If you want to know what skillsets are in demand and who’s hiring who, check out the moves in the AmLaw 200. Kirstin Maguire’s twice weekly column THE CHURN: Lateral Moves and Promotions in The Am Law 200 is the place to do it.
With the slowdown in real estate sales and real estate prices dropping like bricks across the country suppliers of goods and services to the real estate industry are feeling the effects. In addition to all the people making refrigerator magnets and door hangers, attorneys and law firms are also getting hit hard.
Tightening credit markets and an aversion to mortgage-backed securities mean less demand for lawyers with mortgage-backed securitization expertise. To put it mildly, there’s a glut.
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, a major player in commercial mortgage backed securities, announced July 30 that it was laying off 96 lawyers (about 15% of its associates) in addition to the 35 laid off in January. Ten of those 35 are still looking for work
McKee Nelson, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, and Thacher Proffitt & Wood also have thinned their packs of associates through layoffs and buyouts.
Job hunters may need to reinvent themselves, moving to general finance or corporate practices, and perhaps to new cities.
Related Articles:
Job Hunt Could be Tough for Laid-Off Cadwalader Lawyers
Laid-Off Cadwalader Attorneys May Have Tough Time Finding Work
