Oct. 14--Foley & Lardner LLC, the biggest law firm in Wisconsin, is laying off 39 of its worldwide team of 988 attorneys following an aggressive expansion that added eight offices and hundreds of lawyers in the last five years.

"We have never seen such a downturn ever in demand in the legal services industry," Foley chief executive Ralf-Reinhard Boer said in a telephone interview.

The reductions are spread among many of the firm's 21 offices. Without giving exact numbers, Boer said neither the Milwaukee nor the Madison office will see disproportionate cuts. The Milwaukee office is Foley's largest, with 230 attorneys.

Foley has expanded dramatically in the areas of patent and intellectual property law and now ranks among the nation's top 10 law firms in those disciplines. It hired Jon Dudas, director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from 2004 until January this year. Earlier this month, the Patent Office hired Sharon Barner, a senior Foley attorney, for the agency's No. 2 position.

Boer said the firm's intellectual property division has continued to add partner-level attorneys.

"Our IP practice has continued to grow this year," Boer said. "We have continued to attract high-level partners across the country, including in Milwaukee."

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