K&L Gates has launched a significant round of redundancies targeting its “allied professional” workforce, cutting roughly 10% of its global business support staff.

First picked up by Above the Law in the United States, the cuts do not affect lawyers and associates. In a statement sent to Legal IT Insider by K&L Gates, global managing partner Stacy Ackerman said: “Following a comprehensive, multi-month review of our structure to better align with how our business operates today and support future growth, we made the decision to reduce our allied professional workforce. This action is being taken to streamline our support structure, ensuring that we are attuned to immediate client needs and well positioned to anticipate and meet future demand. We are committed to supporting our people throughout this transition, including through separation benefits and outplacement support for impacted colleagues. Our focus remains on serving our clients with the excellence, responsiveness, and expertise they have come to expect from our firm.”

The last time we’re aware that there were big business services layoffs at the firm was 2017, coinciding with a turbulent period in the firm’s tech history, when the firm shelved its SAP project in favour of Elite 3E.

K&L Gates is far from an isolated case. Over the past 12 to 24 months, several major law firms have quietly or overtly trimmed their business services staff as technology drives operational efficiency:

  • Perkins Coie (June 2025): Laid off 5% of its business professional staff following a comprehensive, year-long structural review.

  • Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (March 2024): Eliminated approximately 50 business services roles (8%) of professional staff across its US and UK offices.

  • Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath (July 2024): Conducted a “small number” of operations support roles cuts representing “less than 5%”

  • A&O Shearman (May 2026): Cut about 20 business services roles in London, impacting non-legal staff across IT, finance and marketing.

However, by comparison, this 10% cuts significantly deeper than some of the other recent redundancy drives.