Which law firms top the associate layoff list?

This is the Top Ten list that firms don’t want to make: The Am Law 100 firms who have laid off the highest percentage of their associates (as counted from Sept. 30, 2008 to Wednesday). The dubious top prize goes to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, which eliminated almost 20 percent of its associate population. In terms of absolute numbers, the winner — if that’s the term — is Latham & Watkins, which recently sheared 190 lawyers from its associate ranks. Sadly, that kind of big layoff number is beginning to lose its shock value as more and more firms jump on the layoff bandwagon in this economic meltdown.

But what’s surprising about the data is that New York firms barely made the Top Ten layoff list. (Only Proskauer Rose, with 35 associate layoffs, squeezed into the tenth position.) That’s especially striking when you consider that New York sits at the epicenter of the financial meltdown, and New York firms are reputed to be tough and mean.

Why California and Midwest firms should dominate this list is anyone’s guess. Could they be more business-minded — perhaps more ruthless — than Wall Street firms? “[New York firms] have a different culture and management style,” says consultant Peter Zeughauser. “Layoffs are not in their DNA.”

But he adds ominously: “The big boys haven’t weighed in yet. Ultimately, you will see layoffs.”