Interesting report in Aus Legal Business Online yesterday about the entrepreneurial spirirt taking hold of some Australian lawyers as they seek new ways to stay working in the law….
We find the article interesting because it tells us two things.
Firstly that there are lawyers out there; and quite a few of them it seems, who don’t see their removal from "Big Law" as the end of their career, a positive sign for the legal industry in Australia.
Secondly it highlights what the bigger Australian firms have been attempting to hide, the fact that they have been laying off people musch more aggressively than they’d like us to know.
Aus Legal Business Online introduce their article by saying….
Recent salary freezes at Freehills and Allens Arthur Robinson, as well as redundancies at Blake Dawson and HWL Ebsworth, have caused a significant amount of job insecurity in the legal market. However, it appears that some worried lawyers are not simply praying for a shift in the market – they are becoming more entrepreneurial.
Partner Ken Jagger left Freehills last year to start up his own Western Australian firm called Balance Legal. In response to increasing scrutiny of "surprise bills" and high demand for certainty of fees, the firm tailors fees to its clients’ budgets, with a range of fixed rate options. It offers both external and internal seconded legal services to its clients and employs 11 lawyers. His inspiration came from positive feedback that clients gave after seconded Freehills lawyers began working in their offices. "On the flip side our lawyers enjoyed the secondment too, and it struck me as a potential gap in the Australian legal market that needed to be filled," he said.
Jagger said this fee structure makes the firm more appealing to corporate clients, who now have fewer resources at their disposal due to the global financial crisis. The recession has, in fact, helped the firm to find more short-term work, and "leave its mark".
Read the full article at http://au.legalbusinessonline.com/news/breaking-news/capitalising-on-the-downturn-lawyers-get-entrepreneurial/35042
Still in Australia – this little byline from The New Lawyer maybe give entrpreneurial lawyers a lift.. especially if more UK firms choose the same path..
Simmons & Simmons considers Aus options
UK law firm Simmons & Simmons is preparing a plan to outsrouce work to agency lawyers in low-cost jurisdictions, including Australia. Partners will vote this week on the proposal.
……..and while we are on the subject of Australian law firms and how they like to cope with layoffs.. here’s a perfect example. Lawyers Weekly in Aus contacted the firm Herbert Geer on hearing of redundancies at the firm… this is their report and it illustrates perfectly the, "it’s not your business" approach of Australian law firms with regard to laying people off
Herbert Geer’s “two or three” cuts
Herbert Geer refused to comment when contacted by Lawyers Weekly about specific rumours that the firm had made corporate lawyers from their Brisbane and Melbourne offices redundant.
However, a spokesperson for Herbert Geer said the firm had made "two or three" people redundant and that "we, as do all businesses, have redundancies from time to time".
The spokesperson added that there was no plan for general redundancies at the firm.
