Good Morning all,

I have worked under two solicitors at two different small firms.The problem I have is the behaviour of the solicitors towards staff members.The Solicitor I work for is a stress head and starts intimidating staff if there is the slightest error made, for example;The printer prints paper from the wrong tray; two files on one desk; faxing to clients and not filing the receipt and many more.

I have only been working in the law firm for a few months and the way the solicitors act towards their staff, completley shatters their confidence and is unacceptable practice. There is no training involved, they give you a file and you have to get on with it (if you ask a question they say you should buy a book on the topic).

I have also witnessed the way they speak to their Clients in a very unprofessional manner. 

The main three employees do not say anything as he/she has 'promised' two paralegals training contracts.
I have also been promised a training contrcat after my LPC.

For those who want to be Solicitor, I would recommend good respectful firms who support their staff.
To be a Solicitor is not difficult; to be a good Solicitor you need to respect yout staff and clients and be sociable.
You have to market yourself well.   

I have decided a law career is not for me, the greed for money has got to their heads and I would rather go into a profession that I would enjoy.   

(Not all Solicitors are the same, but many are pricks).
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'The Olympics - not just a question of sport!' Sponsored by First Advantage Litigation Consulting

Are the 2012 London Olympics a question of sport, or simply a track and field day for the lawyers and advertisers?

Join the debate on the 30 June at the London offices of Goldman Sachs when the YN (Young Norwood) Lawyers committee will be hosting their sixth annual event to raise money for *Norwood, a leading charity for Children and Adults with learning disabilities and families in need.

There was a time before the mass media invasion, when it was the Athletes who were the biggest winners or losers at the worlds greatest sporting event, we ask whether this is still the case or are the winners now the commercial 'fat cats' battling for commercial supremacy. 

 

A panel of experts chaired by Adrian Warner, the BBC's Olympic Correspondent, will debate the strict laws imposed by LOCOG and the 2006 Olympic Act protecting the London 2012 & Olympic brand (the most restrictive to date), the effect on local small businesses and whether they can and should be allowed to benefit from the Games, or whether they will have to resort to illegal Ambush Marketing campaigns.

“This sort of legislation is insulting. It is specific and unprecedented protection for a small group of internationally based, predominantly non-UK companies to the detriment of all other business" The institute of Practioners in Advertising talking about the 2006 Olympic Act

The debate will also cover legal issues around the fairness of the ticket system, the legal argument over the Stadium bid and the Olympic legacy in the UK.

Tickets are £35 (£25 for Students) and can be purchased online at www.norwood.org.uk/ynlawyers

The event will provide 200 young legal professionals an excellent opportunity to network while enjoying a fine selection of canapés and drinks (inc in the price of ticket)

Goldman Sachs
120 Fleet Street
EC4A 2BB

Date - 30 June 2011
Time - 7 - 10pm

*About Norwood

 

Every year Norwood enables thousands of people to change their lives, one by one and needs to raise £10m to do so.  Our vision is for people to live the life they choose and it is our mission to support each and every child, adult and family, to meet their aspirations, whatever their ability, whatever their ambitions.

 

Norwood’s history spans over 200 years, and has had Royal Patronage since 1815. Norwood has 1200 staff, supported by 800 dedicated volunteers and our services are divided into Children and Family Services and Adult Services. These include social work teams, a nursery for children with learning disabilities, respite homes for families with children with severe learning disabilities, adoption, life long learning, supported employment, supported living and registered care homes.

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It's not only Spain that's been downgraded this week. Ian Austin, Manchester's favourite son and the former Executive Chairman of the now defunct Halliwells, has also found himself on the end of a slightly humiliating downgrade.

Austin is not just the man behind Halliwells' disastrous move into the eye-wateringly expensive Spinningfields premises. Or one of the partners who pocketed his share of a £20m cash incentive from the Landlord. He also holds the prestigious role of Chair of the Audit Committee at the University of Salford.

And until last week his bio on the university's site was lengthy and glowing. Austin was described as one of  the "most dynamic figures in the North West market." This is the same chap who made whining excuses to The Lawyer following the demise of his firm. He's praised for guiding Halliwells "through a series of bold initiatives that saw it become Manchester's largest law firm". Presumably the same bold initiatives that saw a max exodus of partners, a slashing of associate salaries, rock bottom morale and the turning off of the office air con.

