www.lawyersweekly.com.au

IN-DEPTH

CANBERRA CATFIGHT

Law fi rms sharpen their claws

APPOINTMENTS

HOLMAN WEBB RECRUITAnother DLA partner quits

THIS WEEK

HOURLY FEE HIKE Why in-house lawyers must do their homework

535 Print Post Approved 255003/05160

PRESSURE POINTSWhere solicitors are falling down in private practice

Friday 27 May 2011

FOLKLAW

LOWERING THE BARThe Golden Gavel’s wittiest one-liners

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Hong Kong | Corporate M&A4 – 8 yearsThis highly regarded growth oriented international law firm is searching for a Commonwealth qualified M&A specialist for a high profile role involving mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and advisory work. Experience gained from a top tier or respected mid tier law firm together with solid academics are desired. Chinese speaking ability is helpful but is not necessary for this role. Ref: HK/4233/RL

Beijing | Project Finance3 – 6 yearsOur client is one of the leading global law firms for project finance transactions advising on complex project structuring and development, financing and large scale construction in China. A role for a Commonwealth qualified associate with strong technical ability in drafting and negotiation of offtake, concession, supply and marketing agreements as well as EPC/ O&M agreements are urgently needed. Mandarin helpful but not essential. Ref: BEI/4264/RL

Singapore | Projects 4 years +A new position with a global law firm has become available for a project lawyer from a top or mid tier law firm to advise major international clients on the acquisition, development and construction of major off shore infrastructure projects and related joint ventures, sales and acquisitions involving water, power and oil-and gas projects in SE Asia. Knowledge of EPC contracts is essential. Ref: SIN/4249/RL

International

For a full list of active roles that Dolman is working on throughout Australia and worldwide visit www.dolman.com.au

For further information, please contact one of our consultants: Daniel Stirling, Gail Greener, Olivia Harvey and Ralph Laughton. Sydney (02) 9231 3022 Melbourne (03) 8637 7317 or email dolman@dolman.com.au

Sydney | Employment3 – 4 yearsThis leading national law firm has a new role providing expert advice with a commercial focus to a broad client base of both private and public sector employers. You will be well versed with the court process, possess a sound working knowledge of the OH&S laws, have the ability to draft pleadings, evidence and other court documents, brief counsel and work on smaller litigation cases with little supervision. Ref: SYD/4224/GG

Sydney | OHSS2 – 4 years and Senior AssociateTwo roles are available within a team whose clients encompass major corporations and public sector agencies across several industries. The work involves a range of front end compliance work and advising on regulatory investigations. At the senior level it will be important to demonstrate a breadth of knowledge in this area in order to bring a strategic focus to regulatory compliance issues. Ref: SYD/4261/RL

Sydney | Employment Senior AssociateExcellent opportunity for a senior associate to join this growing national firm and work with an accredited specialist. You will work on a diverse range of contentious and non-contentious matters including industrial/employment disputes, drafting a variety of employment agreements, and advising on equal opportunity and OH&S matters for blue chip clients. Clients include corporates from a range of industry sectors and government bodies. Ref: SYD/4022/RL

Private Practice Sydney | Insurance2 – 3 yearsJoin this successful and busy insurance team working for a wide range of high calibre clients. This is a new opportunity for a junior lawyer with at least 2 years experience from a well regarded practice working on commercial litigation or insurance litigation matters. You will gain experience on a variety of insurance matters including professional indemnity, public liability and range of general insurance matters. Ref: SYD/4258/GG

Sydney | Junior Construction2 – 4 yearsAn ambitious junior lawyer is needed to work with one of Australia’s most recognised firms. You’ll work on top quality matters representing domestic and international clients in a supportive team environment. To qualify for this position you will need strong technical and commercial skills and possess excellent communication ability. Ideally, you will have gained your experience in a top tier or quality mid tier firm. Ref. SYD/4252/RL

Sydney | Structured Finance3 – 6 yearsFew firms in Australia have the ability to provide seamless financial solutions across a wide range of industries and jurisdictions. This role offers an opportunity to advise leading corporates and investment banks on complex public and private financings involving the development of structured products for retail and wholesale offerings. Experience from a top tier or equivalent firm or investment bank and solid academics are essential. Ref. SYD/4250/RL

Brisbane | Property Lawyer3 – 5 yearBusy and collegiate Property team seeks a mid-level lawyer with a solid background with property development and off the plan work. You will be proficient with drafting leases and contracts, due diligence and have previously worked on a range of commercial, residential and retail property issues. Competitive remuneration, excellent benefits and bonus scheme. Become a specialist in this field and learn from the best. Ref: BRI/4262/GG

Melbourne | TMT2 – 3 years Working with down to earth partners that are committed to the ongoing development and mentoring of more junior lawyers, this role will see you working on major outsourcing and technology deals, technology commercialisation and strategy, IT contracts, e-commerce and new technologies for the internet and mobile industries. The ideal candidate will have at least two years experience in technology law gained with a reputable firm. Ref: MEL 4255 RL

Perth | Construction3 – 4 yearsThis premier national firm seeks a junior lawyer to join their busy construction team to work on complex and major issues. You will have previous experience working on construction insurance, be familiar with the Security of Payment Act, have detailed knowledge of the relevant legislation, litigation expertise and court processes, drafting contracts and court documents including preparing advices, briefing counsel, and attending on preliminary and interlocutory appearances. Ref: PER/4087/GG

InhouseSydney | IT5 years+This major technology group is currently seeking a dynamic and commercially focused lawyer with strong IT Law experience. High-level work will involve drafting & negotiation of complex agreements relating to outsourcing (IT and BPO), systems integration and consulting transactions as well as provision of strategic legal advice to senior management. Major law firm and/or blue-chip technology company background required. Ref: SYD/4183/DS

Sydney | Construction (Front-end)5 years +This major construction corporation is seeking an experienced front end construction lawyer. You will take a lead role on a range of major projects advising on PPPs, Alliance agreements and other related matters. The successful candidate will have 5 years front-end or mixed front and back end construction experience gained at a top firm or recognised industry player. Great role with an impressive company. Ref: SYD/4260/OH

Sydney | Financial Services5 – 7 yearsThis leading financial services provider has a rare opportunity for a highly motivated Financial Planning Lawyer to join their expanding team. You will be working closely with key business units providing all aspects of financial planning advice. Strong financial services experience (ideally in financial planning) gained in a major law firm and/or corporate environment and a high degree of commerciality are essential. Ref: SYD/4257/OH

Sydney | Construction 3 – 5 yearsThis internationally recognised Construction & Engineering company has a new opportunity for a dynamic lawyer to handle negotiations and advice on a range of high-profile projects. Front-end or mixed Construction Law experience required from a major law firm and/or a leading company in the infrastructure sector. Work directly with the business and take responsibility for your own portfolio of internal clients! Ref: SYD/4189/DS

Sydney | Corporate Insurance4 years +This leading, ASX listed insurance and financial services provider is experiencing real growth across the business. They have a new role for a top-tier lawyer with strong experience in advising on insurance products, related legislation and broader corporate/commercial matters including transactional work. Strong future prospects and an excellent package are available within a large & collegiate team! Ref: SYD/4179/DS

