1
2
3

Firm Spy Editorial Archive

Page 1 of 11

REDACTED: Defections, Claire Winton Burn & Trust in Clayton Utz ‘Relationship Contracting’

6 August 2010

Occasionally we get it wrong with our stories and this is one such instance. No, we don't think the content we previously published was inaccurate, it was just way too personal and irrelevant. We agree with the comments from Marco below and have thus withdrawn the post. Send the Firm Spy your news and views!

Read more

BRW Delivers Major Broadside to Departing Minter Ellison Chief Guy Templeton

10 December 2009

Sometimes we worry that we're the only corporate news/gossip medium prepared to have a dig at the chiefs of corporate firms. We therefore heartily welcomed the character assassination directed by the BRW a few weeks ago to ex-Minters chief Guy Templeton: "Traditionally, a non-lawyer at the helm of a law firm has not been considered a success. The most recent experiment with non-lawyer leadership occurred at Minter Ellison, where management consultant Guy Templeton was chief executive for five years before he left earlier this year. "The firm went back to the traditional model appointing one of its partners, John Weber, as chief executive." Ouch! Incidentally, John Weber is presiding over a firm that one staff member recently assessed in the following fashion: Minters must w...

Read more

Office Meltdowns Loom as KPMG Cuts Leave Entitlements of CA Students

22 September 2010

Thanks to the anonymous KPMG spy who sent us the following number-crunching hullabaloo: Most accountants doing their CA usually take a week and a half off work to study for each exam. However, we ...

Read more

Minter Ellison Partners “Porno Forno” & “Horny Horsley” Allegedly Sent Simon Alroe Packing

16 October 2009

It has taken many phone calls to our sources all across the country to try to get to the bottom of what actually happened to cause Minter Ellison to de-equitise Simon Alroe from the partnership. This is what we have come up with, thanks to an anonymous spy: Minters partners Trent Forno (known by everyone in the industry as "Porno" Forno) and Ken Horsley (known "Horny" Horsley) were the brains behind the partnership decision to report Alroe's alleged harassment to the Qld Law Society. They did this with a view to having Alroe struck off the roll of solicitors. They took this action despite an offer being made by Ian Hangar QC to the partnership to mediate, which they rejected out of hand. Alroe has retained a silk in his criminal dispute as well as a different silk in his partn...

Read more

Big4 Accounting Firm Parental Leave Policies & the Freehills (in)Significant Cost

13 May 2010

A couple of weeks ago, the AFR published an interesting article profiling parental leave policies amongst the Big4 accounting firms. In that article, the following was written: From July 1, KPMG w...

Read more

The Freehills Career-Killable Billable Unit; Is Industry Change In The Air?

1 June 2010

The irrepressible bane of corporate professionals, billable units are a topic we have seen feature prevalently in recent press. Commentators from across the world are presenting a united front agai...

Read more

Digging Deeper Reveals Tighter Wad; Freehills’ Executive Counsel

25 May 2009

A spate of rather venomous emails from Freehills lawyers compelled the Firm Spy to do some investigative journalism into the recently announced, yet mysterious, 'executive counsel' role. What is...

Read more

A Very Merry Cost Cut; Deloitte’s Giam Angers Vacationers

3 December 2009

Ever the unpopular leader amongst juniors, Deloitte Chief Executive partner Giam Swiergers has apparently reached a new nadir, though this time with vacation clerks. Giam, elected only days ago to continue in his role as head of Deloitte, has apparently made the very first cost-cut of his new term. And it is a very merry cost cut! This from an anonymous Deloitte spy yesterday: Hi FS,  Just some news in regarding the vacationers at Deloitte. Apparently Deloitte is too cash strapped (or stingy) to invite them to the Christmas party. Good thing the vaccies are learning this lesson now, because when they start with the firm Uncle Giam will be too stingy to give them payrises, bonuses and many other benefits too. Stingy? Or cash strapped from the half million dollar partner...

Read more

UPDATE: “Who’s Next?” Crisis Unfolds @ Freehills as Leading Practice Review Intensifies

3 May 2011

For a couple of weeks now we have been closely following events at Freehills where a review, which insiders are referring to as the "Leading Practice Review", is currently being undertaken. At this...

Read more

How Much Do Allens Arthur Robinson Partners Earn? AFR Law Firm Profit Survey

21 September 2009

Thanks to the AFR for the following profile: Partnership Remuneration System Lock-step with performance-based elements. Partner Pay 2008-09 A select few equity partners took home as much as $...

Read more