A couple of weeks ago, law firm Piper Alderman received the welcome news that a former partner, John O’Callaghan, had been appointed as a Magistrate in Victoria. Magistrate O’Callaghan, who was appointed partner at Piper Alderman in late 2008, will now hear civil cases.

Less welcome was the news, syndicated by nearly every major Australian news website, that O’Callaghan had to front up to the Magistrates Court himself on drink driving charges, of which he was found guilty. For the PR machine at Piper Alderman, this no doubt gave rise to some concern that the firm would be perceived by outsiders as fostering a climate of boozing and/or being tight on taxis home.*

And now, in something of a double-swipe at the Pipe, we today publish comments received by us last night from an anonymous Piper Alderman spy:

Mid tier firm Piper Alderman has not done anything to correct frozen pay for most lawyers.

In other news, the latest round of propotions which became effective on 1 January 2010 shed some light on the Piper Alderman Promotion procedure, or lack thereof.

10 promotions, mostly in dispute resolution, were announced in December 2009. Among them was the record breaking ascension of an associate to senior associate, with only 2.5 years pqe. That round of promotions also saw other dispute resolution associates and lawyers promoted to higher levels.

As a result, there has, over the last 3 months been an exodus of junior talent from Piper Alderman, particulalry in the area of corporate and property services, who were denied pay increases and promotions.

It is understood that the threat of more losses has resulted in perfomrance reviews of those who missed out on promotions to reassure that their turn is coming.

If true, this promotion scheme would be an entirely novel means of reducing headcount in under-utilised practice groups.  If the move is based on billable targets, this must call into question the practice of the firm in remunerating staff pre-GFC and whether the love was spread to corporate and property (our guess is no).

It is always nice reading the inside word on a firm, like that reported above, and then contrasting it with some of the rubbish prepared by the firm’s PR outfit for university guides. We found PA’s one last night (available here) which notes:

As a law firm our lawyers and the service they provide are our “product” and as such they embody Piper Alderman in terms of values, vision, branding and objectives. This attitude has created a unique culture, culminating in a successful law firm with a harmonious working environment.

Harmonious much? We think it is time to break out the peace Pipe, then wash it all down with a few bottles of red (Piper Alderman has… regular drinks nights), before driving home!

Send the Firm Spy your news and view!

*It should be noted that the drink driving charges pre-date O’Callaghan’s appointment to the Piper Alderman partnership

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