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Every cloud...

11 June 2009 / Simon Young
Issue: 7373 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Savvy firms will benefit from the recession blues, says Simon Young

Many law firms will have had difficult times over the last year or so in dealing with over-staffing issues and the conduct of redundancy programmes. In a profession where often working lives are spent in one firm only, and there are ties of loyalty both up and down, this has often been traumatic.

The depth of feeling against firms which have had to take these steps can be seen by the various blogs, and comments posted against the newswires declaring each latest batch of bad news. Ironically, these have often focused on the methods adopted by management, even where the necessity for cuts has been admitted. So, how can it possibly be suggested that there may be plus points resulting from these moves, as they move forward into post-recovery trading times?

The truth

The honest if unpalatable truth is that for some firms the clearances were a godsend, and offered a chance to take tough management decisions which otherwise would never have been made,

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found
Lawyers have broadly welcomed plans to electronically tag up to 22,000 more offenders, scrap most prison terms below a year and make prisoners ‘earn’ early release
David Lammy, Ellie Reeves and Baroness Levitt have taken up office at the Ministry of Justice, following the cabinet reshuffle
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