Thanks to the anonymous Deacons/Norton Rose spy who sent us the following tip last night:

After freezing our salaries last year, Norton Rose has decided to thaw them. We all got an email from Don Boyd this afternoon saying there had been a review and the outcome “will result in salary increases for most of our lawyers.” The increase will be back-dated to Jan 1. I will be checking my payslip very carefull on Monday.

Uh oh! Not the now tried-and-true use of opaque language like “most of our lawyers”! Does this mean 51% will get increases in pay? Who will miss out? Sounds to us like Don ‘Dubya’ Boyd might have another major gaffe on his hands.

This thaw, if true, comes after similar moves by Freehills and Minter Ellison (who promised staff a thorough ‘review’, whatever that means) last year. By our count, this leaves Mallesons, AAR, Clutz and Blake Dawson as the major firms remaining to act on frozen pay.

Do you think the arrival of a major Magic Circle competitor, who is brazenly in the hunt for good legal talent, should prompt major firms with frozen pay to do something to encourage top-performers to stay?

Has your firm acted on pay? Let the Firm Spy know first!

Send the Firm Spy your news and views!

Attractive. Intelligent. Successful. Funny. Endearing.

another excellent catch

These are but a few of the adjectives that we would use describe the delightful, yet surprisingly unlucky-in-love former Deacons/Minters lawyer Melissa Hammett.

We reported a few weeks ago that Hammett had taken the curious step of speaking out in media about the hell that is her reality: unable to find a decent fellow in the entire nation:

“What happens is that you go out on more dates, but less frequently with people you’re genuinely attracted to.  First dates used to really mean something - there was a real connection - whereas now, they’re more like a job interview… The best romances are when you’re with a guy who’s exactly like a friend, but who you want to be with romantically.”

We initially didn’t buy it. Heck, Mel strikes us as a good catch! So we asked her to get in touch with us. Melissa took the bait and wrote us the following email:

Dear Firm Spy

Thank you for your kind offer to help me pull an eligible bloke (24 November 2009).

Having said that, do you really think it’s wise to set lawyers up with other lawyers? The perils of intra-profession dating are well documented.

First, there’s the gossip. (Yes, your secretary really does read your emails. And forward them on.)

Second, as Spencer Tracy once said: ‘Lawyers should never marry other lawyers. This is called in-breeding; from this comes idiot children…and other lawyers’.

More disturbingly, there’s always a high risk that an otherwise eligible date will vote himself off the island by seeking to discuss legal theory, budgets or (even worse) the subtle distinctions between top tier/second tier/ mid tier/ boutique firms.

On the other hand, I have noticed (and being an alleged ’serial dater’ - 24 November 2009 - feel well qualified to comment) that the words ‘I’m a lawyer’ tend to provoke horror (and occasional abuse) from  prospective beau.

I seek your counsel. Should lawyers date other lawyers? (It worked for Barack and Michelle, I suppose). Or should it be outlawed? Perhaps your readers have a view on this important topic.

And finally, for the record, yes, I do like pina coladas.

Kind regards

Mel Hammett.

I had the pleasure of spending a memorable few days in the company if Mel Hammett on a national Minter Ellison Construction Group junket to Queensland a few years back. She caught my eye even then, but as I look now at the photo you linked to, it appears that the years have been incredibly kind to her. I am now married and off the market, but think that Mel would make an excellent catch.

In a hilarious scoop featured in today’s AFR it is revealed that soon-to-merge mid-tier Deacons has shunted staff with a dodgey xmas party.

The article reports:

In light of office-wide parties next year to celebrate the merger with international law firm Norton Rose, Christmas 2009 is an afterthought at Deacons.

The firm invited employees to a small soiree on level 18 of its George St building last Friday. Drinks were served from 5pm to 9pm and staff were encouraged to dress in theme - Deacon blue and gold - to commemorate the firm’s colours (Norton Rose’s colour is red).

“They’d be better off saying, ‘suck it up till the merger party’ and not having a Christmas party at all, than having cheese, dried fruit and some mixed nuts - and I’m not talking cashews,” says one employee who was overseas at the time . “I wouldn’t go if I was there”.

Neither would we! But was chief executive partner Don “Dubya” Boyd in attendance? You know, the fellow embroiled in arguably the most major client gaffe of 2009? If so, did he cop a dried fig to the face? Justifiable, we would have thought, given the dodginess of the xmas festivities, and his apparent baulk at lifting the  pay freeze.

