So, spare a thought for the hundreds of Perth-based applicants who diligently applied for the Blake Dawson seasonal clerkship program, lured by the lofty promises of”structure” and “support”:
We help you get to where you want to go
We understand that where you begin your career is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. From day one, we ask what you want to do and what direction you want your career to take. We provide you with the structure and support to achieve those goals. You will experience diverse areas of legal practice and benefit from our open-door policy, which offers graduates and articled and seasonal clerks the opportunity to work with award-winning teams and individuals.
TESTIFY! There’ll be winning teams, open-doors, direction and opportunity!!!
That is … if you get a job with the firm, which is something a whole heap of rejects won’t be getting, despite receiving notice indicating to the contrary. We received the following comments from an anonymous spy last week:
Blake Dawson in Perth emailed several law students that I can confirm (there would no doubt be more), with the following message:
“Dear _____,
Congratulations, you have been selected for an interview for 2011 Perth Seasonal Clerk program. Interviews are scheduled using the online interview scheduler which allows you to book a convenient time for your interview.
Lisa Cooney
People Development Consultant
Blake Dawson”
“Excellent!”, the rejects must have thought – an opportunity to work with “winning teams”. Err, not quite, or anonymous spy continues:
a few hours later [some of the applicant's received the following email]:
“Please disregard the previous email you have just received from cvmail. This was generated in error. If you have already been contacted for an interview, your interview date and time remains the same. If you have not been contacted, we will be in touch in the coming days. Wishing you all the best throughout the seasonal clerkship process.
Lisa Cooney
People Development Consultant
Blake Dawson”
What about an apology, Coons? Is that another thing you rejected? We contacted Blakes requesting a comment on this storm in a teacup debacle, but received no response. Instead, we’ll turn to the comments of the original tipster:
Allowing such an error to occur is one thing, however the fact that they didn’t call the individuals to apologise and simply disregarded so callously is quite another! If the Blake Dawson was measured by the HR department, they clearly would not be considered a top tier firm.
Top-tier law firm? Heck, we thought he was a porn icon from the 80′s!
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Don’t touch Lisa Cooney, *cough cough*, she shares the same surname as a Mr Gaelan Cooney, B&F equity partner.
In my experience, Lisa was professional, friendly and made me feel at ease throughout the whole interview process. So CVMail made an error…technology does that from time to time! Obviously someone is quite bitter and twisted about being unsuccessful and felt the need to cowardly take revenge. Quite low if you ask me!
@Chloe18
What are you, 12?
Why would you want to work in a firm with crap IT infrastructure?
“If the Blake Dawson was measured by the HR department, they clearly would not be considered a top tier firm.”
The reference to ‘HR department’ is interchangeable with just about every other department, practice group, office etc. at Blake Dawson.
Chloe18, are you deluded? I can’t imagine how devastating it would’ve been for the people who had received that email and were subsequently told it was a mistake.
hahaha.
Reminds of that time Blake Dawson claimed it had won some prestigious Law Firm of the Year award but got the dates mixed up.
Some of the comments here just seem like nothing more than the ramblings of some pissed off law students who weren’t good enough to make the cut. Good luck next life losers.
Reminds me of the time I very excitedly and nervously showed up for my interview at Clutz, only to have the HR people call me just as I was about to walk into the foyer of their building, to say the job had been offered to someone else – “which isn’t how it’s supposed to be done but the partner made the offer so what can HR do”. Fine, mistakes happen, but to add insult to injury, I then got the ‘auto-reject’ email which claimed my skills and experience weren’t up to scratch, despite them failing to interview me to ascertain this!
@ Chloe 18
Yes technology screws up from time to time, but a phone call or a proper apology wouldn’t go astray……
Spot on @ Jesus
This angry little student obviously failed their ethics unit along with a number of other things in life…
Many of those pissed off rejects will go on to work for inhouse corporate legal teams. I think Blakes have just lost some future clients.
I hardly think that a small mishap like this would result in some sort of absurd life-long grudge against a firm – or are people really that petty?
Afterall, it’s not as though they shat in your pillowcase or nailed you to a cross – toughen up.
Blake Dawson is in merger talks with Ashurst … they’re most definitely not top tier – just desperate.
@ Jesus
Really? Are you some kind of Blake Dawson fan boy? I think Mr Powers is correct. It’s a bit petty that nobody apologised to those poor students.
@tom
I am not a fanboy and I maintain my position with regards to Blake Dawson. They made a minor error and you should not take it so personally.
As for your personal attack on me – I will forgive you, my child.
Um yeah, pretty sure anyone defending Blakes here is a Blakes employee, because it’s just pure incompetence.
@WTF?
We cannot be a servant of two masters – I am but a humble servant of the lord.
To forgive is divine – do not let your hearts grow heavy with spite.
Amen.