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Law Firm News Stories

Eversheds launches campaign against stationery abuse
26 October 2012
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Eversheds has launched a campaign to stamp out rampant stationery abuse amongst its staff, declaring a stationery amnesty and sending out warning emails to those it suspects have been using the printers too much.

The UK may be emerging from a double dip recession but it seems times are still tough at Eversheds where every highlighter counts. According to an insider, the emails sent to staff identified as heavy printer users tell them exactly how much their wanton paper use is costing the firm per month.

Not satisfied with naming and shaming printing addicts, the firm has also implemented an emergency stationery amnesty. Notices around the office encourage staff members who may have enjoyed the fruits of the stationery cupboard a little too much to return excess items. No questions asked.

    The shame
 
A sporting Eversheds spokeswoman said: "This is all part of our ongoing commitment to doing at least one ridiculous thing per annum that will produce good copy for RollOnFriday".


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anonymous user
26/10/2012 08:50
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As an in-house lawyer I love these stories. Not only is it a great way to irritate their own lawyers but also a fantastic reason never to instruct them... clearly the partners have zero commercial nous.
anonymous user
26/10/2012 09:28
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stationery abuse. I put a pencil up my nose once, does that count ? You can have it back if you want
anonymous user
26/10/2012 09:30
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Heavy printer users should be carefull and need to cut down. They need to go on a diet… fatty
anonymous user
26/10/2012 10:12
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Oh quick log in as your enemy and colour photocopy a ton of paper LOL
anonymous user
26/10/2012 11:27
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There is definitely a culture of things going missing at the shed given that during their last round of redundancies people literally “disappeared” overnight.
anonymous user
26/10/2012 11:29
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@ Anon - That's rich coming from an in-house lawyer, who as a breed are about the most unproductive group in the country.
Asturias es mi patria
26/10/2012 11:40
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Dear "In house lawyer"

Heh @ the importance of stationery use and how it relates to partner's commercial nous.

Really? What else is in your tender checklist I wonder? Loo roll consumption rate, tea bag efficency graphs and polished shoe-ology.

I'm not at Eversheds but it doesn't seem massively unreasonable for them to try and control costs. Put another way, if that is your criteria then I pity your employer if it relies on your choices for procument.

Chz

Asturias
A Private Practice Lawyer with overheads to control
anonymous user
26/10/2012 11:53
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What an article - how can being asked to return unusued stationary and being notified that colour printing costs 80 times more than B&W be made into a story of 'stationary abuse'?! Slow news week, RoF? As they say, all publicity's good publicity...
anonymous user
26/10/2012 11:59
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Disappointed. I thought this was about immobile counsel. Much to be said on that. Another time.
anonymous user
26/10/2012 12:01
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Brilliant from the Eversheds spokeswoman!
3-ducks
26/10/2012 12:43
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LOL. You couldn't make this stuff up!

This is terribly unimpressive behaviour in the eyes of potential clients.

PR fail from 'sheds.
Lydia
26/10/2012 13:01
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Printing is an issue - in some ways you can be a better lawyer for printing some things out for reference than having everything electronic and we should be patting those heavy users of back and white printing on the back not castigating them.

That is very different from stopping theft - not something lawyers ever should do even if it's a paperclip.
anonymous user
26/10/2012 13:32
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As yet another in-house lawyer, there are many more important things for me to worry about than this. Since 2007 there has been a marked increase in bill padding and an associated decrease in client care and quality of advice across the top London and offshore firms. I guess those second and third homes for partners have to be paid for somehow.
anonymous user
26/10/2012 13:36
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Wow, who knew this would cause such vitriol between Lawyers and Inhouse. I am neither, but do work at a Law firm in BD. There is an incredible amount of waste in terms of paper being left on printers or the trays next to them, only for it to be shredded, so I am all for reducing this waste and ultimately saving on cost which we can pass on Clients.
In repsonse to the 2 In house lawyers, either you are having a bad day, failed as actual lawyers and felt the need to go in-house or just have not had your prozac today. But might I say one thing, you might like to speak with your procurement teams about the amount of pointless forms and processes that we have to endure, filling out this, ticking that, what is this policy, do you agree to this etc etc, then only to be told at the end of what is usually a 4 week process, infact, scrap all that, we want you to reduce your fees even more, we don't care if you go under, and what's more, we want even more free secondments from you, and to really make you feel good about yourselves, give back 10% of our fees at the end of the year, in cash please....and you wonder why you get a bill for the printing....
anonymous user
26/10/2012 13:42
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From "in-house lawyer"

