Wombley Carlyle Realigns Core Focus

Acknowledging price pressure from big-firm laid off lawyers who hang out their own shingle, 530 attorney law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC is taking a number of initiatives to bring costs in line with the new market realities. Read the full article in today's Winston-Salem Journal.

Firm cost reductions aiming for a $5 million annual expense reduction include:

1. Salary cuts of 10% for most employees
2. Selected job cuts
3. Streamlining of non-legal administrative functions
4. Cutting back on rent and other occupancy costs

Somehow the firm's "confidential" layoff memo was posted to the Internet.

Citing the ACC Value Challenge, Womble emphasizes that corporate clients - themselves facing drastic restructuring - are looking for lower cost structures and flexible billing policies from their legal partners.

As the business world accelerates its rate of change, law firms that focus on core competencies, while outsourcing support functions, are more likely to survive and even thrive as a leaner organization. As difficult as this may be to navigate, those firms that procrastinate are likely to pay an even higher price than mere discomfort.