Cadwalader and Lawyer Cuts: Pursuing a Clear-Eyed Plan?

[WSJ_law_blog]

It’s been a week since Cadwalader trimmed 96 associates and counsel, bringing its 2008 lawyer layoffs to a total of 131, or about 20% of the firm’s population. Some legal media outlets gave Cadwalader a bashing for the move. The Lawyer, for instance, which earlier this year opened an office in New York, called the cuts the result of a “misguided management strategy that its current administration is trying desperately to clean up.”

Today, in his Legal Beat column, our very own Ashby Jones casts a skeptical eye on these Chicken Littles. Through another lens, writes Jones, the Cadwalader sackings don’t seem to herald such catastrophic destruction.

“It could be argued that Cadwalader is simply acting more like a clear-eyed business than like a traditional white-shoe law firm, where partners can often twist themselves into knots trying to avoid any appearance of weakness,” he writes. “The strategy certainly has its downsides for the firm, like blows to its reputation and perhaps its short-term ability to recruit top talent. But if the firm stays on its feet, which it likely will, the bloodletting could provide cover for others to make similar difficult but cost-efficient moves.”

Explains the firm’s chairman, Christopher White: “There was a bubble, we rode that bubble, it contracted, and we adjusted. Even knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.” Though he also acknowledges the downside of a potential reputation hit. “There’s no doubt that this is going to have an impact on our recruiting,” he said. “It’s just hard to gauge exactly what it’s going to be.”

LB Readers: To us, Cadwalader’s transparency seems like a novel approach to conducting law firm business. Do you agree?