— James Holzhauer announced he will step down as chairman of Mayer Brown in January 2010
— Shearman & Sterling is set to cut 60 support staff jobs in its US and Canadian offices following redundancies in the UK
— Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal has closed its Charlotte office due to the declining demand for legal services. The firm will relocate some of the 11 Charlotte-based lawyers to busier parts of the network, while others will be laid off
— K&L Gates has confirmed it will initiate a round of layoffs across its US and UK practices with reductions affecting 4.9% of the firm’s associate lawyers and 4.3% of its staff
— Clifford Chance, which recently downsized its US capabilities, has sub-let space in its New York office to US firm Kilpatrick Stockton
— The election race has begun at McDermott Will & Emery, as New York-based partner Peter Sacripanti, Washington DC partner Bobby Burchfield and Chicago-based head of litigation Jeff Stone vie for the position of chairman
— Craig Medwick was re-elected as regional managing partner of the Americas at Clifford Chance. His second term will run until 30 April 2013