Addleshaw Goddard axes 22 real estate lawyers

Addleshaw Goddard has commenced a redundancy consultation with 22 real estate lawyers in its offices around the UK.

Most City firms are doing ok in the current circumstances, with relatively few lawyer redundancies having been announced so far. The cuts at Addleshaws seem to have more to do with the UK real estate market, rather than a wider systemic issue.

"The real estate sector has been badly affected since pre the Brexit referendum. That uncertainty continued through the general election and current conditions have heavily impacted prospects for recovery," said Addleshaw Goddard Managing Partner, John Joyce. He added that demand for real estate advice has reduced in some areas, and that the firm has "over-capacity" and so needs "to make changes given the limited prospects of imminent recovery".

Skyscraper

^{Real estate plans for Chipping Camden have been put on ice}

"We don't have the same situation in other teams and so this exercise is confined to real estate," said Joyce. "It is a very sad situation and it is a decision which has not been taken lightly, but regrettably it is unavoidable."

DWF recently started a redundancy consultation with its PAs and business services staff. Other firms have also started slashing jobs during the pandemic, including Irwin Mitchell, Reed Smith, Dorsey & Whitney, Brethertons and Fladgate.

Comments

Most firms are cutting numbers by stealth.

So much for £80m in the bank and partners fully drawn...

Very sorry to hear about this. Fingers crossed those affected managed to get new jobs.

That's funny, our real estate department is the busiest it has been for years. Addleshaws are clearly doing something wrong.

Stealth cuts, how does that work then?

@ 10:17 - giving those with under 2 years service the "it's not working out" chat.

Irwin Mitchell has suffered from a dearth of RTAs and trips/slips during lcokdown. Fewer ambulances to chase [sad emoji].

Please add Kirkland & Ellis to the list

There is plenty of Real Estate work out there in the regions- indeed it's been much easier to pull work out of London as clients realise that they can get an experienced partner in the regions at sub £400 an hour rather than a 2-3 year qualified solicitor at a City firm. So I don't buy the downturn in Real Estate argument.

@09:51

Sure, I imagine you're working in a high street firm dealing with £10,000 a year rents.

In the City big corporates are holding off property until they can assess the market. So no, I doubt AG are doing anything wrong in their department.

Also, stop being a d1ck.

BBC News reports a strong increase in interest in properties outside the big cities, even at distances that would mean inconvenient commuting. This "downturn" is rather suspicious.

@13.46 You imagine wrong. So who's the d1ck now?

@14.13 AG doesn't have a residential real estate practice, so that isn't really applicable.

@15.26 That's not the case. Their Manchester team acts for major private residential developers, some of whom are developing seriously large numbers of units in major regional cities.

@9.51 don't hide in the shadows whom do you serve?

@14.25

You. You're the dick. I think the votes are making that quite clear.

AG just lost their spot on the sainsburys panel. Massive amount of RE work walked out the building which will justify a large number of these redundancies.

If the sainsburys work has gone, and some lawyers were working exclusively on that, then could AG have TUPE'd those to the new firm with the instructions...

Any update on the Slater and Gordon and Irwin Mitchell merger? Both firms making redundancies.

AG have retained all the trainees from this years intake including Real Estate NQ's but after two weeks are making the other juniors in the team redundant. Something not quite right here. Declaring £85M profit for the year in the month before, partners still drawing down on profits and having been declared Real Estate Team of the Year just this month then the poor staff are put through this in the middle of a pandemic and on the verge of a second wave and Christmas. Seems that AG is just another Business who doesn't care about it's people and is just all about the £££.

13.35.

Of course they are. Every profit-making business is in it for the money. Frankly, I'm surprised that anybody else is surprised that this is the case.

If you’re wondering why other similar firms haven’t given the boot to their real estate lawyers, it’s because John Joyce is trying to get AG to £1m PEP, as he has publicly stated for years, so they can compete for top level talent.

AG could of absorbed the cost, but they didn’t. That’s life in a highly competitive industry, sometimes, it sucks.