UK law firms Trowers & Hamlins and Mishcon de Reya have become the latest law firms to cut jobs.

Trowers has begun a redundancy consultation, which is understood to affect around 25 UK lawyers including six partners, with most of those impacted working in the firm’s real estate department. 

Meantime, Mishcon de Reya is understood to have cut a team from its business services arm, making an 11-strong software solutions team redundant as its needs for lawtech change.

Both sets of redundancies were first reported by RollOnFriday. 

A spokesperson for Trowers said: “In light of challenging market conditions, and a marked change in demand for some of the legal services we offer, earlier in 2023 we undertook a review of our service offering. It is always important that, as a firm, we remain highly competitive and able to give our clients the best service possible. 

“Unfortunately, it was necessary to reduce our staff numbers to align with the slowdown in some markets. The affected colleagues worked predominantly in the real estate department. We continue to offer those affected full support as they transition out of the firm and we are helping them with preparations for finding a new role elsewhere. Trowers remains a firm committed to its people and its clients.”

Mishcon declined to comment on the software solutions team redundancies. However, a source told RollOnFriday that the firm would in future resource its software projects using a mix of external instructions and its internal tech arm. 

The job cuts at Trowers and Mishcon follow it emerging last month that CMS had begun a redundancy consultation affecting its UK corporate practice, amid a continuing slowdown in global deal activity. 

The consultation continued a steady stream of cuts among leading firms that has predominantly impacted US tech-focused firms and kicked off last December when Cooley said it would axe 150 US employees including almost 80 attorneys. 

Then, in January, Goodwin Procter said “approximately 5%” of its “timekeeper” and operations personnel had been affected. Other firms known to have cut staff include Dechert, Shearman & Sterling, Davis Wright Tremaine, Reed Smith and Kirkland & Ellis, among others. Kirkland characterised its letting go of associates as “performance-based decisions” resulting from its attorney review process rather than layoffs.