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  • October 14, 2008 |

    Lack of work-life balance could deter talent from profession, says study

    Long hours and barriers to flexible working could cause a drain on the legal profession with young mothers and fathers struggling to find a balance between family and career, new research has found. Legal Lives: Retaining Talent through a Balanced Culture, sponsored by Addleshaw Goddard and compiled by work-life balance charity Working Families, surveyed 13 City law firms on their approach to work-life balance.The study will be published today (14 October) at the Legal Lives conference at the Stock Exchange, to be addressed by Baroness Scotland.

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  • October 13, 2008 |

    Addleshaws makes 16 job cuts over 12 months

    National law firm Addleshaw Goddard has made 16 redundancies over the course of this financial year, it has emerged. The firm has cut two part-time fee earners, while a further 14 support staff have been made redundant, with six being axed from the City office and four each from the firm's branches in Leeds and Manchester. A further part-time fee-earner was also cut last NovemberThe majority of the redundancies were made during July, with some of the redundancies taking place earlier in the year. The number of losses represents the highest number of cuts at the firm in a single year since 2003, with the firm making redundancies every year since 2005.

    1 minute read

  • October 10, 2008 |

    Four firms ranked among top employers for women

    Clifford Chance (CC), Herbert Smith, Addleshaw Goddard and Eversheds have all been recognised as top places to work for women. All four firms feature in The Times's Top 50 'Where Women Want to Work' ranking. Herbert Smith is the only new entrant to the rankings, which are now in their third year. Addleshaws has featured in all three years, with CC and Eversheds making the grade in 2007 in addition to 2008.

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  • October 9, 2008 | International Edition

    Beachcroft launches new mentoring scheme for newly-promoted lawyers

    Beachcroft has launched a mentoring scheme intended to help newly-promoted lawyers adapt to changes in their roles.More than 60 of the national law firm's partners and staff have signed up to mentor lawyers at the firm, as part of a scheme that was officially rolled out at the beginning of the month. The programme, which is primarily aimed at helping salaried partners make the steps to the equity ranks, will also see trainees within the firm assigned a mentor throughout their two-year training contract.Around 25 individuals, including partners, senior associates and human resources officers, have so far been trained as mentors, with a similar number expected to be trained by the end of the month.Lawyers will be able to turn to their mentors for advice on issues concerning their clients, their roles within the firm and their career path. Beachcroft's human resources director, Phil Cousins, said: "In the broadest sense it is to help a gradual cultural shift to a coaching style as opposed to the conventional directive style typical to lawyers. As a result, one of the tactics of the scheme is, in a sense, as much about coaching as it is about mentoring. "Rather than open up the floodgates we are taking a gradual approach so the scheme is welcomed, beneficial and wanted. We need to take it steadily to show that effective mentoring can be achieved."Many of London's law firms, including Berwin Leighton Paisner, Allen & Overy and Addleshaw Goddard, already operate some form of mentoring system for lawyers.Separately, SJ Berwin has become the latest firm to explore the option of alternative career paths. The firm is consulting with its associate solicitors forum about the option of bringing in an alternative to partner, potentially bringing in an 'of counsel' role. Legal Week's assistant report, published late last month, found that 67% of law firms now operate some form of partnership alternative, with firms including Olswang and Nabarro among more recent converts.

    1 minute read

  • October 9, 2008 |

    Beachcroft launches new mentoring scheme for newly-promoted lawyers

    Beachcroft has launched a mentoring scheme intended to help newly-promoted lawyers adapt to changes in their roles.More than 60 of the national law firm's partners and staff have signed up to mentor lawyers at the firm, as part of a scheme that was officially rolled out at the beginning of the month. The programme, which is primarily aimed at helping salaried partners make the steps to the equity ranks, will also see trainees within the firm assigned a mentor throughout their two-year training contract.Around 25 individuals, including partners, senior associates and human resources officers, have so far been trained as mentors, with a similar number expected to be trained by the end of the month.Lawyers will be able to turn to their mentors for advice on issues concerning their clients, their roles within the firm and their career path. Beachcroft's human resources director, Phil Cousins, said: "In the broadest sense it is to help a gradual cultural shift to a coaching style as opposed to the conventional directive style typical to lawyers. As a result, one of the tactics of the scheme is, in a sense, as much about coaching as it is about mentoring. "Rather than open up the floodgates we are taking a gradual approach so the scheme is welcomed, beneficial and wanted. We need to take it steadily to show that effective mentoring can be achieved."Many of London's law firms, including Berwin Leighton Paisner, Allen & Overy and Addleshaw Goddard, already operate some form of mentoring system for lawyers.Separately, SJ Berwin has become the latest firm to explore the option of alternative career paths. The firm is consulting with its associate solicitors forum about the option of bringing in an alternative to partner, potentially bringing in an 'of counsel' role. Legal Week's assistant report, published late last month, found that 67% of law firms now operate some form of partnership alternative, with firms including Olswang and Nabarro among more recent converts.

    1 minute read

  • October 2, 2008 |

    Analysis: The bubble bursts - predictably

    It is hard to imagine an industry that, on paper, is less exposed to asset price bubbles, the vagaries of financial markets or the risks of leverage. And yet, as a string of law firm redundancy announcements in recent weeks have made clear, law firms have been far from immune to the speculative bubble that built up since the mid-1990s in the UK property market.With hundreds of redundancies now announced in real estate (see box, right) - including more than 100 jobs being officially put under threat in redundancy consultations last week alone - it has become clear that UK law firms have too many jobs for a real estate sector that is set to substantially shrink over the next two years. So much for cautious, conservative law firms.

