American Lawyer parent to cut 61 jobs

The publisher of The American Lawyer and other publications, which changed hands last year after repeatedly downsizing, is about to lay off 61 employees, reports Matthew Flamm of Crain’s New York.

Flamm writes, “ALM Media will make the cuts in phases from the end of July through September, according to the New York State Department of Labor.

“In an emailed statement, ALM CEO Bill Carter said the planned layoffs were part of the company’s evolution from a ‘publisher of legal titles to a leading provider of information and data solutions … serving multiple industry verticals. Having grown through several strategic acquisitions, we have looked to streamline our operations to take advantage of the synergies of our newly integrated businesses.’

“Based in Manhattan, ALM was acquired—actually, reacquired—last July by private-equity firm Wasserstein & Co. from Apax Partners for $417 million. The price marked a considerable discount off the $630 million that Apax-owned Incisive Media paid Wasserstein & Co. for the company in 2007, just before the bottom fell out of the media market.

“Under Bruce Wasserstein, who died in 2009, the private-equity shop built up ALM through a series of acquisitions around its flagship publication, The American Lawyer, which was founded by Steven Brill in 1979.”

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