Well, we hope this is all about to change. We received the following remarkable rumour from a Gadens insider a few weeks ago:
Gadens Lawyers Melbourne have always gone under the radar and get away with far too much. One such example: Gadens doesn’t do pro bono work. They don’t encourage it and its frowned upon even if its done “outside” of office hours. However, unfortunately for Gadens, pro bono work is required in order to get on certain panels (and get more work and make more money). As Gadens doesn’t do this “kind of work” they ask staff to advise management what volunteer work they do so that they can use those examples to demonstrate the firm’s commitment to pro bono work. What a joke!
What a joke indeed! We sent the following email to the firm’s head of media:
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Request for Comment
Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2011 07:59:47 -0400
From: news@firmspy.com
To: cbuttner@nsw.gadens.com.auHi Claire,
Does Gadens do pro bono work? What is the firm’s attitude toward pro bono
work? Are you able to provide us with any statistics about Gadens’ pro
bono legal services? Is the attitude toward pro bono consistent across the
firm? What is the attitude specifically in Melbourne? Does the firm ask
staff to advise management what volunteer work they do so that they can
use those examples to demonstrate the firm’s commitment to pro bono work?We intend to publish an article on this issue on Wednesday and thus need
to receive the firm’s comments, if any, by COB tomorrow.Regards,
FS
Nearly two months have passed since we sent that email and still nothing. Not a peep from the firm! We thus didn’t trouble them for a response on the following rumour we received last week:
At Gadens Lawyers in Sydney, a recent WR solicitor was made SA – despite many junior solicitors having made complaints about his appalling treatment towards them over a substantial period of time. This particular SA is apparently being “counselled” or “coached” now for his behaviour towards the junior members of the WR team. Not sure if counselling is going to change someone who appears to be an ass*%&. This SA must surely be a high fee earner, however its astonishing that despite the complaints made against him, he was still promoted. Apparently it is ok to treat juniors terribly in WR at Sydney if you make enough money for the firm – you even get promoted for that type of behaviour!
I have noticed a huge turnover of staff in that group over the last 18 months or so – from partner level to junior level. I think that the partners really need to stop ignoring the complaints from junior staff members and actually do something substantial about it and take action against the individuals subject to constant complaints of their behaviour. Depression in the workplace is a real hot topic at the moment and partners are responsible for driving positive change throughout their team. Junior lawyers who are subjected to this type of behaviour are not able to produce the quality work expected of them if they are working in a dysfunctional environment.
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‘we hope this is all about to change’, and didn’t reply 1st time so we didn’t bother the second time (despite a different office)!
Weak sauce firm spy.
An otherwise good piece of reporting that was weakened by the fact that you so brazenly want to be hostile toward firms and just search for ways to justify that approach. Your tips and editorialising would be far more convincing if you were more neutral.
A bit of a shame really, because the tip, especially about Melbourne (if true) is pretty sad.
I have two things to add to this article.
Firstly, Gadens – I interviewed for an SA role and had made it clear I was looking to port a pretty decent client base with me and had submitted a 15 page business plan with my cv. Instead of the two partners who were supposed to interview me showing up, I was greeted by a HR temp and I spent the next 40 minutes answering behavioural questions from a sheet of paper. That spoke volumes to me about the firm. Told them I was not interested at the end of that ‘interview’.
Secondly, bullying – most people have seen a-hole SA bullying, but something new to me recently is PA bullying – of both support and professional staff. I am sure it happens all the time, but I guess I have been oblivious to it until the last year at a new firm. The issue that burns me about this is that the bullies in question are the PAs to a few of the equity partners. They have a professional and support staff body count like rambo, yet when HR try to step in they get told to back off by the owners bc a) they treat the owners like gods and b) the owners don’t want to have to rehire and train new PAs. Lost quite a few very smart, hard working and pleasant junior PAs to this garbage. What really sucks is the bully PAs always pick on the good looking junior PAs too.
The irony is that the worst bully PA had apparently come to us after being sacked by Gadens for bullying. Go figure.
Bullying in professional services firms can be so subtle, you don’t even notice it until it becomes apparent that the bullied person’s confidence in themself is totally shot.
Money and power can’t be the only gods we worship. It is never a good look when a team’s staff turnover is known to be consistently high.
