Cullen & Dykman office/courtesy photoCullen & Dykman Lays Off and Furloughs, While Cutting Lawyer and Staff Pay
The 180-attorney firm based in Long Island has laid off or furloughed more than 30 people and cut the pay of lawyers and staff who are still around, sources said.
April 01, 2020 at 11:37 AM
3 minute read
Cullen & Dykman, a midsize New York law firm based on Long Island, has laid off or furloughed more than 30 people and cut compensation for lawyers and staff by up to 20% or more, sources told Law.com.
Christopher Palmer, the managing partner of the 180-attorney firm, said in an internal firm email sent Tuesday that "certain limited terminations and furloughs" were necessary because of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the economy.
Two sources familiar with the events said at least 30 people, both staff and attorneys, were let go through a combination of layoffs and furloughs. It's not clear how many of them were laid off and how many were furloughed with the expectation they would be rehired.
The sources also said staff and lawyers at the firm, both partners and associates, were having their pay cut by varying amounts, up to 20% or more.
"The firm must take a proactive, fiscally cautious approach," Palmer said in the firm email Tuesday. "Like most other firms and businesses, we must set forth a clear plan. … [I]t will involve all of us making certain sacrifices."
Palmer was not immediately available for comment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 1,000 New Yorkers, infected tens of thousands of others and resulted in job losses for perhaps hundreds of thousands more. The impact was first felt in restaurants, travel and entertainment businesses, which have closed their doors as part of an effort to slow the spread of the disease, but the last week of March has made clear that the legal industry is not immune.
Last week, Law.com reported on layoffs at several firms, including midsize firms Robinson Brog Leinwand Greene Genovese & Gluck and Belkin Burden Goldman and Am Law 200 firm Goldberg Segalla. On Tuesday, two more firms, Am Law 100 firm Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft and 190-lawyer Rivkin Radler, said they were cutting pay, and Pryor Cashman, another midsize firm with its base in Manhattan, said it was furloughing some associates because of a slowdown in work.
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