This from an anonymous source last night:

The soon to be deceased Deacons is in the same boat. Pay fozen in June, with a promise to deliver in December, but alas disco Don Boyd sends out another email informing staff that revenue is still not predictable enough to justify anything remotely like a pay rise. But never fear perhaps some news in January 2010 when where under the Norton Rose banner. You can’t even finalise a secondment policy so how on earth do you expect to make a decision on pay rises. Sorry Don I think I’m going to have to vote with my feet. See ya around.

1. locked the stationary cupboard;
2. forced workers to crap in the dark;
3. encouraged workers to wear face masks to the office;
4. made a worker redundant, and then hired a “replacement”; and
5. revealed that chairman Nick Abrahams is a serial sacker, having been involved in two major redundancies - first as the “bloom came off the dot com rose” and then recently at Deacons;

Will these reprehensible Deacons antics take the “bloom” of the Norton Rose merger?

Send the Firm Spy uour news and views!

Thanks to the AFR for the following profile:

Partner Remuneration System

Performance-based with a bonus.

Partner Pay for 2008-09

Equity partners received from $470,000.00 to as high as $1,300,000.00, with most full equity partners getting less than $1,000,000.00. Fixed-share partners got between $175,000.00 and $440,000.00.

Pay

Estimated Profit Margin = 34%

Estimated Profit = $75,000,000.00

reduced by 10%

Estimated Profit Per Lawyer = $170,000.00

Estimated Profit Per Equity Partner = $810,000.00

Revenue

Revenue 2008/09 = $220,000.00

Revenue Change = -6.3%

Revenue Per Lawyer = $490,000.00

Revenue Per Partner = $1,580,000.00

Revenue Per Equity Partner = $2,370.000.00

The Verdict

Chief executive partner Don Boyd admits revenue dropped last year due to a focus on profitability in preparation for the merger with UK’s Norton Rose. Headcounr was reduced by 10% and retail banking became less of a focus. Expected revenue was lost after the resolution of the GlaxoSmithKline and Biota litigation.

Comment

A 6.3% drop in revenue sank Deacons below DLA Phillips Fox, but Deacons will hope a new year - and a new name - will propel it into the big league. While many competitors are sceptical of Deacons’ ability to rival the largest Australian firms through the merger, others expect the arrival of Norton Rose - London’s 10th-largest firm by revenue - will provide a challenging new competitor.

Send the Firm Spy your news and views!

With its Norton Rose merger plans resting entirely on the ATO’s lenity, Deacons chief executive partner Dan Boyd has chosen a dubious time to raise fees.

The firm apparently thinks that a GFC, awry merger plans, involvement in allegations of wrongful employee termination (yes, by a law firm!) and a procession of questionable workplace stunts, makes Deacons a better value bet for clients.

and now the left hand knows what the right hand is doing

We certainly aren’t buying it!

As reported in an excellent article by The Australian last week:

Don Boyd, Deacons’ chief executive partner, thought it was OK to send a generic letter to clients saying what great value the firm delivers and to provide the firm’s new rate card for this financial year… For clients with pre-existing fee arrangements this letter was a surprise because they thought they already had them and now the Don’s letter was saying something different… Not surprisingly some disgruntled clients contacted their relationship partners to find out what was going on, only to be told they were unaware of the Don’s letter and, reassuringly, that they would look into it.

These things happen. They are harder to accept however when Deacons’ website spouts that among its values “ensuring everyone is informed” is part of the value suite. And it makes a mockery of other Deacons website propaganda such as: “Many law firms just talk about building relationships. At Deacons, this is not just talk. It’s about open dialogue, it’s about understanding what drives client thinking and understanding their ambitions.” Oh really. Deacons, the intelligent alternative as it calls itself, is looking less intelligent if this is the way they manage client communication on a topic as emotion-ridden as increasing hourly rates.

Excellent work Donnie Dubya!

Send the Firm Spy your news and views!

Thanks to the ex-Deacons spy who gave us the following email. The Firm Spy wishes you the very best of luck reintegrating into the workforce.

I was one of the numerous staff that were made redundant by Deacons at the end of November 2008. I was employed as an IT Trainer in Deacons’ Sydney office for nearly two years until I was informed by the Director of Business Information Systems (Phil Scorgie) that:

“Deacons has recently undertaken a review of its resourcing requirements. Relevantly, this review has

even scales; yet another candidate for ‘rebalancing’

I have since discovered from a current Deacons employee that within two months of my departure, a new IT Trainer was employed to directly replace me. I think it is abhorrent and perhaps even unlawful that firms are able to cut ‘unwanted’ staff using the spectre of a recession to avoid legal repercussions. Clearly even in these tough economic times my role was required. It is vitally important that others are made aware of Deacons’ modus operandi before they make the big mistake of signing an employment contract.

