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2010 Law Firm Profile Archive

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Flashed in the Pan; Clayton Utz Settles With Michael “Trench” Mitchell

14 December 2010

The Michael "Trench" Mitchell v Clayton Utz legal controversy has both captivated and shocked legal observers alike since it emerged in mid 2009. The saga gave a unvarnished insight into the cultur...

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The Reject Shop: Blake Dawson Gives Seasonals a Chance, Then Rejects Them

16 September 2011

With the waistline of major Australian law firms contracting as changes in leverage become more entrenched, conditions are deteriorating for law students across the country. It is not a good time t...

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Update: The DLA Phillips Fox Global Amputation – New Zealand Edition

10 May 2010

It seems that the DLAPH global amputation operation continues.   The next limb to go?  New Zealand.  Sayeth the anonymous spy: The NZ DLA Phillips Fox offices have now also gone the way of Ade...

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Step on Board the Allens PR Vomit Comet

18 October 2010

Thanks to the Spy (not, apparently, from Allens) who alerted us to the latest example of self-congratulating (*cough* self-promotional) law firm awards.  Allens, it seems, has been named 'Employer...

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2009 Firm Spy Corporate Firm of the Year – Freehills

18 December 2009

After a long year of denigrating major Australian corporate firms we thought it apt, at this festive time of year, to reverse the trend and pay homage to one firm whose conduct over the preceding y...

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Slater & Gordon Acquisition of Keddies Faces Due Diligence Hurdle

26 October 2010

After a period of acquiring many regional-based personal injury practices, Slater & Gordon has today signalled its intention to make its biggest, and in our view most risky, acquisition. In ...

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Punjabi (Pw)MC Mark Johnson Offshores More Australian PwC Jobs

18 March 2010

At a time when major international corporate firms are creating a presence in Australia, it is something of an omen that international accounting heavyweight PricewaterhouseCoopers is rumoured to be actively seeking to move some of its work to affiliate offices in locations with favourable exchange rates. The end result of this is one of two things: the client gets charged less for the same work; or the PwC partnership forces the client to pay the same for work that in fact costs less and retains extra profit. Our guess is that the latter is what is happenening. Thanks very much to the anonymous PwC spy who sent us the following comments: Howdy Firmspy. Thought you might be interested in this. I have received word that PwC is looking to target a minimum of 20% of persona...

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Ernst & Young Announces Grad Start-Date Deferrals as PKF Staffers Brace For Redundancies

25 January 2012

In late November, we revealed that PwC had resolved to defer the start dates of its Corporate Finance grads by six months, in the process evoking painful memories of the cruel ultimatum the firm of...

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Rumour; Clifford Chance to Open Australian Office in 2010 With… Mallesons Partners

18 June 2010

At various times in the last year we have reported rumours that Clifford Chance and Mallesons have been toying with the idea of a major international merger. As recently as May we reported the rumour that Mallesons was in renewed discussions with Clifford Chance, following the breakdown of merger talks in late 2008 by reason of the then emerging GFC. Today, we can report the most compelling (and in our opinion most logical) rumour yet - that Clifford Chance will open shop in Sydney later this year, on its own terms.  And yes folks, the bidding war for profitable Australian partners is set to begin. We received the following anonymous comments from a Clifford Chance spy a couple of days ago: 'which magic circle firm is now well past the due diligence phase of orchestrating it...

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AAR’s Michael Rose Talks Down Money Focus… As Revenue Reportedly Soars

1 October 2010

We couldn't help but seize upon the following comments from Allens Arthur Robinson Chief Executive Partner Michael Rose in a recent SMH article (which we regard as yet another self-congratulatory i...

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