Which New Attorneys are Hit Hardest by Layoffs?

With all of the changes that have resulted from the great economic recession of 2008, no one has been affected more than minorities. As mentioned in Part 2 of this series, between 2008 and 2009, big firms cut 6 percent of their attorney workforce; however, in that same time period minority representation at firms was cut by 9 percent. Thomas Sager, general counsel of DuPont said, "There were fears when the recession began that these folks would be disproportionately impacted, and it appears to be the case." Of the minority lawyers, African Americans lost the highest percentage with 13 percent, while Asian and Hispanic lawyers dropped by 9 percent each. Black non-partners dropped by an astonishing 16 percent in one year.

One way that firms are executing these mass firings while staying out of the headlines is through the practice of stealth layoffs. (Emily Barker, One Step Back, American Lawyer, March 1, 2010 at 3.) This nefarious yet ingenious method of firing employees unfortunately has gained popularity amongst many large law firms. In stealth layoffs, firms simply raise performance goals so high that any lawyers who do not meet these daunting standards are quietly let go. Through this practice, firms can consciously select who they want out, give them light workloads, and cite their "lack of productivity" as the reason for their termination. (Thomas Fernandez, Fearing Recession, Law Firms Tighten Belts, The New York Sun, January 22, 2008.) Currently, the most often cited reason by minorities for layoffs is not having enough hours billed. (Barker at 3.) Law firms then claim that these layoffs are purely objective, but societal norms suggest otherwise. Eden King, a professor of psychology states that,

In good economic times people know they are supposed to support diversity and will tend to hire a minority candidate to get affirmative action points. But when times are tough, people tend to look out for their own group and isolate outsiders, and that's when discrimination can begin to rear its ugly head. (Carmen Van Kerchkove, How the recession is affecting racial diversity in the workplace, CNN.com, 2009.)

Building a Better Legal Profession (BBLP) is an organization based at Stanford Law School.   BBLP is a national grassroots movement that seeks market-based workplace reforms in large private law firms. For more information, visit BBLP's Web site at www.betterlegalprofession.org.