ROLLONFRIDAY STORY, 4TH JULY 2008
More City sackings, Linklaters in the frame
Last week RollOnFriday reported that firms were dressing up redundancies as performance-related issues. Now lawyers at the likes of Dewey & LeBoeuf, Eversheds and Simmons & Simmons are all complaining of this, but the loudest voices are coming from Linklaters.
Associates are being given unexpectedly poor appraisals and put on "performance improvement plans" which set targets that, if not met, promise to make the lawyer concerned "subject to measures in accordance with the firm's disciplinary policy and procedures". Some finance associates have been hauled into meetings at short notice and told to sign a document confirming that their performance has not been comparable with their peers and that the firm has the right to initiate disciplinary proceedings if they don't buck up.
Allegedly the meeting have sometimes been disguised as a client meeting, although the firm absolutely denies this. Whether or not that's the case, it's not making for a very happy ship. As one associate comments:
"Paranoia and bitching amongst banking associates have reached record levels. Most associates are spending a considerable part of the day visiting their "friends" in the department, primarily to find out if anyone is getting better work than them."
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A Linklaters lawyer being disciplined yesterday | |
A spokeswoman for the firm said that "it is our regular practice to provide honest and constructive feedback to our people, both as part of the annual appraisal round and throughout the year. This is key to good performance management. The approach we have taken this year in our appraisal round is exactly the same as in previous years".