Long read
The first layoff is a design problem
Most of the legal risk in a reduction in force is fixed in the spreadsheet, two weeks before anyone is told. A walk through the selection file we ask every client to build.
Margit Halvorsen, 11 min read
Vol. 15, Autumn 2026Philadelphia. Employment counsel since 2011
Employment law for companies still writing their own rules.
Quillmere is a 31-person firm advising founders and growing companies on hiring, pay, investigations, restructuring and the disputes that follow. We answer in plain sentences and quote fixed fees wherever the work allows.
Book a consultation
Forty-five minutes with a partner. Not billed.
Contents
In this issue
- Chapter 01PracticeSix areas of employment law, and what we charge for each.6 areas
- Chapter 02Case notesMatters from the last two years, with the names changed and the numbers kept.6 matters
- Chapter 03JournalEssays and field notes on what clients asked us this quarter.8 essays
- Chapter 04The firmWho we are, how we work, and the five rules we keep.31 people
- Chapter 05ConsultationForty-five minutes with a partner. Not billed.Reply in 1 day
Chapter 01
What we advise on
Employment law only. Benefits, immigration and union work go to firms we trust.
§ 1
Hiring, offers and executive contracts
The documents every hire signs, and the few that get negotiated.
§ 2
Handbooks and multi-state compliance
One handbook, short state addenda, and postings that are current.
§ 3
Reductions in force and restructuring
Selection, notice, agreements and the day itself.
§ 4
Workplace investigations
Complaints about conduct, investigated so the result holds.
§ 5
Pay, classification and wage-and-hour
Who is an employee, who is exempt, and what they are owed.
§ 6
Separations, disputes and agency charges
Hard exits, demand letters, charges and, when needed, court.
They told us which two of our eleven questions mattered, answered those on one page, and billed us for the page.
Chapter 02
Case notes
Three of six recent matters. Names changed, numbers kept.
Matter 25-088
A first layoff, done once
Series C logistics software company, 640 people
207 of 212 agreements signed in the review period. No charges or claims filed in the twelve months that followed.
207 / 212agreements signed in the review period
Matter 24-117
The contractor question
Home-care staffing marketplace, 1,140 caregivers
388 caregivers moved to W-2 in the first phase. The audit closed with $41,300 in back wages and no penalty.
$41,300to close an audit that opened at $1.9M
Matter 25-014
An investigation the board could rely on
Payments company, 90 people
Findings delivered on day 19. A negotiated departure followed within a month, with no litigation.
19 daysfrom first call to final report
The year in figures*
- matters closed
- 386
- median time to a substantive first reply
- 3h 24m
- of work billed on a fixed fee
- 71%
- states where our lawyers are admitted
- 9
From our matter system, 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026.
Chapter 03
From the journal
Field notes
Pay ranges, posted: what a year of disclosure taught us
Priya Raman-Stowe
Memo
Interview notes are evidence. Write them that way.
Ezra Kettleby
Memo
Garden leave costs less than you think
Colm Ferreira
- All 8 essays
Chapter 05
Book a consultation
The first conversation is 45 minutes with a partner and is not billed. Tell us what is about to happen, and by when.
- We run a conflicts check before the call, usually within one business day.
- You leave with a short written note: what we heard, and what we would do first.
- If we are not the right firm for it, we will name two that are.
Please do not send confidential details until we confirm there is no conflict.