A spokesperson for the firm told Lawyers Weekly that rumours that 15 staff from their recoveries team had been let go were not true.

"Unfortunately, we had to let eight staff go from across the firm and, as we know, retrenchments are common across the industry at present," he said.

The spokesperson could not confirm whether any lawyers were affected by the cuts.

"Our mortgage recovery team is still practising and advising clients, but not all of the staff were from one particular group," he said.

Hicksons Lawyers has no further plans to make cuts, according to the spokesperson.

Hicksons Lawyers has offices based in Sydney, Newcastle and Canberra and practices in commercial and corporate transactions, insurance, mortgage recovery, property and finance and workplace law.

- Sarah Sharples