If you are aware of an issue, raise it. If nothing is done, escalate it. If nothing is done then, leave. Such environments are toxic and will not help you progress, even if you are not the one being bullied.
@HHHV
Thanks very much for that excellent comment. One of the best we’ve received in the 3 years we’ve been on the air.
“Bullying in professional services firms can be so subtle, you don’t even notice it until it becomes apparent that the bullied person’s confidence in themself is totally shot.”
This is true and so remarkably astute that we can scarcely believe the brevity with which you expressed it. It’s little things. Over time. The “adjustment” to corporate life is so harrowing for university students precisely because of this intermittent, but telling psychological torment. Graduates lose the self-belief that the academic merit of university instilled in them, self-doubt manifests and they either leave or spend a couple of years with such entrenched disillusionment that they mature into the very beast that once so belittled them.
This is how we get firms like Gadens where, we’ve heard, partners tell juniors that “unless you’re billing four times your wage. you’re nothing to me”.
If you’re one of the subjects of disparagement from seniors who are supposed to be your legal mentors, follow HHHV’s advice. Retain your sense of self-belief and strive to give those below you the sort of mentorship that you should have been given
One’s experience at Gadens differs markedly depending which group you are in and which partner you work for. Bullying is absolutely rife in Sydney’s debt recovery team – look into that. On the other hand Sydney’s construction team and parts of its Banking and Corporate teams are very happy places to be. Probably same at any firm.
@TheSpy
I think you guys should publish an online manual/guide on the ups and downs of the professional services industry. These are exactly real world stuff that no graduates will ever learn in uni.
Having worked at Gadens for many years as a fee earner in the property department, my experience is that the “indirect” bullying is not limited to staff but also includes partners. Gadens also appears to sanction a property partner in using foul language to staff including in emails. Any approach to HR is met with retribution on the employee. A most unhappy environment to work in when they think you are past your use by date.
@ Winsome
I think law students and graduates definetly need exposure to this site at the very least!
Having said that, you wouldnt want to drive people away from the profession. I guess that is why it is so important for law students to get some practical work experience whilst studying – to open their little eyes to the big bad world of law.
Re Gadens – some practice groups are happy as larry and get along just fine.. others not so much. Partners and management should really look into the attrition rate of their staff and really question why some practice groups have a higher attrition rate than others.
While Gadens is not a national law firm (in that there is no national profit pool) having been a past employee in its Brisbane office it seems it is happy to share a national policy towards bullying if the comments about its Sydney office are true. Any approach to partners or HR in its Brisbane office about bullying is also met with severe retribution. HHHV, I commend your advice. In my expeience however, while not active particpants in the bullying, there are many people who are prepared to allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked.
“Graduates lose the self-belief that the academic merit of university instilled in them, ” – maybe, or maybe too many have an over inflated level of self belief, which runs head first into their first exposure to the real world, ending in tears.
Winsome, uni can’t teach you everything. It isn’t a finishing school for life. Going to law school will teach you a bit of law and that is all it should teach.
Re work experience opening the eyes of students, I agree to some extent.
But in my firm, clerks are asked to stay no later than 5:30pm, query how real that is when they work as a lawyer. So they are not given the full picture.
One Gadens partner consistently gets drinks for other staff at functions. He then pretends to be drunk and loud himself (when in actual fact he is completely sober). He then manipulates staff into revealing information about themselves and their colleagues which he later maliciously uses against them for his own personal gain. Nice.
I too worked at Gadens for a few years leaving a couple of years ago. I was a secretary there and saw much bullying from the partners to younger lawyers. Many senior lawyers talked condescendingly to their younger lawyers. I even felt the brunt of one partner’s anger and that was the beginning of me looking for another job. They employ junior secretaries and law clerks so they don’t have to pay them much yet seem to be making a huge profit. No Christmas presents for staff, no performance appraisals or payrises.
I worked at Gadens until recently and I can confirm that pro bono, or lack thereof is an absolute disgrace. Most firms now have full-time pro bono partners and/or teams of lawyers coordinating pro bono practices for the firm. This firm has zero. Would FS please ask each of the largest 20 or 30 firms to specify the exact number of pro bono lawyers they employ including the names and position titles for each role? Pro bono is very important for graduates selecting law firms, and firms like Gadens set out to mislead graduates and also clients when it comes to pro bono commitment.