Last week, we wrote about how we can help our colleagues who have recently been downsized, merged, purged, laid-off or, god forbid, "rightsized" into oblivion. As you may have heard, yesterday was another Black Monday. The National Law Journal reported that the law firm layoffs haven't let up. Four major firms announced job cuts on Monday, totaling more than 300 attorneys and 522 support staff. White & Case plans to cut 200 associates and 200 administrative staff. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius cut 55 attorneys and 161 staffers.King & Spalding cut 37 associate spots and 85 support staff, while K&L Gates eliminated 36 associates and 76 staffers in its U.S. offices. Legal consultants said they don't see the job cuts slowing down any time soon.
The Estrin Report picks Gibson Dunn & Crutcher as possibly joining the next wave of layoffs. Anonymous reports from paralegals indicate that staff is reading murder mysteries in an effort to kill time. When knocking on doors for work – any kind of work, they are told from partners and associates alike, that they have no cases lined up. Keep your fingers crossed for the folks over there that something will come in over the transom.
In the meantime, our HACO project is working! Help a Colleague Out by passing your job leads forward has prompted some good samaritans to send us some job leads that we are posting to www.knowparalegal.com. If you know of a job lead, don't want it, didn't get it, don't qualify for it or just heard about it, pass it forward! Let us know about it. We'll post it to our job bank so that others can find out about it and apply. Not all openings are listed on websites, Craig's list, the local paper or association job bank. Keep those listings coming so that we can give those who have recently lost their jobs a chance to learn of leads they might not otherwise find. If you have some inside information that might help, let us know.
We might not be able to stem the bleeding but by banding together, we can help others help themselves. Send your leads to info@knowparalegal.com. Let us know if you want us to acknowledge the donor. Thanks. Let's be careful out there.
This would be wonderful except for the Credit background Checks that are preventing many of us from getting back into any large law firm…
These background checks were originally instituted by the banking industry as a way to prevent anyone with poor credit from obtaining employment with banks, arguing they would “steal” if given the opportunity. Then, in the mid 1980’s when banks were no longer in the “nobility” business and needed money, they created multiple credit repair agencies –and this Employment Law Rule was suddenly “suggested” to every employing industry that the banks loaned money to — thus preventing many millions of Americans from returning to work in gainful occupations where they could, honestly, repay debts accumulated while they were out of work due to long term illness, helping a family member, a bad economy, etc. –in other words – through no fault of their own..
How many of our profession – and now even attorneys themselves –can’t find work because of this incredibly greedy employment rule -a rule which allows banks in their guise as credit card issuers and credit “repair” companies (all owned by banks), to tell employers not to hire us – due to their own greedy and often illegal banking practices which brought this new Great Depression down on us.
Do something for a friend? a Colleague? How about do something for your country — write to http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact and give your comments on this unfair, unreasonable, and discriminatory employment practice that needs to end – for a better America we can all work fairly in. Tell the President how you feel about this “rule”.