At the beginning of 2021 new lawyers entering the world of work had the sky at their feet.

The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics predicted that between 2021 and 2031, 131,000 new jobs would be created in the sector – and that’s after the 110,000 new openings which would have been created by people retiring from their roles.

On top of that, the average lawyer in the U.S. takes home $36,670 more than the median salary across all other sectors with a pay packet of $82,430.

And yet this week even more legal experts will be on the hunt for a new role after Goodwin Procter announced it was axing associates, professional track attorneys, paralegals, science advisors and employees in its global operations team.

In a memo seen by Fortune, Goodwin’s chairman Rob Insolia and managing partner Mark Bettencourt said it was a “difficult decision which had not been made lightly”.

It comes after a raft of job cuts in the industry late last year.

Bloomberg Law reported in November that Cooley LLP was letting go 78 attorneys and 72 paralegals and business personnel across the US, while Kirkland and Ellis laid off between 20 and 25 corporate associates in Texas in the same month.

Goodwin and Cooley both blamed decreasing client demand – with key markets such as housing and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) slowing down.

The memo from Goodwin added: “For the last several months, our clients have encountered macro-economic headwinds. With the continuing slowdown in the global economy, we too...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vZm9ydHVuZS5jb20vM...