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Law360 (May 19, 2020, 8:30 PM EDT ) Prominent Philadelphia-based workers' compensation firm Pond Lehocky Giordano LLP confirmed on Tuesday that it was laying off approximately a quarter of its workforce after the end of the month as the firm deals with economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Firm officials confirmed the layoffs Tuesday after filing notice with the state under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act that the firm would be parting ways with 76 of its employees effective at the start of June.
Pond Lehocky declined to provide further details, including how many of its 44 attorneys and approximately 250 staff members would be among those on the chopping block.
Like firms all over the country, multiple Pennsylvania-based law firms have implemented pay cuts, furloughs and other efforts to mitigate the economic damage caused by coronavirus-related business disruptions.
Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC have both announced staff furloughs as a result of the pandemic, and other firms, including Reed Smith LLP and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, have implemented plans to reduce pay for certain employees.
Pond Lehocky's layoffs come as the firm is locked in a legal battle with co-founder David Stern, who claims that his former partners attempted to strong-arm him out of the business after nearly 10 years together.
Stern claimed in December that Pond Lehocky managing partner Samuel Pond tried to force him to give up his 31.67% ownership stake in the firm, ousted him as de facto head of the workers' compensation group and froze him out of partnership meetings. He went on to allege that Pond Lehocky sent letters to his clients misrepresenting his separation from the firm and pressuring them to stay in-house instead of departing along with Stern.
The dispute was stayed by a Philadelphia County judge in February as the two sides engage in mediation, according to court records.
--Editing by Alanna Weissman.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