Sydney | Commercial/FS1 – 3 yearsLeading listed financial services company has a new, varied role for an outgoing and commercial junior lawyer to join their team. Wide range of work available including retail finance, commercial contracts, marketing/TPA etc. Experience in one or more of these areas gained at a major firm is required. Rare opportunity for a junior lawyer to move into a major corporation! Ref: SYD/4234/DS

Private Practice Private Practice Private Practice

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“This is the fi rst major market disruption of this kind that we have had”David Briggs, from Mallesons, on HWL Ebsworth’s recent announcement that it has poached six of DLA Piper’s Canberra-based partners

Contents

6 THIS WEEK: A round-up of the latest legal news

10 IN-DEPTH: Retaining clients is already hard work for law fi rms in Canberra. Now a new competitor has made the playing fi eld even tougher. Justin Whealing reports

20 CAREER COUNSEL: Job satisfaction and work culture rate more highly for lawyers than the pay packet

22 FOLKLAW: The lighter side of the law

Regulars

16 COVER STORY: Low job satisfaction levels and mental health issues have plagued the legal profession for years. But why are lawyers so unhappy? A recent roundtable debated this and other issues threatening the viability of private practice. Angela Priestley reports Angela Priestley reports Angela Priestley

Features

16

10

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Editor’sNoteFinally, the legal profession has reached a point where it can openly discuss one of its most fundamental, albeit silent, issues.

That is the extent of unhappiness among its practitioners, and how such sentiment can funnel into frustration and ultimately lead to mental health problems like anxiety and depression.

The point was driven home by some of the industry’s key leaders at a roundtable discussion organised by LexisNexis last week. Participants conceded that not only does the profession have a problem with dissatisfaction in its ranks, but that everyone – law schools, law fi rms, law societies and lawyers themselves – has a role to play in addressing the problem.

The roundtable was not set up to specifi cally talk about job satisfaction for lawyers; rather, the issue emerged as a general thread in a discussion covering the changing role of technology in law, the increasing demands of clients, charging, the global-isation of the profession and the high incidence of depression among private practice practitioners.

By highlighting these broader issues, some solutions to the dissatisfaction epidemic affl icting private practice lawyers were canvassed. For example, in outlining the issue of alternative pricing via the success of an “all-you-can-eat” billing arrange-ment with a key Norton Rose client, partner Nick Abrahams noted that the benefi t for his fi rm was an enhanced client relationship with the team involved and a greater sense of “ownership” – something the roundtable agreed is lacking for junior lawyers and which has a bearing on their job satisfaction.

Then there was the point, raised by eBay’s Katrina Johnson and backed by Holding Redlich’s Ian Robertson, that to clients, law fi rms at the top end of town are interchangeable, with general counsel preferring to “cherry-pick” the best lawyers in each territory rather than seek blanket legal coverage. Others said clients enjoy receiving advice from a lawyer who isn’t afraid to express their view on the matter at hand. This tied into earlier points that lawyers can become dissatisfi ed due to their inability to express their opinion, individuality and creativity.

Could allowing lawyers to better express their individuality help to create more “cherry-picking” talent for clients, while at the some time making lawyers more satisfi ed with their career? Could having them work more closely with clients, especially via alternative pricing arrangements, assist lawyers in gaining a sense of mastery over their work?

These aren’t the only answers, but alongside other initiatives supported by the profession, they could certainly help.

Catch the new NSW Attorney-General on stage with his band, plus much more from Law Week celebrations, on Lawyers Weekly TV.

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TOP 10 STORIES ONLINE THIS WEEK

1 Aussie dreams could fade for global giants 2 Golden Gavel entrants sex up law

for laughs3 Work quality trumps money for

lawyer happiness4 In-house must step up or lose out 5 Palin not charged due to lack of

AFP resources6 Report links billable-hour targets

with bullying 7 Ex-Hardie lawyers granted High

Court appeal 8 Mallesons examines diversity 9 Lawyers can change negative perceptions 10 Starting the conversation on LPO

E D I T O R I A L B O A R D Lawyers Weekly is delighted to have the following

industry leaders on its editorial board

A B O U T U S Editor: Angela Priestley

Deputy Editor: Justin Whealing Contributors: Claire Chaffey, Briana Everett,

Sarah O’Carroll, Ben NiceDesign Manager: Anthony Vandenberg

Production Editor: Vanessa FazzinoGroup Production Manager: Kirsten Wissel

Group Sales Manager Adrian Fellowes

SUBSCRIBE TODAYLawyers Weekly is published weekly and is

available by subscription. Please email subscriptions@lawyersweekly.com.au

All subscription payments should be sent to: Locked Bag 2333, Chatswood D/C, Chatswood NSW 2067

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adrian.fellowes@lexisnexis.com.au(02) 9422 2134 (mob) 0407 489 060

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EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES: Angela Priestley

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Lawyers Weekly, Level 1 Tower 2, 475 Victoria Ave, Chatswood NSW 2067

CAB MEMBER SINCESEPTEMBER 2000

Copyright is reserved throughout. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the express written permission of the publisher. Contributions are invited, but copies of all work should be kept, as Lawyers Weekly can accept no responsibility for loss. Lawyers Weekly and LexisNexis are divisions of Reed International Books Australia Pty Limited, ACN 001 002 357 Level 1 Tower 2, 475 Victoria Ave, Chatswood NSW 2067 tel (02) 9422 2203 fax (02) 9422 2946 ISSN 1833-5209 Important Privacy Notice: You have both a right of access to the personal information we hold about you and to ask us to correct if it is inaccurate or out of date. Please direct any queries to: The Privacy Offi cer, LexisNexis Australia or email privacy@lexisnexis.com.au. © 2010 Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd (ABN 70 001 002 357) trading as LexisNexis. LexisNexis and the Knowledge Burst logo are registered trademarks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., and used under licence.

THIS WEEK

Editor, Angela Priestley

Nick Abrahams Partner and

Sydney chairman, Norton Rose

Helen McKenzie Deputy

managing partner,

Blake Dawson

Sharon Cook Managing

partner, Henry Davis York

David CowlingPartner,

Clayton Utz

Ewen Crouch Chairman of

partners, Allens Arthur Robinson

Sue GilchristPartner and

practice leader (intellectual

property group), Freehills

Andrew GrechManaging director, Slater & Gordon

Will IrvingGroup general counsel, Telstra Corporation

Joe CatanzaritiPartner, Clayton Utz

Robert MillinerChief executive partner, Mallesons Stephen Jaques

Megan PittDirector, Australian Government Solicitor

Lucinda SmithPartner, Thomson Lawyers

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thisweek

Mallesons examines firm diversityMallesons Stephen Jaques is conducting a

survey to gather data on partner and staff views regarding diversity and inclusion at the firm. The confidential and voluntary survey covers diversity characteristics such as cultural heritage, spoken languages, religious affiliation, children, sexual orientation and career status.

