A number of law firms have been shopped this week for handing out summer scheme places to their own partners' friends and family.
Last week RollOnFriday revealed that Mishcon de Reya had given one highly prized vac scheme place to the son of one of its heads of departments - and another one to his best mate. But there have been similar shenanigans at DLA Piper, Fladgate and Weightmans.
At DLA's Liverpool office, a reader says that 12 students were taken on the scheme over June and July - one of whom is the son of a potential client and another the son of a former Head of Corporate at the firm. A spokesman said "all participants in our Summer Vacation Scheme formally applied, met the thresholds we set and after being fully assessed by our Graduate Recruitment Team, were offered places".
Reports that at Fladgate "partners' offspring are so abundant it sometimes feels as though everyone else is in the minority" seem a little wide of the mark, however. Chairman Charles Wander said "I've been looking for them all morning to say hello but discovered that only one out of our 17 work experience students this summer was a partner's offspring."
And one has to admire the chutzpah of the son of a partner at Weightmans. He was accepted on its most recent two week scheme - apparently the second vac scheme he'd managed to land at the firm. But as he was on holiday for the first week he persuaded the firm to let him start late - and to stay on for a further week after everyone else had left. The firm wouldn't comment.
Tip Off ROF
Last week RollOnFriday revealed that Mishcon de Reya had given one highly prized vac scheme place to the son of one of its heads of departments - and another one to his best mate. But there have been similar shenanigans at DLA Piper, Fladgate and Weightmans.
At DLA's Liverpool office, a reader says that 12 students were taken on the scheme over June and July - one of whom is the son of a potential client and another the son of a former Head of Corporate at the firm. A spokesman said "all participants in our Summer Vacation Scheme formally applied, met the thresholds we set and after being fully assessed by our Graduate Recruitment Team, were offered places".
Reports that at Fladgate "partners' offspring are so abundant it sometimes feels as though everyone else is in the minority" seem a little wide of the mark, however. Chairman Charles Wander said "I've been looking for them all morning to say hello but discovered that only one out of our 17 work experience students this summer was a partner's offspring."
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Who's your daddy? |
And one has to admire the chutzpah of the son of a partner at Weightmans. He was accepted on its most recent two week scheme - apparently the second vac scheme he'd managed to land at the firm. But as he was on holiday for the first week he persuaded the firm to let him start late - and to stay on for a further week after everyone else had left. The firm wouldn't comment.
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Besides, who is to say that those persons have not achieved placements on their own merits, in spite of rather than because of who they are? Does this mean that a connection with a firm should be a DISadvantage? How odd - I best get back in my cave then.
By the way, did anyone point out that one of the other DLA vac schemers was the son of a partner of a direct competitor? I'm sure there's something sinister in that for RoF to play with.
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I personally think any connection should be wholly irrelevant - applications should be assessed objectively and fairly, and solely on the merits of the application in question.
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