Eversheds has launched a consultation programme which could see 33 lawyers made redundant, it was announced today (4 September).

Thirty-three property lawyers along with a number of support staff across six offices are set to be made redundant as a result of the current negative economic climate and the decline of the real estate sector.

The consultation, which will last for one month, comes after an internal strategic review, dubbed 'Project August'.

Some of the jobs relate to a decision, reported by Legal Week in May, by longstanding client Taylor Wimpey to reduce the number of external legal advisers it uses and to move work in-house. Plot conveyancing work carried out by the firm's Birmingham and Norwich offices were most affected by this move.

Meanwhile, another outcome of the review is the proposed merger of the firms' Norwich and Cambridge operations into one location in Cambridge.

Planning, real estate litigation and further employment expertise will be added to the Cambridge office. All Norwich partners are set to move to the Cambridge office.

Lee Ranson, head of Eversheds' real estate practice group said: "More than 12 months ago the credit crisis began to impact the property market and this has now translated into a sustained downturn in activity. We are not immune to this and so we initiated a strategic review of our real estate team. The purpose of this review was to ensure that we have the right resources in the right places to safeguard the long-term sustainable health of our real estate practice group."

Eversheds chief executive David Gray said: "Our operations in Cambridge and Norwich have both performed strongly in terms of profit and growth, but we have concluded that by merging them we will secure our position as one of the corporate legal heavyweights in the East of England. We remain the only law firm in the region with the capacity to provide international expertise for those clients who are looking to build and develop in new markets."

A raft of other firms have recently made staff cuts across the UK. DLA Piper is currently in talks with its technology, media and commercial group in London, with five fee earners affected so far. Bevan Brittan, Dickinson Dees and Shoosmiths have all previously launched redundancy programmes.