In terms of my "commercial nous" point, irritated and unhappy lawyers tend not to make good ones. Bad lawyers tend not to get instructed. Saving 4 pence a sheet therefore, I would suspect, has a negative impact on billing. More importnatly, it makes them look like dicks to potential clients who gernally don't like working with dicks.
anonymous user
26/10/2012 13:56
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Steady on there BD King. I wouldnt be calling anyone a failed anything from your precarious position. Dont throw failed lawyer stones from your BD, do nothing, costs increasing, no value adding, not a real job glasshouse.
anonymous user
26/10/2012 14:21
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Haha. BD King... if you could add some photocopying savings and maybe even reduce paper clip usage those partners may even be able to afford a boat in addition to the second homes!
3-ducks
26/10/2012 15:27
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"BD king"

LOL!
BD King
26/10/2012 15:33
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@InHouselawyer 13:42 - stop irritating and making the lawyers unhappy, then perhaps they wont act like dicks and you will get a better level of service and client care.
@anon 13:56, I did not say I was King of anything, but quite like the moniker, so have now decided to assume it.
It is funny how the old, we add no value, you are just a cost to the firm, what do you actually do comes out everytime. I refer you to the article in Legal Week today titled "The hard sell – profiling the mad men and women who strive to sell law"
I would also like to challenge you on the don't add value and am a cost; seeing as I have generated £1.2m worth of business this year for the firm, funny thing, I thought this was the role of a Partner, yet I am certainly not on a 7 figure income, not even a 10th of that. If anything, Partner's income is in a more precarious position than mine; hence I refer you back to the legal week article, so it is funny how they now see the value we add...and before you ask, no I do not work for an MC firm so we actually have to go to market, rather than just sitting there waiting for the phone to ring.
LJohno13
27/10/2012 13:26
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Don't think I know anyone who's had one of those emails....slight embellishment?
anonymous user
29/10/2012 09:40
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A change of name is clearly required - Neversheds
Asturias es mi patria
29/10/2012 11:18
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How about it RoF?

The email must have been sent to hundreds (at least) so no fear of revealing the individuals ID

Can you post a redacted version to give us the context?
anonymous user
30/10/2012 09:09
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Nice to see their sense of priorities. Forget about staff abuse by partners e.g. telling a fee earner to F--- off as soon as he entered the door, as happened on one memorable occasion. A delightful bunch.
anonymous user
30/10/2012 21:45
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More about environmentally friendly printer use than cost.
anonymous user
31/10/2012 15:06
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"failed as actual lawyers and felt the need to go in-house"? Aren't you talking about your and prospective clients here? The people you try and sell to, try to generate your business from? Shades of GS and muppets? You're clearly rather naive although sadly representative of the poor standard of law firm marketeers. Law firms are an outsource, a service provider, nothing more. The arrogance many display about their role loses them business. You are not "real lawyers" you are "external lawyers". Similarly, you will find very few other service providers who bill for sundries like printing - it puts you in the same camp as letting agents charging a few hundred quid to print out a standard contract. Eat your sundry costs yourself and bill a fee for the job rather than chiselling.
anonymous user
31/10/2012 15:08
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If you think the procurement forms you get as a law firm "BD professional" are difficult, you've never seen a real RFP.
anonymous user
31/10/2012 15:46
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Still not tempted to disclose the text behind this story rof?

I doubt it will live up to the billing or justify the wilder tangents that some have taken with their comments...


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