in person.

What was your class year?

First year/second year ECVC practice

A performance review last month? Mid-year with no prior warning? Yikes. I hadn't heard of performance reviews being scheduled before January (we just submitted self assessments a few weeks ago; selected reviewers now completing write-ups). Any severance at least? Sorry to hear this and hope you find another opportunity quickly.

It was literally dropped on my calendar the day before. Solid move WSGR. Avoid future lawyers.

Junior at wsgr who's seen a very large drop off in work (I do mostly ecvc and m&a) in the past three months. My office has really slowed down and work is being horded by those higher up or only being given to favorite associates. Predicting I'll get laid off at my performance review or a few months after. Did you get severance? How's your traction been on the job hunt?

Thanks!

Yes. I got severance. I might even start looking now if I was you. Same here. Partners favored their favorite associates. Couldn't get work. Boom.

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

Generally when a 1st/2nd year is "behind" it is less about substantive knowledge and more about attitude and approach. For example, not being careful with defined terms, formatting, or catching common sense mistakes (if you mark up a document and the senior associate suspects you are actually working for the other side, that is bad). Also, failing to start grasping what the transaction consists of at a broader level, beyond your specific task, which will inform the work product you produce. Definitely things that can be improved over time, but some juniors are natural superstars at the job, some are average, and some are clearly not cut out for the type of work that a large law firm does, and are going to be more successful doing something else in life (probably 20% of folks who walk through the door just don't have the interest or the capabality of sitting for hours and hours under agonzing stress to read through a 100 page document and catch every typo). It is a more systematic issue, where the law schools funnel people towards large law firms, but only a really small percentage of the law school population is going to find success in that environment.

Finding success at this job is very different from being substantively good at this job.

Often times, it's even the exact opposite.

[Anonymous User]

Generally when a 1st/2nd year is "behind" it is less about substantive knowledge and more about attitude and approach. For example, not being careful with defined terms, formatting, or catching common sense mistakes (if you mark up a document and the senior associate suspects you are actually working for the other side, that is bad). Also, failing to start grasping what the transaction consists of at a broader level, beyond your specific task, which will inform the work product you produce. Definitely things that can be improved over time, but some juniors are natural superstars at the job, some are average, and some are clearly not cut out for the type of work that a large law firm does, and are going to be more successful doing something else in life (probably 20% of folks who walk through the door just don't have the interest or the capabality of sitting for hours and hours under agonzing stress to read through a 100 page document and catch every typo). It is a more systematic issue, where the law schools funnel people towards large law firms, but only a really small percentage of the law school population is going to find success in that environment.

Finding success at this job is very different from being substantively good at this job.

Often times, it's even the exact opposite.

I mean, I guess. Not really relevant to the question of how a junior can be "behind" the curve. If you are competent and work really hard you can be in the top 25% of associates and be very unlikely to get fired outside of a total catastrophe. If you are less competent and/or less hardworking you can be in the 25-75th percentile of associates, and try to cling on until they eventually show you the door (or you leave by yourself). If you are in the bottom 25% of associates you are going to be at serious risk of a pink slip.

Now, if your goal is to slack as much as possible, get a paycheck, and get the heck out, then putting in the effort to be a top 25% associate probably doesn't have a great ROI, and taking your chances as average joe may be the better bet. But electing to be in the bottom 25% is not a good strategy, as you will subject yourself to endless performance anxiety until the pink slip finally comes.

[Anonymous User]

I got laid off from WSGR last month during my "performance review." Stay away from these firms.

But don't worry! They want you all back in the office so they can fire you in person.

What was your class year?

First year/second year ECVC practice

A performance review last month? Mid-year with no prior warning? Yikes. I hadn't heard of performance reviews being scheduled before January (we just submitted self assessments a few weeks ago; selected reviewers now completing write-ups). Any severance at least? Sorry to hear this and hope you find another opportunity quickly.

It was literally dropped on my calendar the day before. Solid move WSGR. Avoid future lawyers.

Junior at wsgr who's seen a very large drop off in work (I do mostly ecvc and m&a) in the past three months. My office has really slowed down and work is being horded by those higher up or only being given to favorite associates. Predicting I'll get laid off at my performance review or a few months after. Did you get severance? How's your traction been on the job hunt?

Thanks!

Yes. I got severance. I might even start looking now if I was you. Same here. Partners favored their favorite associates. Couldn't get work. Boom.

