Views on Reputation/LawFirmsPR.com

How To Announce Law Firm Layoffs: A Suggested Template

What should news releases about law firm layoffs say? Well, we've seen so many versions in recent weeks -- some honest, some not so honest and many confusing -- that I thought this template would help those struggling to strike the right tone and balance in these tough times. This sample should be used as a guide to get you thinking about your own unique situation, so please don't copy anything here verbatim.

ABC Law Firm today announced that because of the continuing economic crisis, it had to lay off 10 associates in its Corporate and Real Estate practice groups and five administrative positions in recent days.

"We are sad whenever we have to let good people go and truly hope that there will be no more reductions in lawyers or staff," said managing partner John Doe. 

He said the firm offered all those let go generous severance packages, including a continuation of their health benefits for ___ months, and believes this will help them while they look for jobs elsewhere. The firm has also contracted with a leading career counseling and recruiting firm to ensure former employees have full access to job opportunities in the weeks and months ahead.

Doe also announced that the firm is implementing other cost reductions, including the elimination of its holiday party this year as well as its annual lawyer retreat planned for early 2009. Instead, the firm will host a small holiday party for underprivileged children in its offices on December 23. 

The firm is also drastically reducing the entertainment budgets for all partners and will defer bonus compensation for six months. It is also considering a plan making it mandatory for equity partners to contribute considerable capital into the firm for one year.

"We must find ways to further reduce costs in these uncertain times and we think these initial changes will position us better when the economy improves," Doe added. 

Doe noted that despite these necessary atorney reductions, the firm's other practice areas remained strong in profits and revenues, adding that he expects substantial growth this coming year in litigation and corporate bankruptcy work.

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What do you think would make a good press statement regarding law firm layoffs? Please comment.

Lawyer's Elevator Speech with Nazi Reference Not Funny

Update from Larry Bodine (November 17, 2008):

I sincerely apologize for the crude and offensive "Elevator Pitch" post I put online last week.  In the clear light of morning, it is clear that it was anti-Semitic and repellent.  I want to thank all the people who commented and called me about it; I listened and took what you said to heart.

I have deleted the post.  It was a mistake to repeat a crude joke that I heard in rural Illinois, and I should have known better. It was a worse mistake to say it was the "best" of its kind, when actually it was hideous.

The post offended people I admire and hold near. I certainly don't espouse the kind of thinking behind the obnoxious "elevator pitch" and don't want anyone to think I do. A friend called me, recounting how he heard a Holocaust survivor describe being evaluated by Dr. Mengele in a concentration camp, but was fortunate to be passed over.  I was horrified and immediately deleted the blog post.  A member of my own family was captured in the Second World War and imprisoned in a Russian concentration camp until the 1950s, and there was nothing funny about it.

I regret I didn't delete it sooner, and should have had the good sense not to put it online in the first place.

My colleague, Larry Bodine, who I have often praised in this space and elsewhere, seems to think it's funny that a partner uses references to a Nazi medical researcher in his "elevator speech."

He described it as the best elevator speech he ever heard.

Not only is this not funny, but it's an affront to the six million Jews murdered and the millions of others killed or maimed by Nazis. Unfortunately, another colleague of mine -- Carolyn Elefant of Law.com -- also wrote about this but failed to treat it with the harsh criticism it deserved.

Lawyers shouldn't have to resort to Nazi imagery or any other kind of anti-Semitic or racist remarks to get attention. If they do, prospects should look elsewhere for legal help.

The Holocaust was not a joke.