Clutz ups paid parental leaveClayton Utz has announced that staff will be eligible for 18

weeks paid parental leave. Staff with five-plus years of continuous service will be entitled to up to 36 weeks leave – including the Federal Government’s Paid Parental Leave scheme, which provides 18 weeks leave for individuals earning less than $150,000 a year – effective immediately.

Griffith Uni to host student conferenceImproving legal skills is top of the agenda at the

2011 Queensland Law Students Association Conference to be hosted by the Griffith University Student Law Association. The two-day event, on 28-29 May, has attracted representatives from universities across Queensland, with the conference agenda to include the State Championship Legal Skills Competition and the inaugural Queensland Law Student Association Social Justice Forum.

Lawyers to visit Aboriginal communitiesThe NSW Law Society has organised a walk-

ing tour of Aboriginal communities in the NT as part of a reconciliation program. The week-long tour in September includes “fire-side chats” with the Arrernte people of Hermannsburg, 130km south-west of Alice Springs. The society said members will “walk on country to better understand the sense of connection that Aboriginal people feel to their homelands and how that relates to Aboriginal law”.

Visit www.lawyersweekly.com.au for daily news updates.

A KEY figure in a recent British inquiry into the Iraq war will be speaking at an ADR conference in Sydney.

Lord Peter Goldsmith was the Attorney-General of the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2007, a period that saw UK involvement in the American-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Since leaving office on the same day that Tony Blair resigned as the British prime minister in 2007, Goldsmith has caused controversy by giving evidence before the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq invasion, describing himself as being “uncomfortable” about some of Blair’s public statements regarding his government’s reasons for committing British forces to the invasion.

Goldsmith is now the head of the European litigation practice of the American-based global firm Debevoise & Plimpton. He will be one of several speakers at The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ (CIArb) Asia-Pacific Conference 2011.

Doug Jones, a Clayton Utz partner and head of CIArb, was able to use his international connections to ensure Sydney hosted the event. With the opening of the Australian International Disputes Centre in Sydney last year, Australia is now looking to challenge Hong Kong and Singapore as the pre-eminent regional destination for hosting commercial arbitration disputes.

“In five years we have a very good chance to be

The Web

RE W IND

Blair’s A-G in Sydney

Penny Wong (left), the federal Finance Minister, shot down criticism that the budget didn’t do enough to ensure mortgage rates wouldn’t rise, saying the 2011/12 budget was much tougher than the previous one.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced it would support plans for a compensation scheme to protect investors burned by events such as the Storm Financial collapse.

Former Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull created controversy by indicating he would like to lead the Liberal Party once again and undercutting Tony Abbott’s policy on climate change.

Japan’s earthquake and tsunami resulted in a shrinking of the country’s economy that was far worse than expected, with gross domestic product dropping by 3.7 per cent in three months.

France’s finance minister, Christine Lagarde, was named as favourite to replace the disgraced former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned after sexual assault claims.

seen as a viable option in the region for a neutral place for holding international arbitration,” Jones told Lawyers Weekly last month.

“So that when people talk about negotiating arbitration clauses in the Asia-Pacific, they say there is Sydney, Singapore and Hong Kong.”

Other speakers include Attorney-General Robert McClelland; former High Court chief justice Murray Gleeson; outgoing NSW Chief Justice James Spigelman; BHP Billiton general counsel Damian Lovell; Peter Rees QC, the legal director of Royal Dutch Shell; and Chiann Bao, secretary general of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre.

The conference starts today and continues tomorrow.

xadr conferencex

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thisweek

THE $100 million out-of-court settlement for local investors of the Lehman Brothers-backed Mahogany Capital Ltd is a positive development for global investors who have lost savings on complicated fi nancial products, according to Henry Davis York partner Alex Mufford, who advised Perpetual on the settlement.

The deal, reached in New York in November 2010, was successfully won by Perpetual on behalf of 1000 investors and has been kept confi dential until this week.

Mufford told Lawyers Weekly that the settlement followed two years of complicated proceedings undertaken in Australia, the UK and the US and, in a few weeks, will shortly see investors receive around $100 million of the $125 million they collectively invested into the credit-linked notes of Mahogany Capital between 2005 and 2007.

“Unlike a lot of other investors around the world who invested in similar prod-ucts, our guys are getting their money back now and they are not still subject to an ultimate outcome in courts in England and the United States, which might end

Allion enlists Corrs principal Allion Legal has appointed Simon Rear as a principal in the fi rm’s corporate

practice group. Rear joins Allion from Corrs Chambers Westgarth, where he has worked since his 2009 return from Herbert Smith.

Holman snaps up DLA partnerFormer DLA Phillips Fox partner Alison Choy Flannigan

has joined the Sydney offi ce of commercial fi rm Holman Webb.Flannigan brings two decades of experience as a corporate and commercial lawyer specialising in the health, aged care and life science industries. Prior to DLA Phillips Fox, Flannigan was general counsel, corporate and commercial, at private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care.

Mallesons takes NAB’s diversity head National Australia Bank’s former head of

diversity and inclusion, Neil Cockroft, has joined Mallesons Stephen Jaques as the fi rm’s diversity leader. Cockroft will work closely with Mallesons’ diversity council, partners and staff to drive programs that attract, retain and develop talent.

Shine steals Maurice Blackburn super specialistShine Lawyers has recruited insurance and

superannuation specialist Melissa Payne from Maurice Blackburn. She joins the fi rm as department manager of income protection insurance and superannuation claims. Payne brings 12 years of experience, including her role as leader of Maurice Blackburn’s superannuation and insurance group since 2010.

Deal name: Perpetual settlement with Lehman BrothersKey players: Henry Davis York; Sidley Austin; Gabriel Moss QC (London)

Movers &

Shakers

DE A L OF THE W EEK

DE A L M A K ERS

Bart Oude-Vrielink Scott Alden Niranjan Arasaratnam

Firm Minter Ellison (Gloucester); Clayton Utz (Noble); Freehills (underwriters)

DLA Piper Allens Arthur Robinson (Experian); Mallesons Stephen Jacques (banks)

Deal name Gloucester Coal on proposed acquisition of Donaldson Coal Holdings and Ellemby Holdings

Housing NSW on Cowper Street Glebe Housing Project

Experian on establishment of new credit provider service in Australia

Area Energy and resources Property Banking and fi nance

Value Up to $2 billion Not disclosed $30 milllion

Key players Minter Ellison’s John Steven and Bart Oude-Vrielink

DLA Piper’s Scott Alden Allens’ Niranjan Arasaratnam

Lawyer hails win for Lehman investors

up being at odds or in confl ict with each other,” said Mufford.

The investors involved in Perpetual’s settlement held similar products to those that are currently the subject of class action proceedings against the liquidators of Lehman Brothers Australia in the Federal Court, added Mufford.

“The real difference was, fi rst of all, the investors here were mums and dads and retail investors rather than larger investors taking a couple of million dollars at a time,” he said.

Mufford’s team fought the matter in the UK Supreme Court (formerly the House of Lords), and it was expecting to follow a similar course in the US until the out-of-court settlement was reached.

