Herbert Smith Freehills has been working its trainees so hard that they haven't even had time to wipe their blood off documents before sending them out.
Last month a property litigation associate emailed all London trainees one Friday afternoon last month demanding that two of them give up their Sunday to produce bundles for a case she was working on. The trainees dutifully ignored the email and so the following week she emailed them again, this time copying in several partners and the HR trainee manager for that extra intimidation factor.
The trainees who "volunteered" for the task ended up working shifts around the clock, sleeping under desks or, if they were lucky, on a camp bed erected in one of the offices.
By the end of the week the thousands of documents were finally bundled. But a couple of trainees managed to smear blood from their paper cuts on some of the documents. They offered to do another copy over the weekend, but were rebuffed by the associate who insisted the bundles go out that day: no doubt to the delight of the recipients.
A spokeswoman for Herbies said "our team of associates and trainees did a great job on this project. Up against a very tight deadline, they delivered on time and the client was very happy about our work".
Tip Off ROF
Last month a property litigation associate emailed all London trainees one Friday afternoon last month demanding that two of them give up their Sunday to produce bundles for a case she was working on. The trainees dutifully ignored the email and so the following week she emailed them again, this time copying in several partners and the HR trainee manager for that extra intimidation factor.
The trainees who "volunteered" for the task ended up working shifts around the clock, sleeping under desks or, if they were lucky, on a camp bed erected in one of the offices.
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A Herbies trainee yesterday |
By the end of the week the thousands of documents were finally bundled. But a couple of trainees managed to smear blood from their paper cuts on some of the documents. They offered to do another copy over the weekend, but were rebuffed by the associate who insisted the bundles go out that day: no doubt to the delight of the recipients.
A spokeswoman for Herbies said "our team of associates and trainees did a great job on this project. Up against a very tight deadline, they delivered on time and the client was very happy about our work".
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Clearly partner material in next year's round! :-)
(For the record, its not the fact that its menial work - I had no problem with that, goes with the territory - but jumping to countless times to put in ridiculous hours when those supposed to be running the case a) couldn't manage client expectations; (b) didn't understand effective resourcing plans and c) could have informed everyone earlier of the requirements, avoiding unnecessary stress)
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This is a non-story.
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What we haven't all done is felt the need to gripe ungratefully to ROF when there are lots of people out there struggling for a training contract. I also feel sorry for the other trainees involved - I'm sure lots of them did the job well and with good grace.
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By all accounts the trainees here were just brutally co-opted, beasted and then dumped by an associate who couldn't even be bothered to turn up and supervise. Is it any wonder some feel aggrieved? Of course trainees should be doing that sort of work; but there are ways of asking people to do things. Whoever that associate is should be ashamed.
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F. Engels
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I believe you will find it in your bank account.
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I thought the UK were market leaders? Doesn't seem that way...