The decision by San Francisco-based Cooley Godward to lay off lawyers and support staff is sending ripples through the legal community, which has been holding its breath for signs of the first massive law firm layoff.
Now that the flood gates have been opened, there are rumblings that other firms might consider layoffs not only of support staff and paralegals but lawyers.
But area law firms are saying that’s not about to happen.
“I think you have to divide the firms into two camps,” said Robert Wallan, managing partner in the L.A. office of Pillsbury Winthrop LLP. “The whole situation in Silicon Valley is a camp involving heavy emphasis on startups and technology. Those companies did what the economy did by growing dramatically in a narrowly focused area.
“We’ve got a lot of other firms out here that are simply more diversified, more mainstream, broad-based practices. They have tech capabilities, like we do, but they didn’t have 50 percent of their firm doing that work.”
Among Northern California firms vulnerable to layoffs are Brobeck Phlager & Harrison and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Pillsbury Winthrop, which has its roots in Northern California, laid off 13 staff members in mid-July. But Wallan said that was due to its recent merger, not the economy.
On the Wire
A four-person film and television production studio received a preliminary injunction last month for Liberty Livewire Corp. and its parent, Liberty Media Corp., to stop referring to itself as “Livewire” in marketing materials, ads and in answering the phone.
Live Wire Productions, or Live Wire, filed the suit a few months ago for trademark infringement. A federal judge ruled that Liberty Livewire had to go by its full name, rather than the shortened “Livewire” until a settlement could be reached.
Live Wire attorney Bob Lauson of Cislo & Thomas said his client, whose official name is Electropix, has been doing business as Live Wire for more than 10 years and applied for a federal and California trademark registration.
Live Wire’s clients include Disney and Paramount.
Liberty Livewire attorney Jeff Riffer of Jeffer Mangels Butler & Maramaro LLP said the company applied for the name first. The trademark application is pending.
Poor Ratings
The legal industry has one of the poorest image ratings, according to a recent Gallup poll.
In a ranking of 24 industries with 100 being best and negative 100 being the worst possible score, law scored a negative 16, second only to the oil and gas industry, which scored a negative 30. The results were based on a random national sample of 504 adults 18 years and older and was given by telephone.
Staff Reporter Amanda Bronstad covers the legal community and can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 225, or at [email protected]