HDY, which has represented Perpetual since Lehman Brothers fi led for bankrupt-cy in 2008, was assisted by lawyers from Sidley Austin in London, and leading UK insolvency barrister Gabriel Moss QC.

HDY’s cross-disciplinary team, led by Mufford, included partners Scott Atkins and John Martin, along with senior associates Laura Farley and Kylie Lowder.

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thisweek

Palin off the hook for Assange commentsSARAH PALIN will not be charged for inflammatory comments about Julian Assange, due to a lack of Australian Federal Police (AFP) resources, according to his lawyer.

Robert Stary, who is Assange’s Australian lawyer, told Lawyers Weekly he made represen­tations to the AFP, seeking to have Palin and 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee charged for what he deemed to be comments that were “an incitement to violence” against Assange.

In December last year, Palin urged Assange to “be pursued with the same urgency that we pursue al­Qaeda and Taliban leaders”, while Huckabee said those involved in the leaking of US Government material had “blood on their hands” for the lives they had endangered.

“We said at the time that if Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee want to engage in that sort of rhetoric, then the Australian Government should

charge them, and we made a formal complaint to the AFP,” said Stary. “Due to the scarcity of resources in the organisation and the limits of funding and priorities, they said they would not pursue the complaint.”

The Commonwealth Criminal Code deems it an offence to make calls to commit violence against Australian citizens, which might include the psychological and mental harm that any comments might cause. The code applies to non­nationals making threats against Australians.

“The complaints were made as an attempt to quell the incitement to violence that Palin, Huckabee and others had engaged in,” he said.

Addressing the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) conference in Victoria, Stary said he is providing logistical support to Assange’s UK legal team ahead of the WikiLeaks founder’s British High Court appeal on 12 July against his extra di­ tion to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations.

Stary described the “Swedish thing” as a “regrettable distraction from the important work that Julian Assange and WikiLeaks does” and, while he dismisses conspiracy theories in relation to US Government involvement in the allegations against Assange, he said his client’s legal team are still concerned about the possibility that he could eventually be extradited to the US.

Stary, who defended Jack Thomas – the first Australian to be accused under anti­terror laws – said that unlike other political and terror­related matters he has acted on, there seemed to be a much wider consensus of views about Assange and the WikiLeaks website. “All the responses we have received from the general and legal communities have been favourable.”

In other news from the ALA conference, a Civil Justice Award was presented to a member of Rolah McCabe’s family in recognition of the lung cancer victim’s campaign against British American Tobacco. McCabe died in 2002.

MORE THAN 5000 “mum and dad” investors who lost money in the 2007 collapse of Fincorp Investments will share in a $29 million class action settlement approved by the Federal Court of Australia last Friday.

The settlement was negotiated by Slater & Gordon, which launched the class action in August 2009 to pursue compensation on behalf of the investors from Sandhurst Trustees Ltd, the appointed trustees of Fincorp.

In the first time the Corporations Act has been used to recover compensation from a trustee, Slater & Gordon alleged that Sandhurst had breached its duties as a trustee for investors.

THE UNITED Nations treaty system is crumbling and urgently needs reform if it is to be effective, according to 2011 Senior Australian of the Year and Emeritus Professor Ron McCallum AO.

Speaking at a Law Week breakfast hosted by Minter Ellison in Sydney on 18 May, McCallum – who is totally blind – said a lack of funding, coupled with a growing number of treaty bodies, is crippling the system.

McCallum, who is chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, said that while he believes in the UN and what it stands for, the increase in the number of treaty bodies from five to nine over the past 10 years – with another two to be established shortly – means UN funds are being stretched to breaking point. As a result, many countries are unable to meet their reporting obligations, making the treaty system futile.

“Conventions are words on paper and we want to make them living,” said McCallum, who also teaches law at the University of Sydney and is a consultant at HWL Ebsworth. “And the only way to do that is if nations [meet their reporting requirements].”

He said it is generally considered a victory if only 50 per cent of countries that are party to a UN treaty meet their reporting requirements, but the number of nations able to fund staff to fulfil reporting obligations under a growing number of treaties is dwindling.

“The system will grind to a halt unless something is done.”

McCallum also spoke of the impor­tance of non­governmental organisations (NGOs) in ensuring that the true situation of human rights in any given country comes to light.

“When governments report, the temp­ tation is to look as good as possible,” he said. “Most countries don’t want to hang out all their dirty washing at once... We rely on alternative reports from NGOs.”

A review of the UN treaty system, which McCallum will take part in, is currently being planned.

$29m settlement vindicates Fincorp investors

xgrowth unsustainablex xpolice under-resourcedx

xclass actionx

“These laws mean that when a company like Sandhurst acts as trustee for a company that raises money from the public, and when the fund­raising company involved folds, there might still be an avenue for justice for investors,” said Slater & Gordon litigation lawyer Odette McDonald.

McDonald said the settlement was vindication for the mostly “mum and dad and retiree investors” roped into purchasing a product they mistakenly believed was safe due to “clever marketing tactics”.

While secured investors have already received funds through the liquidation process, this is the first time unsecured investors have been able to recover any money since the collapse of Fincorp.

UN treaty system close to collapse

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thisweek

Partner fired for $1.5m fraudUK firm Hogan Lovells has sacked senior litigator and partner Christopher Grierson for claiming more than $1.5 million in false expenses over four years,

reports The Lawyer. Following an internal investigation, Grierson was dismissed and has been reported to the State Revenue Authority. A firm spokesperson said Grierson co-operated with the firm’s investigation and agreed to repay the full amount.

Vodafone shakes up panelVodafone has commenced a review of its global and UK legal advisers, marking the first time the UK panel has been reviewed in six

years, reports Legal Week. The review will include external law firms advising both Vodafone UK and Vodafone Group globally. UK-based Vodafone Group competi tion head Nick Woodrow will lead the process, which is expected to be finalised by July.

Firm introduces merit systemUK firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert has revamped its associate career structure and brought in a new merit-based pay system for lawyers, reports Legal

Week. The firm has split its associate rank into three tiers of associate, senior associate and legal director, and introduced a new counsel rank for a few senior lawyers outside the partnership. The idea is that lawyers, who until now have been called associates, will progress through all tiers, bar counsel, before becoming partners.

Norton Rose raises pay for new lawyersNorton Rose UK has increased its newly-qualified pay to £60,000 ($91,000) from £59,000 and raised the smallest bonus from 2.5 per cent to five per cent, reports

Legal Week. The firm has kept first-year pay at £37,000, having increased trainee rates by four per cent in 2010. Pay for the firm’s more experienced associates is related to a merit- based model introduced three years ago.

Cambridge pips Oxford in tablesThe law faculty at Britain’s University of Cambridge has taken the top spot in The Guardian newspaper’s 2012 university league tables, reports The Lawyer.

The prestigious university knocked its rival, the University of Oxford, into second place. The other law departments ranked in the top 10 (in descending order) are: University College London, Queen Mary, London School of Economics, the School of African and Oriental Studies, Durham, Warwick, Newcastle and King’s College London.

