K&L Gates has laid off a group of secretaries and staff, sources said, in an effort to cut costs.

The layoffs, first reported by Above the Law, affect a "substantial" number of firm employees across offices, a former partner of the firm said.

Asked about the dismissals, a spokesman for K&L Gates said in a statement: "The firm works to assure the right employees are performing the right jobs in order to maximise client service and efficiency. As is the case with any global professional services organisation, we periodically review our staffing needs and make adjustments for the good of the firm and its clients."

The former K&L Gates partner said the layoffs were part of an effort by the firm's new leadership to reduce overhead expenses. The number of employees affected is unclear.

Above the Law reported that the firm's IT training team, Q/A team, Tier 2 Support and one project manager were affected – in offices including Seattle, Chicago, Dallas and Melbourne.

Those affected received severance in the amount of two weeks per year, benefits through the end of February, and one month of career placement, according to Above the Law.

The layoffs come less than a month after the departure of CIO Scott Angelo, who is now at Fragomen.

K&L Gates has also suffered several significant partner departures in the past year. Most recently, commercial disputes partner John Casey left the firm's Portland office earlier this month. Casey, who K&L Gates described as a "top-tier litigator" when he joined in 2012, is going to Portland-based Stoel Rives, Oregon's largest law firm.

In January, a co-leader of the firm's IP practice, Jeff Randall, left because of conflicts. When Randall left, he said the firm was "moving in a new and different direction", referencing the change in leadership.

In June 2016, the firm lost John Pierce, who had joined just a few months earlier, when he left to form Los Angeles-based Pierce Sergenian with a former colleague from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

A 32-lawyer consumer lending regulatory group also left K&L Gates' office in Washington DC for Mayer Brown in March 2016. In May of that year, Michael Missal, a member of the firm's management committee, was confirmed as inspector general for the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

Joon Yoon, an IP litigation and licensing partner at K&L Gates in New York, where the Korean law expert joined the firm in 2015, left after a little more than a year for Jones Day.

In 2015, K&L Gates trimmed its non-equity partner ranks, reportedly to deal with underperformance by some partners. Legal Week sister title The Legal Intelligencer reported in August 2015, after 90 partners left the firm in about seven months, that the firm was asking lawyers who were not generating enough business to leave, and some were departing the firm because they were displeased with compensation decisions.