A red-letter day in lawoffs

Law firms, presumably quiet on their clients' activities, are often tight-lipped about their own financial and organizational matters as well. News of layoffs has come in dribs and drabs over the past months, but it seems as if the dam has finally been breached. Yesterday, as discussed in our Void for Vagueness blog (look for "A Heartbreaking Thursday of Staggering Layoffs"), about 800 support staffers and attorneys were pink slipped at (mostly) U.S. firms. Though the number is tiny compared to those tossed around by the likes of Ford or Caterpillar (translating to roughly one plant closure), it's not insignificant, and quite portentous for the profession, which dropped 1,500 workers in January, and 1,800 during the whole of 2008.

--Posted by Todd Obolsky, Vault News & Commentary