Rounding out the Remuneration Report into the Big 6 today is Clayton Utz. From a partnership perspective, Clutz has enjoyed one of the best financial performances over the last year. In 2008/2009, revenue for Clutz skyrocketed by a whopping 4.9% to $491,000,000.00, making it the fourth highest be revenue nationally. An incredible result, really, in the midst of a financial crisis.
Top partners are reported to have taken home $1,600,000.00.
.jpg)
But it has all come at significant cost to the firm’s reputation and brand. Myopic partners, consumed by their bank balances, will likely count the cost in years to come with a crop of dud graduates and laterals who fill the seats vacated by disillusioned staff.
The Firm Spy had a hearty chuckle at the assessment recently given by our friends at ALB to Clayton Utz Chief Executive Partner David Fagan:
While most firm revenues took an inevitable slide during the GFC – some firms declined to release their 2009 figures at all – Clayton Utz has been something of a quiet achiever, maintaining growth at a rate in excess of its comparable rivals. Fagan is an astute commentator on the industry and a rare example of a law firm boss who is not afraid to speak his mind.
Not afraid to speak his mind? Sydney graduates would beg to differ. Those folks were apparently promised $5k raises at the end of each of their rotations, only to be reportedly dodged by the partnership! Was Mr Fagan minded to tell the grads that the partners would not be delivering on the alleged promise to pay the raises?
Fagan wasn’t minded, we don’t think, to “speak his mind” in relation to the procession of claims (reported by us) that the firm was allegedly systematically managing-out staff at the height of the GFC.
And what about that shocking hullabaloo in relation to the pay freeze?! Remember – when the AFR reported the firm as having said that it had “not made a final decision yet” about legal salaries, despite staff having been earlier informed that a pay freeze was being implemented!? Was someone, perchance, afraid to speak their mind?
Now onto lawyer salaries.
Firm Spy cannot confirm the veracity of these figures. They come from anonymous sources.
Sydney
0-1 Years PQE
Admitted between July 2008 and June 2009. Billable hours target – 7hours. Gross package 2008/2009 – $67,000. Gross package 2009/2010 – $67,000. Perks free fruit. Comments:
All graduates were told they would receive a salary increase of at least $5k p/a at the end of each of our 3 rotations (every 6 months). A detail conveniently not included in our employment contracts, but generally accepted and relied on by the graduates. For some reason our first rotation was extended from 6 months to 7 months and finally in March 2009, the Friday before we were due to start our second rotation and when we were eagerly expecting or anticipating our pay-rise, we were taken aside by someone from HR and told that the firm had decided to ‘hold’ grad salaries at their current rate because of market conditions – and that this was basically to avoid redundancies. This was actually prior to CU announcing the firm-wide salary-freeze.and, from another tipster:
the buggers stiffed usin March on a pay rise they had promised us
1-2 Years PQE
Admitted between July 2007 and June 2008. Billable hours target – 7 hours. Gross package 2008/2009 – $73,000. Gross package 2009/2010 – $73,000. Perks: blackberry; free fruit; sparkling water on tap. Comments:
all overly demanding and hormonal partners; office politics; trying to avoid daggers every day from other solicitors; redundancies that have been made have been made very quietly, one day someone is in their office, then it’s empty.
3-4 Years PQE
Admitted between July 2005 and June 2006. Billable hours target – 7hours. Gross package 2008/2009 – $89,000. Gross package 2009/2010 – $89,000. Perks free fruit; blackberry
4-5 Years PQE
Admitted between July 2004 and June 2005. Billable hours target – 7hours. Gross package 2008/2009 – $103,000. Gross package 2009/2010 – $103,000. Perks free fruit, blackberry
Brisbane
0-1 Years PQE
Admitted between July 2006 and June 2007. Billable hours target – 7hours. Gross package 2008/2009 – $63,000. Gross package 2009/2010 – $63,000. Perks free fruit; mobile; subsidised further education
Melbourne
Paralegal
Not admitted. Billable hours target – 3 hours. Gross package 2008/2009 – $56,000. Gross package 2009/2010 – $56,000. Perks free fruit.
Special Counsel
More than 10 years PQE. Admitted before 1999. Billable hours – 7 hours. Gross package 2008/2009 – $195,000. Gross package 2009/2010 – $205,000. Perks – blackberry; free fruit.
Canberra
Loading...
