Easing Sting Of Layoffs

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After attorney Rachel Sanders lost her job at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP earlier this year, she quickly got a new job thanks to her former employer.

In an effort to help those it laid off, Pillsbury’s downtown L.A. office came up with a plan to place them at local non-profit organizations by paying the groups to take on the lawyers. The $60,000 stipend Pillsbury donated to the Alliance for Children’s Rights paved the way for Sanders to come on board as a staff attorney for a year.

“It did soften the blow,” said Sanders, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2008 and started working at Pillsbury in January before her layoff in March. In April, she started with the non-profit, which advocates for children with health problems, disabilities and those in foster care.

“I preferred to have a guaranteed job for a year where I could get some legal training,” she said. “We are doing good work for really the poorest of the poor children who really need help. It’s extremely fulfilling.”

Janis Spire, chief executive of the non-profit, said that Pillsbury’s program has been a boon for her group.

“It is so innovative taking what could have been a loss for everybody and making it a huge win,” Spire said.

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