Earlier this year, the AFR published an article (28/8) profiling the enigmatic area of legal practice known as ‘sports law’. In that article, the following was written:

Johnson Winter & Slattery partner Mark O’Brien negotiated a confidential settlement for former Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri… in his high profile breach of contract against the ARU. The litigator also acted for [rugby league player]Sonny Bill Williams last year… But for a lawyer with such well-known sporting clients, O’Brien is dismissive about the rise of sports law. ‘There’s no area of sports law. It’s really just contract law, intellectual property or trade practices law’. He argues that sports law courses at university are a waste of time and lawyers who refer to themselves as sports law experts are engaging in a marketing ploy.

These comments must have come as a rude shock to ex-AFL footballer Nick Holland who is profiled in the current edition of the Victorian Law Institute Journal, which notes:

Mr Holland now specialises in … sports and media law with Holding Redlich in Melbourne. He is also a member of the LIV Sports Law Committee.

Err … but there is no such thing as Sports Law! Is doing a sit-up whilst dressed in a suit in the corridor of a law firm ‘sports law work’?

The article goes on:

Mr Holland… said the high work ethic needed as an AFL player translated well into a ‘tough, pressurised and demanding law firm climate where you also need to step up or be found out… the intensity is the same.’

With all this athleticism and intensity, is there time to get all this sports law work actually done?

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A few months ago we reported the alarmist views of Deacons worrywart partner Michael Tooma in relation to the swine flu. ‘Stock up on face masks’!

It is our pleasure today to reveal another legal Cassandra, though this time from law firm Holding Redlich.

James Schluter, a senior associate at Holding Redlich and apparent ‘specialist in infectious diseases’, has been virulently busily appearing in the media making a case that employers are potentially exposed to legal liabilities arising out of the swine flu.

If [workers] can prove they have contracted [the virus] in the workplace then it is likely they could have a workers’ compensation claim… It could be at least a couple of hundred thousand dollars in terms of settlements … that is quite conservative. In an extreme case [it] could be serious enough to warrant the employer … being charged criminally.

Quick, find a lawyer - a lawyer with expertise in infectious diseases! Yes, everyone knows how to readily prove the origin of an atom of influenza and your business will be held to ransom!

Schluter is also apparently considered a leading commentator on swine flu:

James Schluter …  warns that Australia appears to have failed the swine flu test. Schluter will address OH&S professionals at [a]… conference to tell that they must take a leading role in preparing for a serious flu outbreak. If not, 60% to 70% of Australians could be sick to go to work… According to Schluter, the government had lost control of any real engagement with the community… Schluter stressed that the frontline people of control are Australia’s occupational health and safety professionals but the flu is misconstrued as a public health issue. The workplace is a key area for transmission of disease, so it is essential that the workplace and OH&S professionals are engaged, actively educated by scientists and health experts, and part of the control campaign.

Will you join the ‘control campaign’ to wrest back the ‘engagement with the community’ that the government has lost?

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The Firm Spy revealed way back  in April that national law firm Holding Redlich had made redundancies. However, it appears we gravely underestimated the number of sackings which took place.

In an article appearing in the Financial Review, it is highlighted that the firm has lost nine staff, including seven property lawyers. Managing partner Chris Lovell is quoted as saying:

the market is very much a day-to-day proposition. One day it’s looking terrific and the next it’s looking pretty ordinary.

It appears that Holding Redlich has taken a ‘sack-now-ask-questions-later’ approach to the GFC, though as Lovell notes:

[the firm] has benefited from a very pronounced trickle down as big clients, now reluctant to pay top-tier prices, move to smaller firms. This should leave the firm in a much stronger position… those who take advantage of … opportunities … come out best at the end. That’s what we are entirely focused on… It’s a bit painful on the way through…

Growing pains or sacking opportunism?  You decide.  Send the Firm Spy your news and views!

Country & Western music great Kenny Rogers isn’t the only one professing expertise on knowing when to hold and knowing when to fold. In a Firm Spy exclusive, we can reveal today that at least one Articled Clerk from Holding Redlich has been made redundant as part of the firm’s response to the GFC.

The firm’s effort to cut ‘frills and fripperies’ was not enough, it would seem.

The relevant Articled Clerk from the Melbourne office was informed at the culmination of her Articles of Clerkship that she would not be offered a first-year position at the firm. However, in contrast to Deacons, Holding Redlich has agreed to permit her to stay on until her admission ceremony in mid-April.

Will Holding Redlich stop at one? Have more already been ‘folded’?  Let the Firm Spy know first!

Understandably, law firms across Australia are trying to respond to the global financial crisis by cutting costs, and are evaluating everything from staff, to technology budgets to purloined meals.

Holding Redlich managing partner Chris Lovell explained to ALB Legal News that the economic downturn has his firm closely scrutinising the budget.

‘There are a lot of totally discretionary costs that we should have looked at before but we overlooked because everyone was too busy. Things like IT add-ons and tools which frankly I’m not sure people were using anyway. We have also postponed some IT upgrades and scaled back some marketing functions. We still have them, but not as many.’

Even stationery and free food are being questioned by partners.

‘We’re careful not to upset the culture of the firm. We certainly don’t want to compromise the integrity and robustness of the business. But there were a lot of frills and fripperies for which there was no glaring demand.’

Is your firm cutting costs? Let the Firm Spy know first!