Goodwin Procter has laid off a number of business services professionals as the firm prepares for the ongoing economic fallout of the COVID-19 public health crisis.

A former employee at the firm said that a wave of cuts occurred April 8, affecting individuals in departments including but not limited to marketing, business development and information technology. A Goodwin spokesperson did not provide details on the scope of the layoffs but said the firm would be providing severance packages to affected employees based on tenure and would contribute to healthcare benefits through Sept. 30.

"We recently reviewed the performance and size of our global operations team given the current and anticipated effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy," spokesman Konstantin Shishkin said in an email. "As a result of our analysis, we made the difficult decision to ask a limited number of our global operations team members to leave the firm."

The cuts come in spite of a banner 2019 for the firm, in which revenues rose by 11% to $1.33 billion and profits per equity partner grew by 5.8% to $2.6 million. That performance allowed the firm to climb up four places on the 2020 Am Law 100, to No. 22.

Other firms who've posted strong growth in recent years have had a different message, via words and deeds, for their professional staff.

At McGuireWoods, which posted a 4.5% revenue boost in 2019 after a 14.2% jolt in 2018, managing partner Tracy Walker said it was holding back a portion of the smaller fraction of partner distributions it doles out in April, saying it "was a no-brainer that the owners of this business have to take care of our people."

And Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where revenue grew 8.1% in 2019, recently went ahead with 2% raises for business services staff around the globe, including in the U.S.