Friday The 13th, A Lucky Day for Lawyers

Yes, today is Friday the 13th.

After yesterday's news in the legal profession, today may be a lucky day for those lawyers left standing.

Traditionally, Friday the 13th is considered the unlucky day. For true believers, it's known as Paraskevidekatriaphobia Day.

But, for lawyers, Thursday the 12th may be the unluckiest day of all.

Legal news blog Above the Law reports that over 800 lawyers & staffers were let go by big firms across the country at the end of yesterday. See So, What Are We Calling Today Exactly?

According the the Wall St. Journal Law Blog, The Darkest Day Ever for Big Law Firms?:

The day’s wreckage:

* DLA Piper announced it was laying off 80 lawyers and 100 staff members in the U.S.
* Goodwin Procter announced it was cutting 36 lawyers and 38 staff members
* Dechert cut 19 lawyers
* Faegre & Benson (yesterday) axed 29 lawyers

A later update from WSJ added:

Holland & Knight has fired 70 lawyers and 173 staff.

Of course, that doesn't mean lawyers have escaped the wrath of the 13th. See K&L Gates Battens Down the Hatches: Salary Freezes, Delayed Start Dates (But good news: no layoffs. For now.). And who knows what may yet to come. After all, there happen to be three such occurrences in 2009, two of them right in a row. That means next month brings yet another Friday the 13th (and even worse, Thursday the 12th).