{"id":143725,"date":"2026-02-09T16:05:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T00:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/02\/09\/top-10-biglaw-firm-to-conduct-massive-layoff-leaving-hundreds-jobless-thanks-to-ai\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T16:05:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T00:05:16","slug":"top-10-biglaw-firm-to-conduct-massive-layoff-leaving-hundreds-jobless-thanks-to-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/02\/09\/top-10-biglaw-firm-to-conduct-massive-layoff-leaving-hundreds-jobless-thanks-to-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Biglaw Firm To Conduct \u2018Massive\u2019 Layoff, Leaving Hundreds Jobless Thanks To AI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Talk about how artificial intelligence will someday take lawyers\u2019 jobs continues to be dismissed \u2014 but maybe that talk will be granted more credence now that AI has come for business professionals\u2019 jobs at one Biglaw firm.<\/p>\n

Sources tell us that Baker McKenzie recently conducted a \u201cmassive staff layoff\u201d among its global business services team, with cuts made across nearly all functions across all offices, including the firm\u2019s IT, knowledge, admin, DEI, leadership & learning, secretarial, marketing, and design teams, among others. The firm is reportedly planning to cut ties with less than a tenth of its staff \u2014 a little more than 700 people, based on current employee headcount at the firm.<\/p>\n

As noted by RollOnFriday<\/a> and Legal Cheek<\/a>, the firm offered the following statement on the layoffs:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cTo position the firm for continued growth and remain agile in a fast-evolving business context, we recently undertook a careful review of our business professionals functions. This review was aimed at rethinking the ways in which we work, including through our use of AI, introducing efficiencies, and investing in those roles that best serve our clients\u2019 needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the review, and consistent with many other organisations, we are proposing a series of changes to how we operate and deliver important business services. Subject to consultation processes in applicable jurisdictions, some roles will likely be phased out, while others will evolve. We have not taken decisions around these proposed changes lightly, but felt it was necessary to deliver on our long-term plans. We appreciate the valuable contributions our impacted colleagues have made to the Firm and will be supporting them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Best of luck to all of the staff members at Baker McKenzie 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

EXCLUSIVE 100s face axe at Baker McKenzie as AI reliance grows<\/a> [RollOnFriday]<\/p>\n

Baker McKenzie to cut business services roles as AI use grows<\/a> [Legal Cheek]<\/p>\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to\u00a0email<\/a>\u00a0her 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 Top 10 Biglaw Firm To Conduct \u2018Massive\u2019 Layoff, Leaving Hundreds Jobless Thanks To AI<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Talk about how artificial intelligence will someday take lawyers\u2019 jobs continues to be dismissed \u2014 but maybe that talk will be granted more credence now that AI has come for business professionals\u2019 jobs at one Biglaw firm.<\/p>\n

Sources tell us that Baker McKenzie recently conducted a \u201cmassive staff layoff\u201d among its global business services team, with cuts made across nearly all functions across all offices, including the firm\u2019s IT, knowledge, admin, DEI, leadership & learning, secretarial, marketing, and design teams, among others. The firm is reportedly planning to cut ties with less than a tenth of its staff \u2014 a little more than 700 people, based on current employee headcount at the firm.<\/p>\n

As noted by RollOnFriday<\/a> and Legal Cheek<\/a>, the firm offered the following statement on the layoffs:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cTo position the firm for continued growth and remain agile in a fast-evolving business context, we recently undertook a careful review of our business professionals functions. This review was aimed at rethinking the ways in which we work, including through our use of AI, introducing efficiencies, and investing in those roles that best serve our clients\u2019 needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the review, and consistent with many other organisations, we are proposing a series of changes to how we operate and deliver important business services. Subject to consultation processes in applicable jurisdictions, some roles will likely be phased out, while others will evolve. We have not taken decisions around these proposed changes lightly, but felt it was necessary to deliver on our long-term plans. We appreciate the valuable contributions our impacted colleagues have made to the Firm and will be supporting them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Best of luck to all of the staff members at Baker McKenzie 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

EXCLUSIVE 100s face axe at Baker McKenzie as AI reliance grows<\/a> [RollOnFriday]<\/p>\n

Baker McKenzie to cut business services roles as AI use grows<\/a> [Legal Cheek]<\/p>\n

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

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to\u00a0email<\/a>\u00a0her 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talk about how artificial intelligence will someday take lawyers\u2019 jobs continues to be dismissed \u2014 but maybe that talk will be granted more credence now that AI has come for business professionals\u2019 jobs at one Biglaw firm. Sources tell us that Baker McKenzie recently conducted a \u201cmassive staff layoff\u201d among its global business services team, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":143726,"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-143725","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\/2026\/02\/Staci-Zaretsky-IGA5gw.jpg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143725","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=143725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}