Cooley Layoffs Spotlight Risk in Big Law Boom-Bust Hiring Cycle

The new round of layoffs at Cooley LLP is an “inevitable” result of a hiring system in which some major law firms binge on associates during surging demand and quickly cut bait when work slows.

Some firms simply “have too many juniors around,” said Jennifer Henderson, a legal recruiter for Major Lindsey & Africa.

Silicon Valley-based Cooley said Wednesday it’s laying off 150 lawyers and business personnel across US offices. Joseph Conroy, the firm’s chairman, called the move a “painful but necessary” step to reduce associate ranks that swelled as demand boomed last year.

It’s not the first time that ...