Duane Morris has axed at least 15 more staff members on top of the seven job losses from its marketing department reported on Wednesday (20 August), writes Legal Week sister title The Legal Intelligencer.

The firm put the number at 15 and said almost all of those affected were in Philadelphia.

Firm chairman John J Soroko said Duane Morris took a look at its staffing and "eliminated a few positions". He said he would have to confirm details as to how many and which positions were affected in which offices.

A firm spokesperson said the purely administrative functions were across several different departments, all mainly out of the firm's Philadelphia headquarters. He said the firm did not anticipate "more such actions".

"The firm made the decision to eliminate 15 administrative positions out of a total of more than 700 non-legal staff firm-wide. All of the positions eliminated were in Philadelphia, except one.

"The decision reflected the firm's view that it could continue with the same very high level of service administratively, while operating on a slightly leaner basis. The positions involved were in information services, real estate and facilities, HR and finance."

Duane Morris chief marketing officer Edward Schechter couched the marketing department layoffs as a restructuring. The department, currently between 30 and 35 people, had been dedicated in the past few years to building internal marketing and business development systems and working to get the firm's attorneys on board.

"And now, with our systems in place and being utilised every day by lawyers, we are able to respond quickly and effectively and do it with a leaner organisation," he added.

While the firm has kept most of the department's work in-house in the past, it expects to outsource more marketing and related functions in the future.

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