Redundancies at King & Wood Mallesons
King & Wood Mallesons has made a number of staff in Australia redundant.
Lawyers Weekly understands that staff across multiple practice groups at the firm have been made redundant recently, and that the total number of staff laid off could be in the double figures.
KWM declined to provide specific numbers or whether any partners were involved when pressed by Lawyers Weekly.
The confirmation that redundancies have been rolled out marks another chapter in what has been a turbulent week for the global firm.
On Monday (20 May), Tony O’Malley announced that he was stepping down as the firm’s Australian managing partner, effectively immediately.
This morning (24 May) it was announced that Sue Kench, the head of the firm's real estate, construction, environment and infrastrcuture group, would replace O'Malley as the firm's new Australian managing partner.
O’Malley remains a member of the partnershsip, but will be on gardening leave until the end of the year.
Late last year, Lawyers Weekly reported on redundancies at Ashurst and Clayton Utz.