Big Four firm EY has become the latest legal practice to respond to the slump in City transactional activity with job cuts. The firm, which entered the legal services market as an alternative business structure in 2014, revealed that 24 employees from its UK financial services legal advisory business are subject to a redundancy consultation.
The decision followed a regular review of its resourcing needs, the firm said. It is understood that no trainee posts will be lost. ‘We will always seek to redeploy our people to other parts of the business where possible,’ a spokesperson said.
Globally, EY Law employs some 3,500 people, including 290 in the UK.
Today’s announcement follows last month’s decision to close the subsidary EY Riverview Law, five years after its acquisition. At the time the firm said ‘a number of employees have been subject to a formal redundancy consultation process’.
Legal services revenues at Big Four firms have grown by 5% annually over the past few years, researchers reported last year. They have been particularly active in M&A due diligence, deploying artificial intelligence technology on a larger scale than most traditional firms. KPMG last year announced plans to double the size of its UK legal practice.
