Here’s a tip from Rob Hellmann, vice president of The Five O’Clock Club, an outplacement firm located in New York.

What, you may ask, is outplacement ? It’s a corporate buzzword for laying people off

The first phone call comes 30 seconds after Kim Hall arrives at her desk. She groans, chases two Tylenol with a gulp from her extra-large coffee and sweeps her bangs away from her eyes. She reaches into a drawer and grabs the notepad that contains what her colleagues refer to as “the tally of destruction.” Photo caption: After coordinating a downsizing, a Five O’Clock Club employee will talk to …

Based on a Washington Post article profiling the Five O’Clock Club, an outplacement and career coaching company, we constructed a Biglaw blind item:

Poor Mayer Brown. Every other large firm on the list has contacted us and/or Above the Law to deny it’s the firm The 5 o’Clock Club representative was  talking about in last weekend’s Washington Post article

The bankruptcy laws governing the corporations and their dealings can be confusing and difficult to understand. * Next year sales will grow by 12% versus Q4 this year, and our cash balance are going to grow over $400,000

…item about future layoffs at a Manhattan law firm, mentioned in the Washington Post as a client of the Five O’Clock Club, an outplacement firm.

…have left their jobs nationwide rose by 126 in July, to 733 for the year, according to a report released Wednesday by global outplacement firm…

…by 126 in July, to 733 for the year, according to a report released Wednesday by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Flickr pic: Dan Ofer Not surprisingly, for every misfortune, there’s someone finding a way to benefit. This weekend, the Washington Post told us all about the “ 5 O’Clock Club ,”  an “outplacement firm at the epicenter of the economic crisis.” Business is going gangbusters for the company, which provides consulting services to companies laying off staff