{"id":127233,"date":"2025-07-18T14:02:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T22:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/07\/18\/microsoft-layoffs-hit-in-house-counsel-is-ai-disruption-to-blame\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T14:02:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T22:02:06","slug":"microsoft-layoffs-hit-in-house-counsel-is-ai-disruption-to-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/07\/18\/microsoft-layoffs-hit-in-house-counsel-is-ai-disruption-to-blame\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Layoffs Hit In-House Counsel \u2013 Is AI Disruption To Blame?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Talk about how artificial intelligence will someday take lawyers\u2019 jobs has long been dismissed as much ado about nothing \u2014 until now. <\/p>\n

Microsoft has been conducting layoffs across the company across the globe since mid-May, and while in-house attorneys are typically safe from such employment woes, the rise of AI may be to blame when it comes to the companies latest cuts. Microsoft President Brad Smith has given mixed messages about whether artificial intelligence was behind the company\u2019s decision to conduct layoffs, first saying that AI was \u201cnot a predominant factor\u201d in the move, and later saying that \u201c[s]uccess in life \u2026 is always about prioritization, and it\u2019s always about investing in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n

To date, the tech company has laid off dozens of lawyers. Corporate Counsel<\/a> has the details on the scope of the layoffs for legal:<\/p>\n

\n

Microsoft has laid off 15,000 employees across the globe since mid-May. Just in the tech giant\u2019s home state of Washington, the reductions have cost at least 32 company attorneys and five paralegals their jobs, according to state filings obtained by Law.com.<\/p>\n

A layoff notice filed with the state\u2019s Employment Security Department shows that at least 22 attorneys and five paralegals were among 305 Redmond, Washington, employees laid off after Microsoft announced 6,000 job cuts on May 13. The second round of layoffs, announced July 2, displaced 9,000 more workers, 830 of them in Redmond, Seattle or Bellevue. At least 10 of the 830 were lawyers, a layoff notice shows.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As further noted by Corporate Counsel, based on the ratio of legal layoffs to total layoffs at Microsoft\u2019s headquarters (3.1%), the company could potentially be looking at worldwide legal layoffs in the hundreds, about 465 legal jobs, to be exact. Sean Burke, founding partner of recruiting firm Whistler Partners, who places tech attorneys at startups, said that while \u201c[t]here\u2019s no AI that completely replaces the lawyer,\u201d he thinks the lawyers who lost their jobs may be on the younger side. \u201cMy guess is that the lion\u2019s share of laid-off attorneys at Microsoft are in the bottom tranche, lawyers three to seven years out of law school that are more easily replaced, where you can get less lawyers to do more using AI,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Best of luck to all of the in-house counsel at Microsoft who may have lost their jobs thanks to AI disruption.<\/p>\n

If your firm or organization is reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through deferrals, open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don\u2019t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. You can\u00a0email us<\/a>\u00a0or text us (646-820-8477<\/a>). Thank you for your assistance.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to sign up for ATL\u2019s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the layoff alerts, you don\u2019t need to do anything. You\u2019ll receive an email notification within minutes of each layoff announcement that we publish.<\/p>\n

Microsoft Layoffs Hit Legal Department as AI Reshapes Staffing Strategy<\/a> [Corporate Counsel]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Microsoft Layoffs Hit In-House Counsel \u2013 Is AI Disruption To Blame?<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Talk about how artificial intelligence will someday take lawyers\u2019 jobs has long been dismissed as much ado about nothing \u2014 until now. <\/p>\n

Microsoft has been conducting layoffs across the company across the globe since mid-May, and while in-house attorneys are typically safe from such employment woes, the rise of AI may be to blame when it comes to the companies latest cuts. Microsoft President Brad Smith has given mixed messages about whether artificial intelligence was behind the company\u2019s decision to conduct layoffs, first saying that AI was \u201cnot a predominant factor\u201d in the move, and later saying that \u201c[s]uccess in life \u2026 is always about prioritization, and it\u2019s always about investing in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n

To date, the tech company has laid off dozens of lawyers. Corporate Counsel<\/a> has the details on the scope of the layoffs for legal:<\/p>\n

\n

Microsoft has laid off 15,000 employees across the globe since mid-May. Just in the tech giant\u2019s home state of Washington, the reductions have cost at least 32 company attorneys and five paralegals their jobs, according to state filings obtained by Law.com.<\/p>\n

A layoff notice filed with the state\u2019s Employment Security Department shows that at least 22 attorneys and five paralegals were among 305 Redmond, Washington, employees laid off after Microsoft announced 6,000 job cuts on May 13. The second round of layoffs, announced July 2, displaced 9,000 more workers, 830 of them in Redmond, Seattle or Bellevue. At least 10 of the 830 were lawyers, a layoff notice shows.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As further noted by Corporate Counsel, based on the ratio of legal layoffs to total layoffs at Microsoft\u2019s headquarters (3.1%), the company could potentially be looking at worldwide legal layoffs in the hundreds, about 465 legal jobs, to be exact. Sean Burke, founding partner of recruiting firm Whistler Partners, who places tech attorneys at startups, said that while \u201c[t]here\u2019s no AI that completely replaces the lawyer,\u201d he thinks the lawyers who lost their jobs may be on the younger side. \u201cMy guess is that the lion\u2019s share of laid-off attorneys at Microsoft are in the bottom tranche, lawyers three to seven years out of law school that are more easily replaced, where you can get less lawyers to do more using AI,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Best of luck to all of the in-house counsel at Microsoft who may have lost their jobs thanks to AI disruption.<\/p>\n

If your firm or organization is reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through deferrals, open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don\u2019t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. You can\u00a0email us<\/a>\u00a0or text us (646-820-8477<\/a>). Thank you for your assistance.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to sign up for ATL\u2019s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the layoff alerts, you don\u2019t need to do anything. You\u2019ll receive an email notification within minutes of each layoff announcement that we publish.<\/p>\n

Microsoft Layoffs Hit Legal Department as AI Reshapes Staffing Strategy<\/a> [Corporate Counsel]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Microsoft Layoffs Hit In-House Counsel \u2013 Is AI Disruption To Blame?<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talk about how artificial intelligence will someday take lawyers\u2019 jobs has long been dismissed as much ado about nothing \u2014 until now. Microsoft has been conducting layoffs across the company across the globe since mid-May, and while in-house attorneys are typically safe from such employment woes, the rise of AI may be to blame when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":127148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Staci-Zaretsky-RoEWeY.jpeg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}