Just months ago, all we could talk about were associate raises. Now, all we can talk about are associate layoffs.
The slumping credit markets have led to a paucity of work for structured finance lawyers, and just the other day the New York Law Journal reported that Clifford Chance laid off six structured finance associates.
Legal Pad thought it was high time to email structured finance vet Mark Levie over at Orrick to see what his firm, which has a huge practice in that area, was doing with the slowdown.
Levie told us that Orrick isn’t laying people off. In fact, he says the firm’s doing just the opposite.
“We are not doing layoffs,” Levie wrote to Legal Pad on Tuesday, “and in fact are looking to take advantage of the current cycle by expanding strategically in structured finance.”
No question it’s a buyer’s market.
So what’s everyone hearing? Are structured finance lawyers being let go elsewhere? Are there other firms like Orrick that are taking the role of buyers in the current downturn?
— Zusha Elinson
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