KWM has now told its European staff that they will no longer be paid.
EU Managing Partner Tim Bednell wrote to staff on Tuesday to say that despite having been told that they would still receive their salaries for January, most now wouldn't. He'd spent the weekend pleading with the firm's bank but it had refused to release the funds. He said that "this is a difficult message to write, no doubt as difficult as it is to read". Don't think so, Tim! And in a display of extraordinary chutzpah, he implored his unpaid and soon-to-be-unemployed staff to carry on working to fulfill to their "professional obligations".
Any employees who do heed the call to turn up to the office will find it pretty hard to get any work done. Couriers are refusing to take packages, there's no Land Registry access and even the loo roll supplier has cut the firm off. The in-house canteen has closed down, with sources claiming the freezers have been looted.
The firm filed a second intention of notice to appoint administrators earlier this week, buying itself another ten days before it goes under. The handful of partners remaining at the firm are desperately trying to hammer out a deal to save as many jobs as possible. DLA, Reed Smith and Goodwin have all been mentioned over the last few days. Meanwhile the 90-odd partners who jumped ship last year are all sitting pretty at their new firms, albeit with considerably lighter wallets as they will no doubt lose the capital they left in the firm. A special mention goes to the firm's former Managing Partners Rob Day (now at Proskauer), William Boss (Addleshaw Goddard) and Senior Partner Stephen Kon (Macfarlanes) who oversaw this carnage. RollOnFriday is however able to pass on this official unofficial festive message from them:
A number of firms have heeded RollOnFriday's call to offer jobs to KWM staffers. If there's anything going at your shop please write in here.
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EU Managing Partner Tim Bednell wrote to staff on Tuesday to say that despite having been told that they would still receive their salaries for January, most now wouldn't. He'd spent the weekend pleading with the firm's bank but it had refused to release the funds. He said that "this is a difficult message to write, no doubt as difficult as it is to read". Don't think so, Tim! And in a display of extraordinary chutzpah, he implored his unpaid and soon-to-be-unemployed staff to carry on working to fulfill to their "professional obligations".
Any employees who do heed the call to turn up to the office will find it pretty hard to get any work done. Couriers are refusing to take packages, there's no Land Registry access and even the loo roll supplier has cut the firm off. The in-house canteen has closed down, with sources claiming the freezers have been looted.
The firm filed a second intention of notice to appoint administrators earlier this week, buying itself another ten days before it goes under. The handful of partners remaining at the firm are desperately trying to hammer out a deal to save as many jobs as possible. DLA, Reed Smith and Goodwin have all been mentioned over the last few days. Meanwhile the 90-odd partners who jumped ship last year are all sitting pretty at their new firms, albeit with considerably lighter wallets as they will no doubt lose the capital they left in the firm. A special mention goes to the firm's former Managing Partners Rob Day (now at Proskauer), William Boss (Addleshaw Goddard) and Senior Partner Stephen Kon (Macfarlanes) who oversaw this carnage. RollOnFriday is however able to pass on this official unofficial festive message from them:
A number of firms have heeded RollOnFriday's call to offer jobs to KWM staffers. If there's anything going at your shop please write in here.
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