Partners predict a wave of lawyer redundancies will follow the large-scale support staff culls announced by a number of firms in recent weeks. 

Legal Week's Big Question survey, carried out in the wake of UK support staff redundancies at firms including DLA Piper, Norton Rose Fulbright and Dentons, has found that 57% of partners expect to see lawyer job cuts at major UK firms during the coming year.

The survey, which canvassed the opinions of around 150 partners, also found that 83% of respondents believe there will be further non-legal job cuts during the next six months.

Eleven percent of those taking part believe lawyer redundancies are extremely likely, with a further 46% believing them to be quite likely. In contrast only 5% believe lawyer cuts are extremely unlikely.

Additionally, almost two-thirds of respondents (61%) think more support staff cuts are likely during the coming six months, with 22% fearing this is very likely.

Looking across support and legal roles, almost half (42%) of the respondents believe most of the cuts will be in London, with 32% believing regional UK offices will be more affected and 26% worried about international networks. 

The research findings come after it emerged that Norton Rose Fulbright and Dentons plan to cut 60 and 50 UK back-office jobs respectively, while DLA Piper has laid out plans to cut up to 200 UK support jobs – the equivalent of up to 18% of its UK staff. 

Both DLA Piper and Dentons plan to outsource jobs to Warsaw, while Norton Rose is set to open a support centre in Manila in September. In addition, King & Wood Mallesons has laid off 37 London support staff and secretaries.

Brexit impact

The cuts come against a backdrop of increasingly uncertain market conditions, with respondents citing fears over Brexit and generally tough economic conditions as possible drivers for the redundancies.

Susan Bright, Hogan Lovells

Susan Bright, Hogan Lovells' UK and Africa managing partner, suggests the cuts simply reflect cost pressures on law firms. "People will be looking at costs and efficiencies as one would expect every business to do," she says.

Some respondents though, believe that a vote for the UK to leave the European Union in the upcoming referendum would worsen market conditions, triggering a fresh wave of layoffs.

Pinsent Masons managing partner, John Cleland, sums up the uncertainty that Brexit has created: "One of the challenges in the current environment is that the 2016-17 financial year is almost impossible to plan for. I've no doubt many firms would – if given the option – prefer to set their budgets after the outcome of the Brexit referendum is known."