Which office are you? I could see this happening at a satellite, but I'm a WSGR third year and respectfully, this seems like kind of a one-off of a situation (or potentially something group-specific) rather than some sort of mass layoff. No one has discussed lay-offs (outside of people talking about layoffs at other firms and feeling general fear) and as far as I can tell, no juniors in the PA office have been let go. I also billed well over 200 last month, so it's not like WSGR is completely dead (we were actually up on revenue per our town hall in October). I'm not trying to be douchey here, and I'm really sorry this happened to you, I just know a lot of concerned juniors read this board and would like to offer a counterpoint here since the above posts would freak me out if I was a first year, and I genuinely don't think we're there yet.

All that said, I have heard of funky firings and stuff where a partner has a bone to pick or HR does something weird, or there was some sort of other issues, but those should definitely be differentiated from the lay-offs being discussed in this thread (avoidance of doubt: I don't think these kinds of firings or lay-offs are ok, just different).

[Anonymous User]

What was your class year?

First year/second year ECVC practice

A performance review last month? Mid-year with no prior warning? Yikes. I hadn't heard of performance reviews being scheduled before January (we just submitted self assessments a few weeks ago; selected reviewers now completing write-ups). Any severance at least? Sorry to hear this and hope you find another opportunity quickly.

It was literally dropped on my calendar the day before. Solid move WSGR. Avoid future lawyers.

Junior at wsgr who's seen a very large drop off in work (I do mostly ecvc and m&a) in the past three months. My office has really slowed down and work is being horded by those higher up or only being given to favorite associates. Predicting I'll get laid off at my performance review or a few months after. Did you get severance? How's your traction been on the job hunt?

Thanks!

Yes. I got severance. I might even start looking now if I was you. Same here. Partners favored their favorite associates. Couldn't get work. Boom.

Which office are you? I could see this happening at a satellite, but I'm a WSGR third year and respectfully, this seems like kind of a one-off of a situation (or potentially something group-specific) rather than some sort of mass layoff. No one has discussed lay-offs (outside of people talking about layoffs at other firms and feeling general fear) and as far as I can tell, no juniors in the PA office have been let go. I also billed well over 200 last month, so it's not like WSGR is completely dead (we were actually up on revenue per our town hall in October). I'm not trying to be douchey here, and I'm really sorry this happened to you, I just know a lot of concerned juniors read this board and would like to offer a counterpoint here since the above posts would freak me out if I was a first year, and I genuinely don't think we're there yet.

All that said, I have heard of funky firings and stuff where a partner has a bone to pick or HR does something weird, or there was some sort of other issues, but those should definitely be differentiated from the lay-offs being discussed in this thread (avoidance of doubt: I don't think these kinds of firings or lay-offs are ok, just different).

Aren't first years (people who literally started like two months ago) kinda safe at the moment? I've been told by some mid levels that your hours don't even start mattering until January of your first year, anyway...

[Anonymous User]

First year/second year ECVC practice

A performance review last month? Mid-year with no prior warning? Yikes. I hadn't heard of performance reviews being scheduled before January (we just submitted self assessments a few weeks ago; selected reviewers now completing write-ups). Any severance at least? Sorry to hear this and hope you find another opportunity quickly.

It was literally dropped on my calendar the day before. Solid move WSGR. Avoid future lawyers.

Junior at wsgr who's seen a very large drop off in work (I do mostly ecvc and m&a) in the past three months. My office has really slowed down and work is being horded by those higher up or only being given to favorite associates. Predicting I'll get laid off at my performance review or a few months after. Did you get severance? How's your traction been on the job hunt?

Thanks!

Yes. I got severance. I might even start looking now if I was you. Same here. Partners favored their favorite associates. Couldn't get work. Boom.

Which office are you? I could see this happening at a satellite, but I'm a WSGR third year and respectfully, this seems like kind of a one-off of a situation (or potentially something group-specific) rather than some sort of mass layoff. No one has discussed lay-offs (outside of people talking about layoffs at other firms and feeling general fear) and as far as I can tell, no juniors in the PA office have been let go. I also billed well over 200 last month, so it's not like WSGR is completely dead (we were actually up on revenue per our town hall in October). I'm not trying to be douchey here, and I'm really sorry this happened to you, I just know a lot of concerned juniors read this board and would like to offer a counterpoint here since the above posts would freak me out if I was a first year, and I genuinely don't think we're there yet.

All that said, I have heard of funky firings and stuff where a partner has a bone to pick or HR does something weird, or there was some sort of other issues, but those should definitely be differentiated from the lay-offs being discussed in this thread (avoidance of doubt: I don't think these kinds of firings or lay-offs are ok, just different).

Aren't first years (people who literally started like two months ago) kinda safe at the moment? I've been told by some mid levels that your hours don't even start mattering until January of your first year, anyway...

I would think yes, but that doesn't stop them from freaking out...

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

78 lawyers (~9% of US associates/counsel) and 72 staff laid off today. PPP of $4M last year.

Disgraceful.