Actually as the New Lawyer reports .. they’ve sacked 50% of their staff…
They report that Its chief executive Eva Scheerlinck, a lawyer named as a "young gun" executive by a management magazine in 2007, is also one of the departing members.
here’s the report….
The alliance, formerly known as Plaintiff Lawyers Association, also ousted its chief financial officer, two sponsorship officers and two assistants. Alliance national president Mark Blumer said the restructure was the result of financial pressures on the group.
The board, comprised of state directors, wanted to take a new strategic approach as well, journalist Susannah Moran reports today.
"We want to change the way the organisation works, that is the management team will focus on financial and management matters," said Blumer. Directors and members, meanwhile, will focus on promoting policy issues, he said.
The six departing staff will be replaced by three new positions, including a general manager, a bookkeeper and a sponsorship assistant.
Membership has been static in recent years and the previous level of staffing could not be sustained in the current economic climate, Blumer said.
http://www.thenewlawyer.com.au/article/lawyers-alliance-sacks-half-its-staff/489968.aspx
Australian Lawyers Alliance http://www.lawyersalliance.com.au/
Here is their press release in full
A new start for the Australian Lawyers Alliance
Thursday, 9 July, 2009
The Australian Lawyers Alliance today announced a restructure of its head office staff, involving redundancies for several staff members, including highly respected CEO, Eva Scheerlinck.
Ms Scheerlinck, during her six and a half years as CEO, led the organisation’s push against the ‘reforms’ to the laws of negligence in 2002, helped mobilise support of David Hicks in 2007 and led the organisation through major evolutionary change into one that is explicitly concerned with human rights issues.
ALA national president, Mark Blumer, said that the restructure was necessary to face the present challenging economic environment, as well as to make sure that the organisation was able to focus on meeting its twin-policy objectives to restore fairness in personal injury law and to advance human rights around Australia.
“We need to strengthen the financial skill-set of our management team, so that directors and members can concentrate their efforts where their skills lie – in personal injury law and policy and human rights. To this end, we are seeking a general manager whose focus will be robust financial and operational management,” Mr Blumer said. “The rest of the restructure follows on from that need, as well as reducing the overall costs of the organisation, to ensure our survival. We think that it is very important that an organisation like ours continues to exist and thrive.”
The ALA is a national association of mostly lawyers whose motto is “Lawyers for the People”. Some of the projects currently being advanced by the organisation include measured tort reform rollback, a campaign aimed at improving human rights protections in Australia, improving access to justice (in particular contributing to COAG’s review of legal costs regulation), contributing to the proposed harmonisation of workers compensation schemes around Australia, advocating increased legal aid funding, attempting to address indigenous disadvantage under the law and many other national projects. In addition, the state and territory branches work on local policy and lobbying projects.
“We sincerely regret the loss of our very knowledgeable staff members,” said Mr Blumer, “but we are confident other employers will recognise their value and find a way of using their skills and experience. They leave with the directors’ and members’ best wishes and thanks for the great work they have done.”
