EXCLUSIVE Trade union firm slammed for axing staff during pandemic

A firm which specialises in representing workers has been blasted by staff and reported to the GMB trade union for axing them during lockdown.

Thompsons Solicitors advertises itself as being "built on a vision of using the law to provide justice for working people". But the PI firm has been accused of putting its own workers in an invidious position during the pandemic by terminating staff on fixed term and locum contracts.

The PI firm, which has a dedicated section on its website for trade unions, states that the pandemic "is having a devastating impact on families, health and employment", but it was "standing up for you". An insider objected, "It's not standing to help their employees!"

The source said it was understandable that Thomspons needed to consider limiting business costs, but those affected "have pleaded that without work they are going to struggle to meet their own bills, and still have daily living costs". Thompsons' stance, they said, is that it has "no legal obligation to put them on the scheme".

Tom Jones, Thompsons Solicitors' Head of Policy, told RollOnFriday, "Covid-19 has not caused us to end any fixed-term contracts". But the firm would not say what had caused it to end their employment.

Jones said that Thompsons had ended locum contracts, "but no-one has been made redundant".

“We are doing everything we can to protect the jobs of all our staff in these challenging and unprecedented times", he said.

The firm's executive board is now on the other side of the table from the GMB after staff complained to the trade union about their treatment. “We have been communicating regularly with all staff and been in dialogue with the GMB, with a meeting this week and another meeting planned", said Jones.

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^{One for the kids.}

At least one other firm has also been slashing rather than furloughing, according to a source. In the last fortnight Irish firm Arthur Cox has made around 20 redundancies all the way up to salaried partner at its Belfast office, said an insider. It has caused "great resentment as there was no attempt to use the Government’s furlough scheme to keep these staff employed". Arthur Cox did not respond to a request for comment.

Taking a more positive approach to not furloughing, remote working firm Keystone Law will not furlough any staff because, said chief executive and founder James Knight, "I do not believe it is ethically responsible to take government money designed for genuinely cash strapped businesses, in order to maximise our own profits".

The ethics of healthy firms using taxpayer cash has provoked debate in the legal sphere, with three major New Zealand firms this week repaying millions in wage subsidies as the government carries out audits on businesses which accepted aid.

Critics have suggested that because Keystone works on a freelance model, it has been insulated in a way normal law firms are not, both from business services costs and from having to pay lawyers without work. Knight disagreed, telling RollOnFriday the firm had "experienced a meaningful drop in client instructions and we do employ individuals who are now sitting around with very little to do. These individuals would qualify under the Government’s furlough scheme".

But, he said, "We also have over £4.4 million in the bank, so we are going to suck it up”.

Comments

Solidarity! (up to a point)

So love it when the champagne socialists get caught out. Up the workers.

Well done to Keystone- lots of tales of big law firms furloughing staff who frankly could afford to take the hit. I’m getting fed up having to give my work to more senior lawyers because they’ve furloughed their juniors and the juniors are much better and cost effective!

The champagne socialist millionaires who own it really really do care so much about ....... their bank balances

what about the firm who can't do the maths and doesn't cut fee-earners? Instead they furlough business services and expct the rest to pick up the slack, while fee-earners muck about with tales of life under lockdown and watching planking videos

The top of the equity is about 800k!!!!

That is more than many city firms.

Personal injury work has dried up as nobody is in work or on the roads so less opportunity to have an accident. Even the crime rate is down a bit too so criminal barristers are now working in Tesco to make ends met. There radio silence from the defendant side too who with their crap rates of return but lavish offices ... think plantation place...must be in dire financial mess too.

The keystone quote is a nonism.

To say that you won’t take government support to help partners make profits is unethical is not the point. It’s actually unlawful! It can only be used where there are employees who otherwise be made redundant. I don’t think keystone is structured so as to have very many employees.

PI on scale is a thing of the past. Niche serious injury firms will do well as other firms collapse. I fear for firms like Thompsons, Irwin Mitchell and Slater and Gordon as the margins are so tight!

Is Thompsons the firm in Scotland that offers 3 month fixed term contracts to NQs?

Keystone's consultants are all remunerated through service companies and most pay themselves dividends. They won't see a bean from HMG.

The personal injury market had its glory years following the Wolf reforms in the late 90s and then into the 2000s, when claimant lawyers got paid huge success fees often for doing little, and defendants had to pay four times - their own fees, damages, claimant’s fees and an uplift. In that time because of the volume of work defendant firms did pretty well too, but then the Jackson reforms and QOCS killed the market. Most Pi is fixed fee, even up to fairly high value claims and most Pi claims are not high value. There is still the need for a specialist niche offering for the critical / max severity injuries but even these are normally modest compared to the world of com lit, banking lit etc. If I was an NQ starting today I’d avoid PI like the plague.

RoF - New Zealand is not in Australia, but we're open to taking over administration of the West Island if needed.

They are real.

Well at least Thompsons are consulting staff and union on what they need to do. Some firms just impose it. Agree the furlongs thing for FTC if true was very bad and needs to be called out.