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Law360 (June 12, 2020, 9:32 PM EDT ) Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP is offering voluntary buyouts to nonattorneys, agreeing to pay out a week of salary for every year they have worked for the law firm, plus a lump sum, officials confirmed Friday.
The offer will be open to employees below the assistant director level that the firm characterizes as business services professionals, such as legal executive assistants and those working in information technology, marketing, recruiting and human resources units, according to Fried Frank. Eligibility for the program is based on years of service and the firm will have final approval of any requests.
The payouts will be capped at 24 weeks, to be paid as part of the regular payroll cycle, said firm spokesperson Alejandra Ramirez. Eligible employees will also receive a lump sum payment of $1,000 for every year they have worked with Fried Frank, along with a full year of medical benefits through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, she said.
The cuts at Fried Frank come weeks after a loss of 66,000 jobs in the legal sector in April, according to U.S. Department of Labor data. The industry gained back approximately 3,200 positions in May but was still far off from its highs in February, when jobs in the industry were the most plentiful since January 2008, according to seasonally adjusted numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Confirmations of furloughs, pay cuts, program suspensions and other financial cutbacks became the norm at law firms this spring, as the COVID-19 pandemic roils the industry. Other firms went a step further with layoffs.
Reed Smith LLP, Vedder Price LLP, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Goodwin Procter LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright and Nixon Peabody LLP are among the firms that have made personnel cuts.
--Editing by Alanna Weissman.
Update: This article has been updated with additional information about the program.
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