US/U

K U

pdate

IN-HOUSE LAWYERS must keep better track of their external legal spend or risk being hit with rising hourly fees and losing their upper hand in the client-law firm relation- ship, according to a law firm management consultant.

Richard Stock, who is visiting from Canada, concluded that Australian in-house lawyers believe law firms are on the cusp of signifi cantly raising their hourly fees after speaking with hundreds of in-house lawyers nationally in May.

“The price and cost of legal services is going to go up more quickly than the cost of living in Australia,” Stock told Lawyers Weekly.

But, he added, in-house lawyers are not under as much pressure as their external advisers might think – despite not being able to find the time to adequately manage their legal spend.

“We would always ask at the beginning of our seminars, ‘Are you under significant pressure?’ And the answer was usually ‘No’,” said Stock.

According to Stock, in-house lawyers need to factor time into their roles to do proper due diligence regarding law firms.

“They have to do their preparation and their homework. They have to get better

data from their firms,” he said. “To the extent that there is a good strong,

trusted relationship it’s the data that will give them the power.”

Corporate legal departments must also consider the number of law firms they are working with in order to get the most out of their relationships.

“There is no correct number, but the point is that some careful thought has to be given to what is the right number of firms for the type and the amount of work you need to get done,” said Stock.

“My answer is always that the smallest number possible is best.”

After limiting the number of law firms they work with, Stock said in-house lawyers should then aim to move beyond discounted hourly rates to a more stable and predictable means of charging.

“We are encouraging companies that are still buying legal services on an hourly basis to at least do so on a blended basis,” he said.

Stock believes in-house lawyers have the tools and knowledge at their disposal to more effectively manage their legal spend, and that it’s now up to them to dedicate the time to do it.

“The point is that people have to invest a bit of time, not a lot, but a few dozen hours to ask the right questions, use the right techniques and come up with the right solutions,” he said.

With the cost of legal services set to rise, in-house lawyers have been warned to do their sums – or risk losing out. Angela Priestley reports

xfee increasex

Getting the house in order

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Retaining clients is already hard work for law firms in Canberra. Now, a new competitor has made the playing field even tougher. Justin Whealing reports

The Canberra legal market has just got a whole lot more interesting.

The announcement on 9 May that HWL Ebsworth had poached six of DLA Piper’s

eight Canberra-based partners – barely a week after the official integration with DLA Phillips Fox – and was opening an office in the nation’s capital on 1 August, sent shockwaves through the small Canberra private practice legal community.

Capital punishment

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The trend in recent years has been for national fi rms to pull out of Canberra, with Freehills and Corrs Chambers Westgarth both closing offi ces over the past decade. But HWL Ebsworth is bucking the trend and banking on the fact that those DLA Piper partners will bring key government and insurance clients, such as the Department of Defence, Comcare and Allianz Australia, into the fi rm’s fold and ensure the long-term viability of its new offi ce.

“We have been looking at Canberra as a strategic option for a number of years,” says HWL Ebsworth managing partner Juan Martinez. “It is not a market you go into to try your luck. You need the right people and the right team and we believe we have recruited a strong team from DLA Phillips Fox.”

DLA Piper declined a request from Lawyers Weekly to comment on the future of its Canberra offi ce.

The existing fi rms in Canberra have certainly sat up and taken notice of the Ebsworth raid, which is the biggest private practice movement in Canberra since Corrs closed its offi ce in 2007.

“This is the fi rst major market disruption of this kind that we have had,” says David Briggs, Mallesons’ Canberra-based M&A partner. “We have seen mergers in the market before, but this is a little bit different, when part of a larger

fi rm makes a conscious decision not to follow the fi rm strategy and goes out on their own.”

While Ebsworth has recruited some heavy hitters, Martinez realises that to take work from top-tier fi rms with existing offi ces in Canberra, like Mallesons, Clayton Utz and Minter Ellison, it needs to make its service offerings good value for money.

“The cost point will be a signifi cant factor,” says Martinez. “Our rates are signifi cantly better than those fi rms, and when you are operating in a paradigm where tendering is predominant, you have to be very competitive.”

The strategy is one that Sparke Helmore has already implemented as it attempts to grow its fi ve per cent share of the government pie. “Unlike some of our competitors, this fi rm’s government practice is a core focus for the whole fi rm, and our approach is to tailor our offering to provide what we think is a very high value-for-money proposition,” says Richard Morrison, the head of Sparke Helmore’s Commonwealth government practice.

Morrison was formerly a partner with Clayton Utz before he joined Sparkes last year. The fi rm has continued to raid Clayton Utz in Canberra, bringing across partner Michael Palfrey and consultant James Stellios just last month.

Pole position on the panel While offering a competitive point of difference based on price and taking advantage of its new recruits’ existing government contacts may earn HWL Ebsworth a spot in the government parking lot, there are many gatekeepers to get past before it makes it through the door.

The tender process to land a spot on the panel of government departments involves a raft of compliance, transparency and accountability measures, which means that, unlike lateral partner appointments in banking and fi nance or M&A work, government clients cannot just easily transfer across to a new fi rm with the partner.

“It is yet to be seen what the consequences of that action will be,” says Briggs. “There are a couple of considerations. One is the extent to which DLA had a signifi cant government

practice – a practice that would be based on very formal panel arrangements that are underwritten by large contracts. Quite how those contracts will be dealt with and whether or not Ebsworth can just step into them is a big question,” says Briggs, enunciating what most private practice lawyers in Canberra are thinking about the Ebsworth raid.

“I just don’t know how receptive the Common- wealth will be; you have to understand the background to these things is a fairly rigorous assessment of each fi rm and their capacity to do the work,” he says.

Similar to large corporate entities, the Federal Government is looking to streamline its legal spend, and that includes reducing the number of external law fi rms it has panel arrangements with.

Added to that is the fact the market is already tight. The Australian Government Solicitor took a massive 43 per cent of the government’s nearly $255 million expenditure on external law fi rms in 2009-10, while eight commercial law fi rms with offi ces in Canberra share that same amount between them.

A 2009 feasibility review into Commonwealth legal services procurement recommended that a centralised Commonwealth panel be set up via a centralised tender process as a possible alternative to the myriad panels retained by different departments and agencies – meaning fi rms in Canberra are now doing whatever it takes to ensure they are well placed to get a position on any single panel. The arrival of HWL Ebsworth as a new competitor has only increased the intensity of the navel-gazing.

“The government is a sophisticated client and, like all sophisticated clients, they are demanding more and more of their advisers,” says Ian Walker, the Brisbane-based head of Norton Rose’s government practice. “We are providing the sort of service to government that ensures that panel arrangement works for us, and I am sure all of our competitors are doing the same.”

