Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione laid off 18 people Tuesday, including seven lawyers, its second round of cutbacks in eight months.
Fifteen of the 18 were based in the home office in Chicago, said Gary Ropski, president of the firm that specializes in intellectual property law. The layoffs affected 4.5 percent of the firm’s workforce of about 400.In December, 26 people, including seven lawyers, were let go.
Brinks Hofer’s cutbacks come as mass layoffs have slowed at larger law firms in Chicago and nationwide. Ropski said his firm avoided layoffs in 2008 and most of 2009, when competitors were eliminating positions, in the belief that the economy would improve and boost the workload. But the recession lingers, forcing the firm to streamline its work force again, he said.
“Overall what we are seeing is that our clients remain under a bit of economic stress,” Ropski said. “Some are not filing as many patent applications. Others are taking a harder look at how to get value for their patents short of litigation.”
The “Above the Law” blog first reported the layoffs.
Where is Alexi G to save these jobs? He did it for Hartmarx, so why can’t he do it for these guys?
I guess the crooked bloodsuckers in the Probate Court of Cook County may have to increase their take from the helpless, aged, dead, dying and disabled in order to make up the shortfall in job losses. When they dry up the pathetic estates of the elderly, they begin to set up “trusts” so the shysters can tap into the Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and pension benefits. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com