A high-powered New Haven-based law firm has laid off 14 attorneys, as the recession deals another blow to the legal industry.
The layoffs at Wiggin and Dana LLP took effect Tuesday, according to a company statement. The firm, founded in New Haven in 1934, employed about 150 attorneys among its offices in New Haven, Hartford, Stamford, Philadelphia and New York. The 14 eliminated jobs represented about 9 percent of the firm’s attorney workforce.
Company spokeswoman Elizabeth Butcher declined to say how many layoffs affected the firm’s New Haven office. The cuts came on the heels of a round of layoffs in January, when the firm let go 14 administrative staff and paralegals.
“As the current economic crisis deepens, it has become apparent that Wiggin and Dana is not immune to the pressures adversely affecting all businesses, including our clients and other prominent law firms,” a company statement read.
The announcement came as an economic slowdown forced legal layoffs across the country. Two of Connecticut’s largest firms suffered cutbacks last month, according to the CT Law Tribune.
The news was the latest in a series of grim projections for the region: Last week, the city laid off 27 workers; the Hartford Courant cut 100 jobs; and the New Haven Register’s parent company filed for bankruptcy protection; and Yale University announced it is planning deeper cuts.
At the most recent count in December, the city’s jobless rate sat at 9.6 percent, well above state and national averages. The state faces a 6.6 percent unemployment rate, compared to 7.1 percent nationwide, according to the state Department of Labor.