Around 10 per cent of Norton Rose’s total Australian revenue is earned through its government clients – both state and federal

“This is the fi rst major market disruption of this kind that we have had”DAVID BRIGGS, PARTNER, MALLESONS STEPHEN JAQUES

“Unlike some of our competitors, this fi rm’s government practice is a core focus for the whole fi rm” RICHARD MORRISON, PARTNER, SPARKE HELMORE

“Our rates are signifi cantly better, and when you are operating in a paradigm where tendering is predominant, you have to be very competitive” JUAN MARTINEZ, MANAGING PARTNER, HWL EBSWORTH

The top tier in Canberra

Minter Ellison:48 lawyers; 11partners

Mallesons Stephen Jaques: 40 lawyers; 6 partners

Clatyton Utz: 40 lawyers; 6 partners

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– and the fi rm is looking to expand its resources in Canberra to shore up its position with existing Federal Government clients, such as the Department of Defence and the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism.

The non-government sectorOutside of government clients, insurance and property provide the best opportunities for national law fi rms in Canberra to act on other work. Sparke Helmore, in particular, has an extensive insurance client list, with Allianz, GIO and AAMI all on its books.

Briggs, an M&A partner, says there is “more M&A work available than you think”, with Mallesons one of the few fi rms that draws the bulk of its Canberra revenue from clients outside

Slice of the pie

In 2009-2010, Federal Government agencies paid $254.9 million to law fi rms. The top earners are below:

Other 11%1. Australian Government Solicitor 43%

2. Clayton Utz 11%3. Blake Dawson 8%

4. DLA Phillips Fox 7%

5. Minter Ellison 6%

6. Sparke Helmore 5%

7. Corrs Chambers Westgarth 3%

7. Mallesons Stephen Jaques 3%

9. Norton Rose 2%

10. Dibbs Barker 1%

the government sector. “Project fi nance and construction work in the Australian National University precinct are two major areas of work for us,” he says.

Minter Ellison Canberra managing partner Paul McGinness describes his fi rm’s Canberra client base as being a “pretty healthy balance” between government and non-government clients. Minters is on the panel of many government departments, including the departments of Defence, Health and Ageing, and Immigration and Citizenship.

While government clients form the majority of the fi rm’s Canberra-based work, its lawyers in the capital also act for non-government clients in other parts of Australia.

“We have expertise in transport infrastructure, competition, trade practices and IP commercial-

isation, with that expertise servicing clients in other states as well as non-government-based clients in Canberra,” says McGinness.

In addition to getting the largest slice of the available Federal Government work from an external law fi rm, Clayton Utz has targeted the property sector as a revenue stream for its Canberra-based operations. However, like most fi rms, this practice area operates very much as an adjunct to its Federal Government practice.

“Federal Government work provides the majority of the work that we do, but we also have a broader practice through Alfonso del Rio, the leading property and planning partner in the ACT,” says John Carroll, the partner in charge of the fi rm’s Canberra offi ce. “Other partners have a minority of their work being from a broader range of commercial clients.” LW

“The government is a sophisticated client and, like all sophisticated clients, it is demanding more and more of its advisers” IAN WALKER, PARTNER, NORTON ROSE

“We have expertise in transport infrastructure, competition, trade practices and IP commercialisation, with that expertise servicing clients in other states as well as non-government-based clients in Canberra” PAUL MCGINNESS, PARTNER, MINTER ELLISON

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The dissatisfac tion epidemic

“The statistics paint a very damning picture of what lawyers go through every day… Some say depression occurs because of the billable hour, the stress levels, the increasing demands from clients and sometimes it’s just personal issues”

DANIEL PETRUSHNKO, PRESIDENT, NSW YOUNG LAWYERS (PICTURED LEFT WITH KATRINA JOHNSON, LEGAL AFFAIRS DIRECTOR, EBAY AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND)

“Some fi rms, particularly the larger fi rms, are guilty of saying one thing and doing something entirely different... Some of the young lawyers in our fi rm say they’re staggered that after only two years, almost all of their peers have left the profession because they were so shocked by what they walked into”

IAN ROBERTSON, MANAGING PARTNER, HOLDING REDLICH (PICTURED ABOVE IN FOREGROUND)

Low job satisfaction levels and mental health issues have plagued the legal profession for years. But why are

lawyers so unhappy? A recent LexisNexis roundtable debated this and other issues threatening the viability

of private practice. Angela Priestley reports

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The dissatisfac tion epidemic

“The high level of turnover within the fi rst three years is resulting in fi rms saying, ‘Well, the likelihood of us retaining a big chunk of this group is minimal, so why would we invest heavily in their retention?’ But the failure of not investing is contributing to that high turnover”

JOYDEEP HOR, MANAGING PRINCIPAL, PEOPLE & CULTURE STRATEGIES (PICTURED BELOW)

“I do think the dehumanisation of law ... the lack of effective human contact and adequate support and mentoring for young lawyers is a part of what’s happening with the commercialisation of law and the transformation of legal practice. I think that’s a part of the problem”

HOWARD HARRISON, MANAGING PARTNER, CARROLL & O’DEA (PICTURED LEFT)

“I don’t think it’s the ‘school of hard knocks’ any more for young lawyers... Law fi rms are doing a good job of nurturing lawyers and we’re doing our damnedest to ensure they are having a good experience”

SHARON COOK, MANAGING PARTNER, HENRY DAVIS YORK (PICTURED RIGHT)

The high levels of job dissatisfaction affl icting legal practitioners can come as a surprise to those outside of the profession.

Seemingly, lawyers are high achievers presented with a clear career path to follow at a young age. They have the privilege of participating in the administration of justice, are revered as trusted advisers and, at least in some parts of private practice, are partic ularly well paid.

But despite the positive career and lifestyle image portrayed to the outside world, the statistics regarding the mental health and satisfaction levels of legal professionals tell a very different story.

According to a recent study by Beaton Research + Consulting, 15 per cent of lawyers suffer moderate to severe symptoms of depression – a rate that is much higher than that found in similar studies of architects, engineers and accountants.

In addition, a well-publicised 2008 report by the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Research Institute reveals even more alarming statistics, with the survey of more than 2400 lawyers fi nding that at least one-third had experienced some form of depression during their career.

There’s something going on in the legal profession that’s not only contributing to dissatisfaction within its ranks – as evidenced by the high rate of lawyers who drop out of private practice in their junior years – but also to the happiness and wellbeing levels of its practitioners.

Outdated work culture Late last year, then Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry contributed to the debate regarding lawyers’

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unhappiness at the Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation 2010 Annual Lecture. He put the problem down to the fact that law firms are akin to “19th-century work environments” due to their lack of “autonomy, mastery and purpose”.

Lack of autonomy was an issue recognised by law firm leaders who last week attended a law firm management roundtable organised by legal publisher (and also publisher of Lawyers Weekly) LexisNexis. While a number of challenges facing private practice were raised, a considerable portion of the discussion focused on the causes and effects of dissatisfaction among practitioners.

According to Daniel Petrushnko, president of NSW Young Lawyers, many young lawyers feel they do not have a sense of mastery over what they do because they don’t “own” their work. “They don’t have an ownership of the actual file they’re working on,” said Petrushnko, speaking about the preliminary results of an extensive research project into the causes of depression in law, which is due to be released later this year.

