Layoffs of local attorneys show Las Vegas is not unique in this case

Layoffs at Las Vegas law firms are yet another dismal economic indicator, but our town is only reflecting the national and international scene; we're not unique this time.

Yet the layoffs still hurt. Some have gone under the radar, a layoff here and there isn't as noticeable, but sometimes it's en masse and more noticeable.

• Kummer Kaempfer recently laid off nine attorneys and seven staffers in their offices in Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City.

• Lewis & Roca laid off 23 people throughout the firm's Southwest offices about six weeks ago -- seven lawyers and 16 staffers. The hit in Las Vegas was one lawyer and two staffers.

• Bullivant Hauser, with six West Coast offices, laid off two lawyers and six staffers, all in Las Vegas.

The law firm used to have eight lawyers in Las Vegas, now it's down to five, after one left voluntarily. (Not to worry, the firm wasn't foolish enough to lay off Pete Bernhard, the chairman of Nevada's Gaming Commission, the cornerstone of the Las Vegas office.)

These three firms are by no means the total. Throughout Las Vegas law firms are losing lawyers and staff by attrition or paring down. However, it's more dramatic when they're let go all at once, as Kummer Kaempfer did recently.

"Obviously for all of us, it was the worst day in our professional careers. These are our good friends and colleagues," said Mark Fiorentino of Kummer Kaempfer, one of 45 attorneys still with the firm in Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City.

Kummer Kaempfer has a reputation as a go-to firm focusing on government relations and lobbying. However, Fiorentino says that's a small percentage of the firm's practice. "A good portion of our clients are among those suffering the hardest," he said, specifically citing gaming, real estate, developers, homebuilders and retail developers. "Clients are not saying we have to cut back, they're saying we have to cut out," he said.

He suspects some laid-off attorneys will retire, some will work part time, others will find work at other firms, and others will go into solo practice.

Lawyers who thought they'd always have jobs when they joined large, respected firms are finding that's just not so.

Lewis & Roca's managing partner Ken Van Winkle, said, "We're structuring our firm in a way that will make it competitive going forward." His firm's layoffs were about six weeks ago, done so quietly it didn't even make the American Lawyer's continually growing "The Layoff List." He saw a glimmer of hope because some of the lawyers and staff laid off found other jobs.

Bullivant Hauser CEO Steve Kenyon said the firm over the past 15 months has been reducing support staff. His firm had a ratio of three staffers per attorney and that has been where the bulk of the cuts have occurred, except for the two lawyers laid off in Las Vegas. Bullivant Hauser still has about 160 lawyers in the firm, Kenyon said.

The National Law Journal reported that on Feb. 12 and 13, more than 1,100 lawyers were either laid off or asked to consider buyouts in what is inevitably called the Valentine's Day Massacre.

On Friday, the worldwide law firm Latham & Watkins announced the biggest whack of all, laying off 190 of its 2,300 attorneys worldwide, and 250 staffers. It does not have a Las Vegas office.

Not all is bleak in Las Vegas lawyerland.

Lionel Sawyer hasn't laid off anyone and actually hired a couple of lawyers. "We recognized the coming problem about a year ago and scaled back our hiring appropriately and tried to adjust our expenses," said managing partner Paul Hejmanowski.

Joe Brown of Jones Vargas said his firm hasn't had layoffs but when people have left, their jobs have remained vacant.

Some firms won't feel the pain. Personal injury cases and criminal cases don't go away because of the economy.

Lawyers, architects, engineers, journalists, all kinds of professionals who thought they had job security, are seeing their worlds turned upside down just like dealers and construction workers.

Some advice to them from Winston Churchill: "When you're going through hell, keep going."

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison/.