    1 minute read

  • September 25, 2008 |

    A&O and Addleshaws review retirement rules

    Allen & Overy (A&O) and Addleshaw Goddard are reviewing provisions for older partners, as it emerges that many of the UK's top law firms are still struggling to comply with age discrimination laws brought in two years ago. A&O, which has a UK retirement age of 60, is consulting with the partnership about what it needs to do to bring its policies in line with the law, which came into effect on 1 October, 2006. The consultation is understood to be looking at how to help partners once they have retired as well as how to keep those wishing to stay on. Addleshaws, meanwhile, has launched a new initiative giving older partners the option of choosing a flexible working arrangement, with those nearing the law firm's mandatory retirement age of 62 also being offered career counselling. Linklaters is also thought to be intending to look at the issue next year. Legal Week reported earlier this summer that both Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Clifford Chance were looking at options for their partners as they head towards retirement. The impact of age discrimination rules on law firms has come to the fore recently as Field Fisher Waterhouse prepares to face an employment tribunal. The firm's head of trademark and brand protection, John Olsen, has issued a claim of age discrimination and harassment against the law firm. Many firms have already brought in some changes, such as increasing the mandatory retirement age or axing it all together like Ashurst and Berwin Leighton Paisner. However, firms also need to be able to justify the position they have adopted.

    1 minute read

  • September 25, 2008 |

    Stephenson Harwood boosts London and Singapore arms with treble hire

    Stephenson Harwood has bolstered its partnership with the addition of two new partners in London and one in Singapore. Two of the new partners are lateral hires with the third an internal promotion in London. Both of the new partners in London sit within the law firm's tax group. Sanjay Mehta has joined as a partner in the corporate tax department from the City arm of US law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. Mehta, who was a senior associate at Skadden, specialises in advising clients on the tax aspects of banking, M&A, structured and asset finance, private equity and restructuring matters. Meanwhile, the UK firm has also promoted Jeremy Glover to the London partnership. Glover, whose promotion will take effect from 1 October, has been working as a consultant with Stephenson Harwood since the beginning of the year. He specialises in share scheme work, but will also sit within the tax practice. Before joining Stephenson Harwood, Glover spent time with firms including K&L Gates, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Addleshaw Goddard.Stephenson Harwood corporate head Sharon White commented: "The hires fit in with our overall strategy to grow the corporate group with Jeremy enabling us to strengthen our share schemes and incentives offering, and Sanjay our tax practice and further capabilities."In Singapore, Stephenson Harwood has hired admiralty specialist Timothy Elsworth. Elsworth will join the firm as a partner later this month from Australian practice Ebsworth & Ebsworth, where he was a partner for nine years. Before joining the Australian firm Elsworth, a former deck officer, was an admiralty partner with Sinclair Roche & Temperly in Hong Kong, which merged with Stephenson Harwood in 2002. He specialises in marine, offshore and insurance litigation work.Elsworth said: "I was looking for a firm with international work in the region and a high reputation and it all came together with Stephenson Harwood."

    1 minute read

  • September 18, 2008 |

    Addleshaws ushers in new merit-based pay system in effort to reward top performers

    Addleshaw Goddard has switched to a purely merit-based pay system after becoming the last national firm in the top 20 to unveil its salaries for newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers and associates. The firm has moved away from post-qualification experience (PQE) as the basis of its pay structure, instead switching to a merit-based remuneration system in a bid to reward top performers. The new system means the firm no longer has a pay band for each year. Instead, NQs and those with one year's PQE are lumped into one band, with those with between two and four years' experience falling into another. Within those bands salaries will be determined by merit, potentially allowing a lawyer with two years' experience to make more than one with four years' experience. This could mean some associates effectively receive a pay cut if they do not perform. NQs and those with one year's PQE can expect to receive £64,000-£68,000 in London while those in the regions will take home £40,000-£46,000. Those with between two years' and four years' PQE will earn £64,000-£88,000 in London and £60,000-£76,000 in the regions. The firm said: "Like some of the more progressive firms, we have moved away from PQE towards a competency-based environment which rewards high performers. This mirrors our client organisations where there is often no automatic increase, other than on merit."It added: "It is therefore important to understand that while the bands remain the same, individuals will enjoy a pay rise if they have hit their performance objectives."Last year the firm boosted its NQ salaries to £64,000 in London with those in Manchester and Leeds seeing pay increase to £40,000.

    1 minute read

  • September 11, 2008 |

    Addleshaws builds on its real estate division

    Addleshaw Goddard has shaken up its real estate group, appointing partners to head five newly-created income streams and develop a strategic plan.The move, spearheaded by Addleshaws head of property Michael Reevey, will see Manchester-based Mark Haywood and Paul Conroy lead the institutional investors and public sector regeneration groups respectively. London-based Andrew Bailey and Emmett Peters will be responsible for the developers and real estate finance groups respectively, while Andrew Shufflebotham will head up the occupiers and retailers group. All were appointed over the summer and will be responsible for drawing up a one-year and five-year strategic plan by October, looking at goals for each division, such as clients to target, size of teams and expected growth in fee income. Growing London will be a focal point, as will strengthening ties with referral firms in other jurisdictions, particularly France, Spain and Germany. Real estate, which accounts for a quarter of the firm's annual turnover, was the second largest division by fee income last year, accounting for £46.5m in 2007-08. The team consists of 47 partners including 14 in London. Clients include Travelodge, Sainsbury's and Zurich.

    1 minute read