Congratulations to the AFR legal affairs team for their excellent work last Friday. For those of you who missed it, we suggest you get your hands on last Friday’s AFR and read the annual Partnership Survey.
The survey offers some fascinating insights into the way the legal market is moving. We intend to spend much of this week digesting the info and commenting on it.
But before we do that, let’s talk about the defection of David Poddar from Mallesons to A&O.
We received the following quip from an anonymous Mallesons spy last night:
Can the Firm Spy think of any way to tie the defection of disliked national sprinter Jana Pittman to our English rivals with the defection of the equally disliked ex-Mallesons partner David Poddar to our English rivals Allen & Overy?
Indeed – for those that missed it – Athletics Australia suffered a great loss yesterday when it emerged that “Drama” Jana Pittman would be leaving Australia to represent England. So too did Mallesons, when highly regarded partner David Poddar defected last week to English rival Allen & Overy. In the A&O media release, managing partner of A&O Australia, Grant Fuzi, said
Dave is highly respected practitioner and his joining is particularly important to our clients. With his experience, we will have the capability to provide top level advice on merger clearances, access issues and general competition matters, as well as cartel advice, which is particularly important after the recent introduction of criminal cartel laws in Australia. This expansion is yet another reflection of our commitment to strengthening the Australian offering since our launch just a few months ago.
Although Mallesons has played down the significance of the defection, we would regard Poddar’s defection as a very worrying development for the firm, given that Poddar is clearly a highly rated lawyer. The Australian noted for example:
The Allen & Overy raid on Australian law firms continued yesterday with the hiring of one of the leading members of the trade practices mafia, David Poddar, a Mallesons partner for the last 12 years.
So why would a partner at Australia’s most prestigious law firm and most profitable firm want to a move to a rival firm? We imagine that the following issues were foremost in Poddar’s mind:
- Allen & Overy probably offered a set two or three year salary, meaning no at-risk component unlike at Mallesons;
- presumably that wage is higher than he could have possibly received at Mallesons;
- With A&O‘s arrival, Mallesons might have lost its domestic lustre – the Magic Circle being more prestigious; and
- perhaps Mallesons financial outlook is not as promising as it once was.
Of course we’re speculating, but the move of a young partner to A&O is a truly worrying development for the Mallesons partnership. And if Poddar is able to so readily depart, what will stop a flood of his former colleagues jumping ship if Clifford Chance arrives later this year?
In much better news for the males remainng at the firm, and still on the topic of sport, we received the following comments from an anonymous Mallesons spy over the weekend:
It might interest the Firm Spy to know that two Mallesons graduates, currently strutting their stuff in the corridors of its Melbourne office, were cited by reputable websites across the world specialising in such matters as being ‘Official World Cup Crowd Babes’ for the 2006 World Cup.
Presumably the platinum bottle-blond ‘Fanatics’ pictured to the left and right of the top photo of this link – http://fivefalcons.com/world_cup_babes_2006/australian_babes_world_cup_2006.php – are not as enraptured by their new corporate suits and computer screens…
Yes, that is interesting. Out with the old Dave “Drama” Poddar and in with the new nubile blondes! We do hope, however, that the young lady exposing her very own soccer-balls (yes, you have been warned!) mid-way through the ‘Germany 2006 – World Cup Babes Australia Gallery’ isn’t also a Mallesons lawyer.
Have you been watching the soccer? Have you been thumbing through 2010 World Cup Babes Galleries?
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The defection of Dave Poddar must have sent shockwaves through the Firm. When one considers Dave’s association to the Firm can date back to his Summer Clerk days. Given that he is frequently seen in the office weekends and late at night, his thriving practice and overall commitment to excellence..
Seems a lot of movement in the ranks, particularly with the older experienced partners disappearing in droves. One wonders how long the power base of Milliner, Ireland, Neiditsch and Rimer will last with so much talent walking out the door.
It’s not just the partners who are leaving in droves. Employees are heading out the doors as quickly as they can, and the rate of departures is only going to increase with the ridiculous pay rises that were revealed this week. Pretty soon, Mallesons could well end up as an empty shell – a second-string shell if the latest Clifford Chance not-quite-a-merger rumours are true – and there will be no one left to do any work. Although one suspects that by that stage, there will not be any clients left either to give them work to do.
His girlfriend works at A&O too.