It gets worse. "Stong leadership, business focus, open communications and sound financial management are his trademarks." And the final cracker "he has guided Halliwells through a period of accelerated growth and remains committed to its success and long term future."

This fawning bio remianed on the uni's site for some time before it was finally toned down to this:


Still, at least he remains one of the region's leading lawyers.





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Summer is gone, everyone's dragging their sorry asses back to the misery of the legal treadmill again. So to jolly you through the next few days of hard work and tedious conversations about where you went on your holidays, here's some semi-exciting stories from the legal world which you really wouldn't want to miss out on.

Whale of a time

Suzanne and Todd Connell, of New Hampshire are suing SeaWorld claiming that their 10-year old son was traumatised by the death of Dawn Brancheau, the trainer of killer whale Tilikum in February of this year.

Brancheau was dragged around by the hair before being drowned, which is - fair enough - not exactly what you expect to see when you pay for a lovely family day out in Florida. But then again might be exactly what you expect if you keep a killer whale (it's all in the name) in a tank the relative size of a bathtub and make it dance around for overfed tourists every day.

SeaWorld has already been stung with a $75,000 fine resulting from the incident. And with the family threatening to appear "immediately" on Oprah, America's favourite heartstrink plucking sofa fodder - it looks like things could get a whole lot worse.

Bad romance

Some weeks ago, The Source brought you details of a comicbook being made of the life story of everyone's favourite American stateswoman, Sarah "Moose killer"Palin. Well, it looks like a couple of other members of the US aristocracy - Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber (who? Ed.) are shortly to be similarly enobled - although both seem pretty unhappy about it. And have appointed Kenneth Feinswog - who has lost similar cases on behalf of New Kids on the Block and Motley Crue (although obviously in a different millennium)



Unfortunately, it looks like Feinswog's track record may well count against his clients. It has previously been held that comicbooks enjoy the same first amendment rights as any unauthorised biography.


Naked judge of the week

On the whole, judges are a quiet bunch, content to while away their autumn years opining on the odd low-value commercial dispute, or sleeping off a heavy lunch with a quick directions hearing. So it's always a surprise when a story such as this reaches The Source.

Lori Douglas, associate chief justice in Manitoba has temporarily stepped down from her role when pictures of her involved in...ummm...extreme sexual pursuits were released as part of a complaint to the Candian Judicial Council.

The complaint has been made by one Alexander Chapman, who claims Douglas' husband (Jack King, Chapman's lawyer in his divorce) tried to get him to have sex with Douglas in 2003. The honey trap was baited by some 30 snaps (sadly no longer available on the internet - but we're not brave enough to surf over to darkcavern.com anyway) of the judge engaged in various acts too naughty for delicate RoF ears. Long story short, the client "wanted to puke", King quit his firm, Douglas has stood down. And Chapman is now suing the husband for $10 million, the sexy wife for $7 million and the firm - Thompson Dorfman Sweatman (which sounds a bit suggestive anyway) - for $50 million.



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This weekend sees the return of the Taste of London festival in Regents Park.

When we think of London we think of pigeons, red buses and those mice you see on the underground - thankfully, despite the images, the taste of London is surprisingly brilliant - teeming with gourmet restaurants and a hitherto unseen variety of cuisines, confirming London as one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world.

So, take that cross-section of the upper echelons of fine dining in London, put it together with a park and here you have the world famous Taste Festival (in London). It certainly makes a change from the normal diners we see around London parks - pigeons and pasty office workers desperate for a glimpse of sun before retreating back to the darkness.



More satisfied Taste diners

The number of restaurants peddling their wares in exchange for your hard earned crowns (the currency of choice) is huge and you can probably try almost any cuisine you can think of. We're big fans of Benares, Gaucho and Launceton Place (which offers an amazing suckling pig and summer truffle roll - definitely the best bang for your buck/calories for your crown), but don't worry if these don't take your fancy as there is plenty to choose from.

The drinks and store cupboard are also well covered with numerous stalls doling out free samples of almost everything - we happily took the freebies in an attempt to fill our bellies for free.

Our top tip is to head into the Taste of Malaysia section which was woefully under-subscribed - we got to meet Rick Stein and sample many free delights at a leisurely pace because most had strayed to stalls of the more traditional London food gurus.

All in all, a good day out happily spent trawling for free samples and tasting snippets from some of London's (and the world's) best chefs...
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