Sparke Helmore’s departing Managing Partner John Davis announced last week:

no prosperity in the dole line

Sparke Helmore had a strong year with pleasing revenue of $95 million, up 8 per cent on last year. Our strategic plan provides a framework for us to build on that and aims to achieve targeted growth for the prosperity of our four main stakeholders - clients, staff, partners and the communities in which we operate.

Questions must be asked over the bold assertion that Sparke ‘aims to achieve … growth the prosperity of … staff’ given the apparent readiness of the firm to sack staff when partner profits are placed in jeopardy. Way back in October 2008, just as the GFC was beginning to strike, Sparke took a ‘sack-now-ask-questions-later’ approach in laying off several workers. This was later supplemented by the unmerciful redundancy of Masterchef good-guy Tom Mosby. The entire affair left Mosby “angry” and “frustrated”, not thanking Sparke Helmore for “growth” in his “prosperity”.

Should law firms do more to keep jobs? Should partners accept smaller profits to keep people employed?

Send the Firm Spy your news and views!

In May this year, we exclusively revealed that Tom Mosby’s redundancy from Sparke Helmore left him ‘angry’ and ‘frustrated’:

I went through a period of anger and frustration over the couple of days following this but then picked myself up and started to look at is as a positive thing, allowing me to change the course of my future

Mosby may ditch the apron for a suit

career … I started looking at other options … Then I suddenly saw the advert for MasterChef.

Despite this harrowing experience, Mosby has declined to rule out a return to the law. This from a recent interview:

Interviewer: Are you happy to have left Law behind you?

Tom: I have not left law behind. MasterChef was an opportunity that came along at a time when I was ready to try something new. Whilst I am open to opportunities that may arise because of Masterchef, my legal career is still very important to me.

We wish Tom the very best of luck as he embarks on this new chapter of his life.

Send the Firm Spy your news and views!

It is little wonder that Tom Mosby, a former Sparke Helmore and Clayton Utz lawyer, has decided to ditch the suit for an apron. People always need food, though not, as is becoming increasingly evident, fat and arrogant lawyers.

Mosby was one of several Sparke Helmore lawyers made redundant late last year. In his biography for the show he notes:

This was fate. If I wasn’t made redundant I never would have applied…  I was working in law [at Sparke Helmore] in Brisbane when I was made redundant…  I went through a period of anger and

I went through a period of anger and frustration

frustration, over the couple of days following this but then picked myself up and started to look at is as a positive thing, allowing me to change the course of my future career … I started looking at other options … Then I suddenly saw the advert for MasterChef. I kept it on the backburner and then eventually did the application on the last day. I was quite philosophical about it and then I got the call. If I wasn’t made redundant I never would have applied.

No word yet on whether Tom will serve up a bowl of poo ice cream to his former employer if he wins the program, though no doubt the deserving Sparke Helmore partners can ill-afford client lunches at present anyhow.

The Firm Spy wishes Tom the best of luck!

Send your news and views to the Firm Spy!

With regular reports of international law-firm redundancies a regular news-cast, talk in the Australian landscape has

Lost that sparke

As reported in the Financial Review, Sparke Helmore head of HR, Damian Dooley, has confirmed that 3 staff members were made redundant as ‘part of normal organisational change’. Two of the three redundancies were legal staff members.

Sparke Helmore is yet to confirm whether the lawyers and staff lost represent the entire number of employees it intends to make redundant as its response to the GFC.  If you know more than us, let us know! Share your thoughts and comments with the Firm Spy.