Like many national law firms, in 2008 and 2009, we went through a few rounds of lay-offs. I was very junior, so with all the extra pressure to keep costs down for our clients, I was inundated with work, but alas the mid-level to senior associates and of counsel were at risk, as were a lot of the lower-performing staff. Anyhow, with each round, the associates seemed to know the rumors of the layoffs coming that day or the next (I can't remember now), and within a couple hours of the morning, we pretty much all knew who in our office had been let go. I believe the attorneys at least were allowed to finish out that day and maybe another couple, too, if they wanted to, or if they wanted to come back to gather their things another day. It was pretty sad and a surreal feeling, as each time a good handful of our friends were gone, but at least each got a good severance.
The worst story from those lay-offs, though, was that one senior associate, who was about 8 months pregnant, arrived to the office a little on the later side, like maybe 9:30 or something. She was passing a partner in the stairwell, and the partner said to her, "I'm so sorry to hear the news." OOPS!!! Associate had not yet been told the news that SHE was being let go. That was a HUGE error, and of course with the terrible timing due to the fact that she was about to have a baby in a month and her whole family was getting medical insurance through her/our firm, so BAD! I guess she was able to extra a better settlement from our firm after that mishandling. What shit.