Ian Robertson, managing partner of Holding Redlich, said that if law students were to believe the marketing hype from law firms regarding graduate opportunities, they’d never consider that a lack of ownership over their work would ever be an issue, given the pro bono work they’ll get to undertake, the work/life balance they’ll enjoy and the glamorous office environment they’ll be a part of...

“All that reads a lot better than saying, ‘If you really want to succeed here, you’ll be given a budget and if you understand the culture you will actually do double that. And if you do that, you’ll be going up the ladder and one day you, too, can have sweeping harbour views and the other wonderful things that go with it – including marital breakdowns and midlife crises’,” said Robertson.

It was a point backed by Joanne Rees, CEO of legal management consultancy Allygroup, who bluntly stated to the table: “If your firm is where you want to make profits, you actually have to be honest with people.”

The life of a lawyer Honesty may mean better educating law students to understand that life as a young lawyer can be difficult and that career progression takes hard work and persistence

Nick Abrahams, a partner and Sydney chairman of Norton Rose, told the roundtable that young lawyers must grasp that a career in private practice involves a high degree of pessimism. “It’s a professional pessimism that we’re taught and rewarded for,” said Abrahams, suggesting that teaching lawyers to be more optimistic about factors away from their day-to-day tasks could help.

Petrushnko agreed: “Our lives can be consumed with solving the problems of others, and we have no time to solve our own problems.”

For Howard Harrison, the managing partner of Carroll & O’Dea, a hard truth about life as a lawyer is that it has – especially in private practice – become somewhat “dehumanised” in recent years, predominantly because of the profession’s commercialisation.

“It’s ‘information overload’, it’s emails, it’s the ‘that’s your budget, there’s your business development plan, just get on and do it’,” said Harrison. “There’s also the lack of effective human contact and adequate support and mentoring for young lawyers.”

Unrealistic expectationsOffering a realistic picture of life in law was a point raised at the roundtable by Katrina Johnson, director of legal affairs at eBay. “There is a real opportunity at the education stage to help set realistic expectations on what legal practice is really like, so people don’t come in bright-eyed, bushy tailed, expecting to get this instant career progression – especially when it comes to gen Ys who are used to that instant gratification,” she said.

But Petrushnko added that law students are starting to catch on to the difficulties they will face in private practice – a realisation that he believes is resulting in more recent law graduates heading straight to the bar and bypassing private practice altogether.

“It’s almost as if coming to the bar in the last couple of years has become the flavour of the month. There are more people in the bar practice course,” he said. “Some of them say it’s because of the GFC, but the majority of answers I receive is, ‘We want satisfaction, we want ownership of the file that we’re working on’, and the satisfaction you can get as a barrister, they say, is almost instant. Sometimes, at a firm, you don’t get it.”

Rees, meanwhile, suggested it is the “common criteria” that legal employers apply that could contribute to lawyer dissatisfaction later on. “So many people who are different and want to be creative find themselves outcasts in firms. They just don’t fit the mould,” she said.

school of hard knocks Roundtable participants believe an epidemic of bullying in law firms is also contributing to professional dissatisfaction and unhappiness among lawyers. But, as in other professions, bullying is nothing new for the legal sector. Indeed, a number of law firm managing partners on the table acknowledged going through the “school of hard knocks” themselves in the early stages of their careers.

“While this is a generalisation, there’s a strongly prevalent view that it’s got to be a ‘school of hard knocks’ and you become good by being traumatised in some ways in your formative years,” said People & Culture Strategies managing principal Joydeep Hor.

“The validation of that view is that the person expressing that view has themselves been traumatised, but they got through it and they’re now successful.”

Damaged goods? The law firm environment cannot be solely to blame for lawyer dissatisfaction and its consequent impact on a lawyer’s mental health. As one managing partner noted, law graduates are arriving in law firms as “damaged goods”.

High levels of depression are rampant in law schools. In 2008, the Brain and Mind Research Institute found that 35 per cent of law students report high or very high levels of distress, compared with just 13 per cent of the general university population.

Henry Davis York managing partner Sharon Cook believes law firms are much more nurturing environments than they were 10 years ago, and that law schools must take some responsibility for the damaged state in which their students graduate. “The massively competitive environment that young people go through does not

“There is a real opportunity at the education stage to help set realistic expectations on what legal practice is really like. Being able to set those expectations at a younger age, before they realise it’s not quite what they were expecting, may help”

KaTrina Johnson, legal affairs direcTor, eBay ausTralia and new Zealand

“it’s a professional pessimism that we’re taught and rewarded for. in terms of depression, optimism is a critical aspect. you can ... teach the younger lawyers this concept – not in a professional sense, but outside of the things they’re doing day to day”

nicK aBrahams, parTner and sydney chairman, norTon rose

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“People feel almost that they become a commodity when they enter the fi rms… I think people need to be individuals, they need to feel that they can be creative, that they can express their own individuality, that they’re free to be themselves. One of the major problems in many fi rms is that they just don’t feel they can be”

JOANNE REES, CEO, ALLYGROUP

“There’s a high prevalence of people in the legal profession who are anxious and under-confi dent. I think a lot of the bullying comes out of people being highly insecure. One of the things I observed when I was at one of the big law fi rms was that, although partners were competent practitioners and leaders of the profession, there was an immense anxiety: ‘This young gun below me is going to overtake me...’”

JAMIE PRELL, DIRECTOR AND HEAD OF CORPORATE, ADVENT LAWYERS

prepare them for life in law,” said Cook. “They have been beaten around for fi ve years. Some universities – like the University of Wollongong – are introducing core [teaching] elements of ‘resilience’, but other universities do nothing and simply pit highly intelligent people against each other in a massively competitive environment.”

At the law school and junior lawyer level, Cook added, senior legal practitioners and mentors could step in and urge younger lawyers and law students they believe might be at risk to question if law is the right career path to pursue, and to be honest about what being a lawyer in private practice actually entails. “It’s saying to people in their fi rst and second year: ‘Is this really the career you want for yourself?’ I think a lot of people self-select out and I think that’s what we need to be doing.”

The idea was supported by other roundtable participants, who said that the type of individuals who choose to pursue a career in law must also be considered in addressing why so many lawyers fall victim to professional dissatisfaction later on.

There’s often an underlying anxiety attached to lawyers, no matter how experienced, according to Jamie Prell, director and head of corporate at Advent Lawyers. He put it down to the fact that too often, those who are interested in a legal career forget the fact that the law is grounded in highly logical thought.

“I think a lot of people look at law as a social science and an opportunity to be creative, using the right brain rather than the left brain. But, in fact, it’s highly logical and scientifi c,” said Prell.

While the personality make-up of individuals who choose a life in private practice could be at least partially to blame, like many of the other factors canvassed, no single roundtable participant could pinpoint why private practice lawyers experience such high levels of professional dissatisfaction that have the potential to ultimately culminate in mental health issues.

But all seemed to agree that law schools, law fi rms and individual lawyers themselves must do more to address the problem. LW

For help with depression, contact beyondblue on 1300 224 636 or visit www.beyondblue.org.au. See more from the LexisNexis law fi rm management roundtable online – including the ways technology is changing the legal profession, how law fi rms can better address the needs of clients and one partner’s prediction that Australia could be home to more than 20 global law fi rms in the not-too-distant future.

