Hogan Lovells has lauched a redundancy consultation in its London tax practice, with four associate positions at risk.

The consultation, which is being led by tax partner Karen Hughes, started in early November, and will see a number of the group's associates assessed based on current and expected work levels as well as personal performance.

Hogan Lovells' London tax practice, which currently has five partners and 14 associates, works with clients including Barclays, ExxonMobil and Ford.

The job cuts come after the firm made four redundancies in its real estate practice earlier this year, following a consultation which began in July. Three senior associates were laid off, with another taking voluntary redundancy.

Legacy Lovells made its last round of London layoffs in April 2009, when 79 legal and support staff left the firm. That redundancy consultation had kicked off at the beginning of February, with a total of 96 jobs reviewed.

Earlier today Barlow Lyde & Gilbert confirmed that three partners from its corporate and commercial group have been asked to leave alongside a handful of associates. Meanwhile Osborne Clarke (OC) yesterday (18 November) announced that it is to lay off up to five real estate lawyers in its UK offices.

Eversheds launched its fifth round of redundancies in two years in August, with up to 100 roles placed under review as the firm prepared to outsource back office functions to Accenture. The cuts came in the national firm's finance and human resources departments across its Birmingham, Cardiff and Leeds offices.

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