The 850-lawyer firm now counts 233 lawyers in its litigation team, suggesting that the 21 lawyer layoffs accounted for about eight to nine per cent of the group's lawyer headcount. The firm said: 'The legal industry continues to see a decline in demand for litigation services, driven by—among other factors—clients resolving cases more quickly and handling them in-house more frequently.'

Pre-fall boom

The Boston-based, nine-office, international firm says it is growing in other areas - and it also says that it might taken on some of the laid-off people again for particular transactions. Litigation was seen as a boom area only a year ago - when many firms predicted a growth in the area and when some firms appointed litigators to thier top management roles. Source: ABA