[Name and Contact Details Withheld]

The Firm Spy expresses no opinion as to the veracity of the above email but does, as always, invite further comments and clarification from Deacons. As to the lawfulness of this redundancy (if true), we suggest that the ex-Deacons spy read here.

Send the Firm Spy your news and views!

The Firm Spy received this cryptic anonymous tip earlier tonight:

declining the merger invitation was always going to be tough

Deacons no more. Norton Rose in Australia.

We then checked the Norton Rose website and found confirmation that the merger is taking place.

International legal practice Norton Rose Group today announced that Deacons Australia will join Norton Rose Group. The decision follows the completion of successful votes by the respective partnerships on 22 June 2009. The new international legal practice will be called Norton Rose Group and will take effect from 1 January 2010.

It appears that Deacons will be renamed Norton Rose.  Well, it could be worse. And look!  Norton Rose is already listing a Melbourne and Sydney office on its locations page.

The merger comes after a turbulent period in the recent history of Deacons. The media release about the merger notes of Deacons:

It has been one of the fastest growing large law firms in that country since 2000 and is now eighth largest by revenue and partner numbers… in the three years to 2008 it achieved cumulative revenue growth of 20 per cent.

What the glitzy press release fails to mention is that such has been the tremendous contraction in the fortunes of Deacons that its partners were forced to: lock the stationary cupboard; make many redundancies; and, of all things, turn off the bathroom lights!

Will the merger lift the fortunes of Deacons?  Whether it marks the first in a spate of consolidation within the legal industry remains to be seen.  Heard rumblings of a merger at your firm?  Send the Firm Spy your news and views!

A dot com refugee doing the rounds, yesterday

You see, Abrahams is himself a ‘dot-com refugee’, who recalls his hair-raising brush with homelessness:

During dot com, I, like many lawyers… had a go at running a dot com. Back then, I was the Los Angeles-based COO of a listed Australian internet company.  As the bloom came off the internet rose, disgruntled US employees started some very tactile 360 degree feedback by returning after their redundancy interviews to shoot COOs and their kind.

So the major thing I learnt from a downsizing situation was that when the going gets tough, it is time to move into a lockable office with a big window and your own fire escape stairs, just in case the gun-toting 360 feedbacker is headed your way.

Strangely, it appears that Abrahams has been now been influential in two major redundancies: first ‘as the bloom came off the dot com rose’; and more recently the sackings at his own firm, Deacons. But far from moving into a ‘lockable office with a big window’ to escape peril, Abrahams is paddling headlong into it!

Is Abrahams sleeping with the very people his firm made redundant? More importantly, are they packing heat?  Go on, show your support for this worthy cause (and Abraham’s courage).

With staff morale at an all-time low, on the back of mishandled redundancies, some insensitive comments and a locked 

A Deacons lawyer practices emitting in the dark

It was reported today that Deacons recently opened an ‘eco-friendly’ office in Sydney which, among other things, would:

cut emissions by having the lights off in the bathroom, illuminated by sensors when lawyers and their clients walk in.

While it is unclear in the first instance whether Deacons believes it can cut bodily emissions by turning the bathroom lights off, what is more troubling is whether the sensors will respond to people wearing gas masks.

You’ll recall that Deacons’ partner Michael Tooma recently invited staff to wear face masks in the office to avoid contracting swine flu, yet admonished:

if employees are concerned about their own safety, mere apprehension alone is not a justifiable reason to stay away from work.

Do you think this is a poorly targeted PR exercise? Do you think Deacons staff would make some poorly targeted bodily emissions with the bathroom lights off?

Send the Firm Spy your news and views!

A Deacons lawyer arrives at work yesterday.

Tooma, a Deacons partner practising in occupational health and safety, suggested in an hilariously alarmist dialogue with the Australian Financial Review that employers should:

• inform staff about their [pandemic] preparedness through… communication;
• reinforce hygiene messages;
• check the adequacy of the filters on ventilation systems;
• make sure they have antibacterial hand soaps; and
• stock up on face masks.

Yet, when asked about what employers should do if the pandemic strikes Australia, and whether worried employees would be able to work from home, Tooma said:

if employees are concerned about their own safety, mere apprehension alone is not a justifiable reason to stay away from work.

By all means wear a face mask, just make sure you come to work!  Hmm, does the Spy detect a pattern developing in which Deacons capitalises upon the social ailments of the day?  We may have a new Gold Star to award.