Once again, the news today was filled with law firm layoffs: Wilson Sonsini laid off 45 attorneys, 68 support staff; Morgan & Finnegan is on dissolution watch; and I received an e-mail this afternoon that Dreier, Stein & Kahan (the LA branch of The Dreier firm) will close its doors on Friday.

Many of the attorneys have already landed new positions:

But what about the staff? As I mentioned above, I received an e-mail today, as well as a couple of blog comments, from a staff member of Dreier Stein & Kahan. The doors close on Friday, and she has no job, no benefits, and no severance. There are few jobs out there, as there have been so many layoffs of late, including a large group of secretaries from Manatt.

She asked to join The Legal Watercooler network. I have been taught that when a hand reaches out for assistance, it is my responsibility to grasp it.

I turned to Twitter, as I often do these days, and we (and it was a group effort) started to put out feelers. Within an hour we had four job leads for this woman. I don’t know if any of them will pan out, but at least action is being taken.

How many @outofworkinla‘s are out there? How many of us have access to a network where we can be of assistance? How many of us will ignore a hand that is reaching out because we are too busy? And who amongst us will drop everything to send out a couple emails?

I would like to thank everyone who dropped everything today and retweeted my request to assist @outofworkinla. I would like to thank everyone who contacted her, offered her assistance, and is forwarding her resume along. If nothing else, when in crisis, it sure feels nice to know that you are not alone.

Thank you to my network for showing me, once again, what a powerful tool social networking can be. Your comments on- and off-line were too kind. I am the one who is truly humbled by all of you.