By our count, the following things have happened at besieged national law firm Clayton Utz in 2010:
- 14 very profitable, well respected partners defected from the firm to build two Australian offices of Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy;
- the firm sacked over 30% of its Melbourne graduates;
- a former employee has been given leave to pursue further claims against the firm for alleged sexual harassment and bullying;
- the firm was stripped of its credentials as an employer of choice for women by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency; and
- a librarian has created considerable controversy by hording an inordinate amount of firm fruit.
Holy moly! We are particularly upset at the sacking of the graduates. This is frankly a disgrace and all partners concerned should feel ashamed. Grab the rosary beads! Law graduates take note, your prospects at Clayton Utz are something approximating a coin toss. The firm has sacked many graduates two years in a row now and who knows, if you choose the firm over, say, Freehills or Blakes, you might just wind up jobless after one year. Decisions, decisions! Oh, and expect to be dodged on pay.
We found the irony to be sickening (almost evil, actually) that Chief Executive Partner David Fagan had the temerity to comment on the nature of the notice given to him in relation to the defections of his former colleagues, while his partners behaved similarly to the sacked grads. As reported by our good friends at The New Lawyer in relation to the late notice given by defecting partners:
Fagan said the nature of the notice was “somewhat unusual”. “One would have thought that you would be called. But it’s a reflection of the nature of legal practice. And obviously these partners wanted to deliver the notices in that fashion,” he said.
And yet, if our anonymous spy informing us of the subsequent graduate sackings is to be believed, Fagan and his colleagues on March 2 abruptly:
told six of their 2009 grads that their careers at the firm were over. In a series of orchestrated meetings, the unlucky ones were told of their fate and then… wait for it… given a cab charge and advised to take the rest of the day off!
They say the devil is in the detail, and on a close reading, we’re spotting a double-standard there Dave.
But the bad news for Clayton Utz doesn’t stop there. Thanks to the anonymous Clayton Utz spy who sent us the following comments yesterday:
There are 2 female partners who also resigned from Clutz at the same time as the A&O partners. Not going to A&O going to another firm and from the Melbourne office.
Yes, another two partnership defections (if the anonymous spy is to be believed). Forgive us, father, for sermonizing, but is Clayton Utz doomed?
In better news, it has emerged that a former Clayton Utz lawyer, who turned his back on corporate evil, has been installed as the Bishop of Parramatta.
As reported by The Australian:
Tonight, a few days before his 50th birthday, Bishop Fisher will be installed as Bishop of Parramatta, in western Sydney, by Cardinal George Pell, after serving as auxiliary bishop of Sydney for seven years and running World Youth Day in 2008.
Bishop Fisher, Australia’s youngest Catholic bishop, is one of the church’s colourful characters. An avid reader, skilled cook and internationally respected academic, he took a path less travelled to the priesthood.
He studied arts/law at Sydney University, was a solicitor for Clayton Utz in Sydney and had a serious girlfriend or two. He joined the Dominicans at 25, and was ordained six years later.
Perhaps it is time Bishop Fisher paid his former firm a visit and helped Clutz partners pray for better times?
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