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12 ¦ DECEMBER 7, 2020 NEWS

¦ From JUDGES on PAGE 11 risk future administrations that blatantly ignore
“It’s your clients I have some concern about,” Sul- rulings while believing they will face minimal con-
livan said, adding that the government attorney sequences.
shouldn’t “fall on the sword” for other government “You would hope that the courts recognize that
officials. the future administrations would try to game them
Manning said the Justice Department is more and the system. And in that way, they would es-
placed in the situation of having a difficult client—a sentially be less tolerant of such shenanigans,”
scenario government lawyers, particularly those in Manning said. “It really boils down to, are judges
DOJ’s civil division, have repeatedly faced through- willing to look the other way and tolerate defiance
out the Trump administration. and give second chances, or are they going to lay
Instead, the actions judges have taken are directed down a marker and make it clear that their author-
at the officials behind the policies and actions tar- ity is not to be ignored or discounted, and that they
geted in their courts—albeit those steps too have mean what they say.”
been limited. ¦

Manning, who researches judicial decision mak- Jacqueline Thomsen, based in Washington, is a re-
ing, said judges should not just speak forcefully but porter covering D.C. federal courts and the legal
act more strongly in order to prevent future defi- side of politics. Contact her at jathomsen@alm.
ance of court orders. Without it, he said, the courts com and follow her on Twitter @jacq_thomsen.

Firms Will Continue to ‘Clean House’
Next Year, Lawyers Included

By Dylan Jackson

Even as the economic outlook brightens, Big Law place,” said legal consultant Brad Hildebrandt, who
will continue to “clean house” in 2021 through co-authored the report. “So I think firms will be
more layoffs among staff ranks and even attor- tougher on performance going into 2021, and you
neys. may see layoffs based on that. I doubt you’d see lay-
A new report written by Citi Private Bank and offs based on business.”
Hildebrandt Consulting, based on conversations
with 138 firms, found that performance and remote Performance
working, not demand, will drive any cutting among The hardships of the year have given way to some
attorneys, as was most recently seen in the “redun- optimism. Many law firms are ending the year on
dancy” cuts affecting 24 lawyers in Dentons’ U.K. solid footing. Vaccine trials have been promising,
and Middle East arm. with mass rollouts feasible in 2021. Wall Street has
Many law firms, coming off good times in 2019, rallied on Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential
entered the pandemic with a number of underper- election and vaccine news.
forming partners and associates. Many, in turn, have Yet the pandemic has left an indelible mark on law
already started the painstaking process of “counsel- firms going forward. Armed with lessons learned in
ing out” partners and associates earlier this year, as the last recession, law firms have sought to preserve
the pandemic threatened profits. But despite the their associate talent so as not to hamstring them-
more promising economic outlook for next year, selves when demand picks up in the recovery—thus
this trend is unlikely to subside. avoiding the mass layoffs characterizing the 2008
“I think a lot of the changes have already taken downturn.

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