In early 2025, layoffs are once again making headlines across Big Law.
This isn’t just a repeat of the 2020 cycle. The factors at play today are more strategic, more targeted—and more telling.
So what do these layoffs really say about where the market’s going—and what should senior lawyers be paying attention to?
1. Layoffs Aren’t Random. They Signal Where Firms Are Investing (and Pulling Back).
When a firm cuts associates or staff, it’s rarely about one bad quarter. It’s often the result of longer-term strategic planning. Recent examples include:
- Downsizing underperforming practice areas (such as SPACs or crypto)
- Redirecting investment toward high-growth areas (like data privacy, regulatory, or restructuring)
- Responding to client demands for leaner teams and alternative fee structures
Firms like Goodwin Procter and Cooley were among those reported in 2024 by American Lawyer and Law.com to have executed strategic workforce reductions aligned with these shifts.
For senior lawyers, this matters. If your practice area is shrinking internally—even if your own numbers are strong—it may be time to evaluate the long-term trajectory of your platform.
2. Midlevel and Senior Associates Are the Most Vulnerable
According to 2025 data from Leopard Solutions and Above the Law, the lawyers being let go in 2024 and early 2025 aren’t just junior associates. In many cases, senior associates with 6–9 years of experience are being cut—those who are too expensive to train further, but haven’t yet proven portable.
Firms are looking closely at one metric: leverage. Who brings in work, who does the work, and who costs the most to keep on the books.
This shift signals something important to senior attorneys: if you’re in a leadership position, your value is no longer measured by what you’ve done—it’s about what your presence enables. Can you build, mentor, originate, and retain?
3. These Layoffs Are Often a Prelude to Mergers or Restructurings
Several firms that executed layoffs in Q1 of 2025 are also rumored to be preparing for mergers. Fairfax Associates and Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute have both noted that these patterns often go hand-in-hand:
- A leaner headcount improves merger optics
- Cost-cutting helps align financial metrics between merging firms
- Shedding low-performing areas makes a firm more attractive as a partner
If your firm is laying people off while also making strategic hires, rebranding, or investing in high-profile laterals—don’t ignore that pattern.
It could be a sign that change is coming, and not everyone will benefit from it.
For senior lawyers, these signals are more than headlines—they’re context. And context gives you time to make smart moves before you’re reacting to someone else’s decision.
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