As legislation corporations look forward to 2026, the authorized sector’s outlook is considered one of continued alternative — however the abrupt closure of a agency within the first week of the brand new 12 months is a stark reminder that some instability available in the market stays.
McGlinchey Stafford — a Louisiana-based agency on the NLJ 500 with 18 workplaces unfold throughout the Southeast and Northeast — introduced final night time that it might be closing its doorways, apparently to the shock of the majority of its staff. As famous by the American Lawyer, the 150-lawyer agency’s fairness companions voted on Monday to wind down. Sources inform Above the Regulation that workers on the agency “had no warning,” and that the information was a “enormous mess” for individuals who had been “stored at the hours of darkness.”
Michael Ferachi, the agency’s managing member, provided the next assertion in a press release concerning the wind-down:
“As we start McGlinchey’s 52nd 12 months of operation, my colleagues and I are saddened to announce its remaining chapter. McGlinchey’s attorneys and authorized professionals have targeted for 51 years on fixing our shoppers’ authorized issues, and that may stay our focus as we wind down our enterprise. …
There was no single triggering occasion or one definitive motion that introduced us so far. This isn’t due to any particular lawyer’s departure, or any particular person monetary determination or management motion that led us so far. That is the results of a mix of market components, corresponding to lagging collections, compounded with varied inner components over a number of years.”
We want the legal professionals and authorized professionals at McGlinchey Stafford the very best of luck as they search new alternatives within the authorized business and past.
In case your agency or group is closing its doorways or decreasing the ranks of its legal professionals or workers, whether or not by open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don’t hesitate to tell us. Our huge community of tipsters is a part of what makes Above the Regulation thrive — we’ll by no means ignore you. You may email us or textual content us (646-820-8477). Thanks!
McGlinchey Stafford to Shut Down [American Lawyer]
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Regulation, the place she’s labored since 2011. She’d love to listen to from you, so please be at liberty to email her with any suggestions, questions, feedback, or critiques. You may comply with her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or join along with her on LinkedIn.