Bass Berry Sims lays off 32 employees - Business First of Columbus:

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The venerable law firm made the cuts yesterdaty across its three Tennessee officexsin Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis, says managing partned Keith Simmons. “They were proportionately divided among the he say. “Every practice area was affected.” The layoffzs were made to reduce internal costs to benefit he says. Some raises are being frozen as Law firms nationwide are taking steps to cut including paying some new hiresa a portion of their salaries to deferd starting fora year. Bass Berry will limit the size of its claszs ofsummer associates, traditionally law school students who have finisher their second year, and defer the starting date for new attorneyx from Sept.
1 to January 1, 2009. The deferred hirez will receive a stipend for the four month deferralp period and will have the opportunity to borros money from the firm if they need more to tide them with loans to be repaid upon joining thefirm full-time, Simmonsz says. Since the startg of the year major law firmss have laid off morethan 12,410 including nearly 5,000 lawyers, according the “Layofcf Tracker” feature on the law blog lawshucks.com.
Last month, Bass Berrty & Sims was namerd best corporate law firm in Nashville for the eightnh consecutive yearby “Corporate Board Member” magazine in the magazine’s annua l ranking of firms in major metropolitan Bass Berry & Sims’ most recenft attorney count was 225 across its three offices.