At a time when a flood of displaced, jobless workers are turning to university to refresh their education and ‘upskill’, at very significant personal financial cost, it has emerged that a Mallesons partner has accepted a lucrative scholarship to what is reported to be Harvard University.

We have received word that the partner, who presumably has a personal worth of many millions of dollars, is embarking on a one-year scholarship. The departing partner is rumoured to have presided over the firm when fellow Mallesons partner Ian Paterson openly suggested:

We can sack now until there is no one considered to be spare.

Doubtless, Mallesons lawyers are happy that there is now one less ‘spare’ lawyer!  Unfortunately for the thousands of jobless flocking back to university, it cannot be said that there are many ‘spare’ scholarships.

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In yet another manifestation of the global economic meltdown, accounting firm Fordhams has unceremoniously told

2009 graduates to

Accept a payment of $10,000 and walk, or defer your graduate position until 2010.

No confirmation yet as to acceptances, but one imagines that with the incredibly compelling advertising campaign in which a narrator says ‘we know times are tough, but at Holden, we’re even tougher’,
that a few grads will trade in their Fordham for a Holden.

Finally some confirmation today about the worst-kept secret pervading Australian law-firm office space!

Corrs Chambers Westgarth are taking the unprecedented move of offering 2009 graduates a whopping $10,000 to defer their graduate employment. At this stage the cash offer has been limited to Brisbane and Sydney offices and has been created to stymie what the partnership has, as quoted in the Financial Review, termed a ‘temporary over-capacity’. The Firm Spy has, however, received several reports that it is more than the fleeting issue suggested by the partners and is, as one Corrs Firm Spy put it,

‘ a rampant finger-twiddling exercise where junior lawyers are openly questioning why they are travelling to work each day.’

FYI - today’s exchange rate with the Thai Baht is 23 THB. One Aussie dollar will buy you 23 BAHT!

The Firm Spy has crunched the numbers and come up with the following year-long deferment plan:

- Jetstar direct from Sydney to Phuket - March 5 2009 costs $311 (balance $9689);
- Rooms on Ko Panyang start from as little as 200baht per night (balance $6515);
- Thai buckets cost 200baht (one per night leaves a balance of $3314);
- Food each day would cost about 150baht (balance $793);
- Return flight on 1 March 2009 will probably be under $400 (those flights arent yet listed) (balance $393).

Deferring Corrs grads who live within their means can therefore look forward to an entire year of Thai holidaying and have enough money for their first week back at work!

If anyone is curious why www.jetstar.com.au experienced a temporary outage yesterday, look no further than the offices

of Corrs Chambers Westgarth. In a staggering move, the Corrs partnership revealed yesterday that it had calculated a stifling equation to respond to the global economic environment; to give lawyers money for nothing.

Corrs has offered staff a 12 month leave of absence on an incredible 20% pay. An average 3rd year senior associate would pocket approx $30,000 under the scheme for doing … no chores at Corrs!

Holidays on the house! Crack out the bubbly!

A firm spokesman said in a statement:

‘we are doing what we can to manage overcapacity where we have it, including offering flexible working arrangments to our staff.’

No inside reports from any Corrs Firm Spies, but we invite emails on holiday plans for the forthcoming year!