Howrey has laid off 29 associates and 65 members of staff from its 10 US offices, reports The Am Law Daily.

CEO and managing partner Robert Ruyak announced the "reduction-in-force" in a memo to staff. Howrey's six offices in Europe and one office in Asia are unaffected by the downsizing.

The new round of cuts comes less than a year after the firm laid off 25 members of its secretarial staff last April. At that time, Howrey also sought capital contributions from equity and non-equity partners.

Last summer Howrey announced that all incoming first-year associates would enter into a two-year apprenticeship program designed to provide the new lawyers with extensive training before they move on to handling client matters at standard hourly rates.

"The old model is broken," managing partner Robert Ruyak said at the time. "You're bringing on these extremely bright individuals and letting them waste their careers buried in documents where they really aren't learning the practical skills it takes to be a lawyer."

In 2008 Howrey posted gross revenues of $573m (£361m) and profits per partner of $1.3m (£829,000). The firm has not yet reported its year-end financials for 2009.

Last week the firm was hit with a $30m (£18.9m) discrimination suit from former antitrust associate Kamisha Menns, who claimed that she was fired after complaining about workplace harassment.

This article first appeared on The Am Law Daily blog on americanlawyer.com.