Have your say...

Do you have an opinion or personal experience you would like to share with Lawyers Weekly about the issues discussed at the roundtable? Head to www.lawyersweekly.com.au to post your comments online. Alternatively, send an email to editor@lawyersweekly.com.au or phone (02) 9422 2875. Anonymity will be protected.

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believe a woman’s age is seemingly more important in the workplace than a man’s62 %

of women say being attractive helps them get on better at work 80 %

my next movemove

Money can’t buy happinessJob satisfaction and work culture rate more highly for lawyers than the pay packet

With Dominic Peacock, private practice consultant, Naiman Clarke

How should I prepare for my performance review and what salary increase can I expect?

Many lawyers think the performance review system is nothing more than fi rms paying

lip service to lawyers’ career advancement, but often this is not the case.

Performance reviews can be used to gauge a lawyer’s potential progression to a more senior lawyer role – and this means, among other things, more responsibility and a higher salary.

In terms of preparation, it is important for lawyers to “self-critique” their previous 12 months’ performance and assess their “wins”, the matters they’ve been involved in and the billable hours they have

achieved. This is the time to remind the partners of their contribution to the fi rm.

Most fi rms are indicating salary increases of between six and 12 per cent, with exceptions made for the “superstars”. However, many lawyers’ expectations are considerably higher, which could lead to disappointment. With the odd exception, bonuses are always discretionary and, again, the strongest performers will be rewarded accordingly.

At this point, lawyers whose expect-ations are not met reach a crossroads – they can stay and convince the fi rm of their worth, or they can fi nd a position that meets their aspirations. In any event, it is important they have a clear idea why they are looking to move and the motivation behind this.

LAWYERS ARE happiest when they are given quality work and surrounded by a good work culture, according to new research by legal recruiter Robert Walters.

The survey of 150 private practice and in-house lawyers across Australia found that salary is not the key factor in a lawyer’s feeling of wellbeing at work. The leading response about what makes them happy was the type of work they do (27 per cent), followed by working for an organisation with a good culture (24 per cent) and the people they work with (17 per cent).

“I was not surprised by these fi ndings, as that is what people in the market have been telling me,” said Robert Walters senior legal consultant Jenny Bermheden.

“Lawyers obviously care about how much they are being paid and what sort of bonus they might earn, but given that they work extremely long hours and they spend a lot of time in the offi ce, it is important that they get on well with the people they work with in an environment that makes them happy and content.”

A good workplace culture should include fl exible work arrangements and an environment where “please” and “thank you” are part of the social interaction among colleagues, added Bermheden. “People want to know that the work they do is appreciated,” she said.

On the fl ipside, when asked what makes lawyers most unhappy, a lack of opportunities for career progression (28 per cent) topped the list, followed by the people they work with (18 per cent) and working for an organisation with a poor culture (17 per cent).

“I speak to lawyers on a daily basis, and one of the main reasons they tell me for wanting to move on is that ‘I can’t see myself going anywhere’,” said Bermheden. “Lawyers in private practice want to feel that the track to partnership is there.”

careercounsel

SOURCE: MARIE CLAIRE AND EVERYWOMAN NATIONAL SURVEY ON WOMEN AND WORK 2011

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folklaw

Justice Harrison brings down the Golden Gavel

F**K, IT’S early.”

With that line, Clayton Utz lawyer Joshua Knuckey commenced his speech on the topic of “Cleaver Greene’s tips on how to lower the Bar (even further)” at

the NSW Golden Gavel Competition on 20 May.To be fair to Knuckey, it was early. He took to the

podium before 8am as the third of nine speakers all vying for the prize of NSW fi nalist at the national Golden Gavel awards to be held in Melbourne in September.

Not content with dropping the F-bomb while the more than 300 people in attendance at the Shangri-La Hotel in The Rocks were tucking into croissants and bacon and eggs, Knuckey proceeded to lower the tone even further – much to the delight of the audience and Folklaw – when he remarked that barristers had “incredible sex drives” and that “to a barrister, a billable unit is an apartment where prostitution takes place”.

From there, the witty one-liners fl owed as liberally as the foul language. James Foley from Rockliffs Solicitors must not have read the book How to Win Friends and Infl uence People; when outlining why he should be the Chief Justice of NSW, he told the assembled audience – including Golden Gavel judge NSW Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison – that “judges are old, really old”. To illustrate the point, he mentioned that the recently announced new Chief Justice of NSW, Tom Bathurst QC, graduated in 1971 – the year the fi lm Dirty Harry was released, with an admission price of $1.65.

Wisely, People’s Choice winner Dhruv Nagrath, of Lander & Rogers, tried to charm Justice Harrison, remarking that he is “a very attractive man”. While speaking about “Why practising law is so sexy”, he brought down the house with his comment that “Gilbert + Tobin could easily be the name of a children’s show about talking wombats”. “Hi Gilbert, hi Tobin,” he said in a very convincing wombat voice.

Runner-up Sam Sykes addressed a topic that provided him with much fertile ground: “Snakes and ladders – the path to partnership”. Sykes had a few people, including Folklaw, nodding in acknowledge-ment when he opened his speech by stating, “I could stand here for fi ve minutes talking about why you should not sexually harass your PA, or fall pregnant, because these are obvious snakes on your path to the partnership”.

He went on to link the path to partnership to a multitude of board games, talking about the senior associate on the cusp of partnership who “is rabidly middle-aged, slightly overweight, your life and kids have left you, you don’t interact with colleagues, all of which is fi ne, because you have lost the ability for human interaction, empathy, warmth and emotion and can only communicate through previously

generated precedents. By this stage you turn in wardly, and start aggressively attacking all available work and stealing as many billable hours as you can. You are a Hungry Hungry Hippo.”

However, there could be only one winner, and Justice Harrison’s verdict was Charles Ashton of Allens Arthur Robinson, who spoke about “The Royal Wedding – From a divorce lawyer’s perspective”. He made the point, to general agree-ment from the male members of the audience, that Prince William was “duped into marrying the wrong sister”.

“Call me fee-hungry,” said Ashton, “but I am not all that confi dent that a marriage between a commoner and a royal is going to last the distance. It is a bit like Clifford Chance merging with Chang, Pistilli & Simmons.”

As he presented Ashton with his trophy, Justice Harrison nearly stole the show by sharing with the audience his wish for a new trophy to replace the Golden Gavel. “It galls me to be handing out a golden gavel, or a gavel at all,” he said.

“The march of Americanism into our traditions troubles me. Gavels are used by real estate agents – some people don’t know the difference between judges and real estate agents. But in all events, Charles, it looks like it is made out of redwood, and that is great in a fi re.”

Folklaw can only concur, and hopes that event host the Law Society of NSW Young Lawyers waives its requirement that only lawyers under the age of 36 can enter the competition, in order to ensure Justice Harrison gets a start as a speaker next year.

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