13 associates and six support staff redundant following review
Reed Smith has cut 19 roles in its London office following a redundancy consultation.
The US outfit confirmed thirteen lawyers and six support staff had been made redundant as part of a series of belt-tightening measures in response to the pandemic. Eight of the redundancies were voluntary.
“Like all well-run businesses, during the normal course of managing the firm we continually evaluate the size and shape of our global organisation to ensure that it matches the needs of our clients,” a spokesperson for Reed Smith said. “Their requirements have evolved as a result of the pandemic and unfortunately this has led to a small number of redundancies.”
As reported by Legal Cheek, Reed Smith announced in June it was “initiating a targeted redundancy process that will impact a small number of lawyers and staff” in London, the firm’s largest office with over 350 lawyers. It also cut pay for professional staff earning more than $100,000 (£80,000) and temporarily furloughed a “small number” of employees.
Earlier this month, BLM announced is was closing two of its offices, Leeds and Bristol, with lawyers and staff working remotely on a permanent basis. It also confirmed it was entering a redundancy consultation which is expected to affect 89 roles within its legal support and corporate services teams.