header-logo header-logo

11 June 2009 / Simon Young
Issue: 7373 / Categories: Features , Employment
printer mail-detail

Every cloud...

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,

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
back-to-top-scroll