It seems that some of our formerly larger compettitors are getting smaller and that’s obviously one strategy that they seem to be adopting. Some of them still seem to be growing their partner numbers and their areas of practice so I suppose everyone will find their own way and no one strategy will fit all law firms.
But it seems that Mr Weber isn’t the only lawyer who has been looking at the lawyers populating the offices of competitor firms. We received the following comments from an anonymous spy last week:
Hi firmspy
love the site and the gossip but have so far found it underwhelming in relation to the most pressing issue for a few of the younger lawyers in my firm. The issue im talking about is – which firm has the hottest lawyers? I am not an authority by any means, but one thing is absolutely certain – the females in Minter Ellison Melbourne would compete with any Australian law firm. I work at a rival firm in the Rialto and am constantly flabbergasted that so many truly drop-dead gorgeous females can squeeze into one building. Yes, I said ‘building’. There are enough babes inside the handful of Minters’ floors to satisfy the female hotness quotient of the entire Rialto! There is a group of us who loiter at the Minter Ellison elevator after getting our morning coffee just hoping for a glimpse.
There you have it. Minters Melbourne is full of female “hotness”. Perhaps Minters Sydney is the male equivalent? Maybe we should ask Kyle Sandilands to see if he has an opinion on the issue…
But whatever you do, don’t ask Optus whether it thinks Minters is really really good looking. Minters represented Optus in a case brought against it by the ACCC regarding the Optus’ broadband internet advertising that was decided last week. In the decision, Justice Perram issued Optus with the highest penalty for a consumer protection breach in Australia’s history: $5.26million. An eagle-eyed tipster reflecting on the case made the following observation to us yesterday:
Optus was punished last week by Justice Perram for misleading and deceptive conduct in relation to one of its broadband plans. $5.26 million later its law firm Minter Ellison’s blog is conspicuously silent about Optus’ penalty and the case itself. The blog seems to be active and yet Minter Ellison is ignoring what is one of the most high profile ACCC prosecutions this year.
An interesting oversight. Perhaps the Minters blogger was too busy admiring office hotness?
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I agree with your spy. Minters in Melbourne certainly seems to hire a specific type of female lawyer – young and good looking.
I suppose it’s only fair – the ugly freaks amongst us have had it too good for too long. It’s about time the beautiful people had their turn.
This thread is useless without pics
well, there’s a certain female junior from the Minters Melbourne office in this link – http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilyabayphotography/
Minters BABE,
I hope you are Tobey.
x
…narrow it down for us minters BABE?
What’s the use of being good-looking when you’re getting paid peanuts, sporting panda eyes from 6-day per week 12hr days behind the desk?
This is what happens when men run H.R
A Non,
Heard of panda eye candy?
@A Non
I thought the panda eyes look was in some way connected with heroin chic?
FirmSpy, what the hell.
Not only is this story weird and irrelevant, it’s also bizarrely sexist. As a thin 25 year old girl working for a top tier I make a very conscious effort to look ‘professional’ but not dowdy. It annoys the hell out of me that I have to wear a pencil skirt, straightened hair and a full face of makeup to look the part in a client meeting, and even then the occasional cracker will see fit to refer to me as ‘love’ or ‘darling’.
I was one of the top students at my sandstone university, and think that I am one of the most intelligent, and competitive, lawyers in my year. If I thought it would make people sexualise me less I would arrive at work wearing flat shoes, pants and no makeup, but I know that if I were to do that my colleagues would think of me as underdressed.
The fact that any of my colleagues or clients think of what I’d be like in bed makes me want to scream. Many of the people that I work with cite the fact that more women than men study law, and top tiers tend to hire equal numbers of men and women, as evidence that sexism is a thing of the past.
Articles like yours prove that this is not true.
E.R –
Yes, that’s certainly it. Those girls only got hired because someone, somewhere, wanted to f*** them.
The fact that we lawyers, both men and women, tend to be obsessive perfectionists in all aspects our lives (hence why we’re so likely to develop depression and eating disorders) is totally irrelevant to why you may find some lady lawyers objectively “attractive”.
I hope you choke on due diligence.
“But it seems that Mr Weber isn’t the only lawyer who has been looking at the lawyers populating the offices of competitor firms. We received the following comments from an anonymous spy last week:”
Here I was thinking that Minter Ellison had no competitors in the Rialto… to my knowledge the only other firm of note in that building is Middletons, and they are hardly in the same league.
“The fact that any of my colleagues or clients think of what I’d be like in bed makes me want to scream. ”
I also want to make you scream.
I agree that this article is weird, irrelevant and bizarrely sexist, but what makes Anonymous believe that any of her colleagues or clients think about what she’d be like in bed? Nothing, I bet, except for a strange and antiquated desire to identify as a victim of imagined workplace sexism. I also went to a “sandstone” university and worked at a top-tier firm. Let me reassure you: the best and most respected female lawyers did not necessarily straighten their hair or wear high heels and a pencil skirt.
Anonymous -did u miss the part in the story where firmspy referre to Minters Sydney as being the “male” equivalent of it’s Melbourne office? This article cuts both ways, so chill the f**** out. But also make a point of visiting Minters Melbourne. You’ll see that this article is pretty close to the mark
Funny story – I heard that when Baker & McKenzie left the Rialto a couple of younger lawyers missed the Minters chicks so much that they defected to rival Rialto-based firms
@Anonymous (the thin 25 year old female) – my experience, as a bloke from a smaller firm with a higher proportion of females than males, is that the harshest critics of female dress in the office are by far other females.
Are you dressing that way to look the part for the cracker of a client who calls you “love”, and wouldn’t know a pencil skirt from a pencil sharpener, or are you dressing that way because that’s how all the females in your office dress?
In our office if you asked one of the boys for their opinion on what any of the girls were wearing you would get a weird look, and the topic would be changed back to Dreamteam.
How’s your team going Cyril? Thinking of picking up Montagna this week
It is amusing how narcissistic/neurotic people bring every subject back to themselves. Obviously you are secure and happy in your life…. “……tell me about the problems of your friends (gold)” … i feel dirty when all the girls in the office think about me naked too… woe is us when there are children starving in Africa….
Why can’t guys talk about who is hot and who is not? Free speech and what not? I am sure they would not be offended if girls got together and talked about guys in the same manner.Feel free to post an aricle talking about how hot us boys from ****** are (we are obviously stunning).
We have plenty of man-whore articles referring to Clutz employees… why can’t we have light and fun articles without some unhinged self obsessed person taking offence?
This article merely reflects a rumour (correct or otherwise) which has been around for a while, namely that Minters Melbourne only hires attractive grads; a firm of jocks and cheerleaders.
@schiavo – Dreamteam not looking so good at the moment. Mrs Cyril (the lummox that she is) convinced me to book a holiday for March this year so I came into it without a decent pre-season.
Montagna cheap, but too inconsistent for mine.
Seriously? Melbourne = World Class Babes? Gimme a break.
Try working in Moscow, or Prague, or Kiev before you start telling me about attractive “Australian” female lawyers.
They look like men in comparison to these Eastern Europeans.