Asia-Pacific

Check out this week's top Asia-Pacific news on the Asia Pacific Headline page.

Follow RoF

For all the breaking news, follow RoF on Twitter and Facebook

          
   

Find a Job

With the market picking up, don't miss out on Job Search for all the best vacancies from the World's leading law firms.

Find a Flat

Find your ideal flat (or the perfect flatmate) on the Accomm-
odation Offered and the Accommodation Wanted discussion boards.

NB perfect flatmates are not guaranteed.

Glamour

Glamour
The legendary Glamorous Solicitor showcases the style, the beauty and the sophistication for which the legal profession is so rightly known.
Syndicate  

Europe News

Send Us Your News
Exclusive: mass redundancies feared at DWF
22 March 2013
Rate it
3

Around 100 employees are believed to be at risk of redundancy at DWF.

An insider has told RollOnFriday that 99 support staff have been put into a consultation process. And given the recent acquisitive nature of DWF, which has snapped up five firms in under a year, it is not surprising that there may now be some job losses.

But 99 is a very precise number, and by a happy coincidence for the firm, the consultation period only has to last for 30 days when fewer than 100 staff are at risk. However rumours are circulating that other staff have been culled, bringing the number to over 100 and obliging the firm to conduct a 90 day consultation. And if that was the case, then the firm would have to pay all its unfortunate victims for the extra 60 days.

    DWF yesterday

But surely a sizeable law firm would go through the process absolutely by the book? A spokeswoman for the firm originally told RollOnFriday that she thought the numbers were "incorrect" and would check the position with HR. But that was over a week ago, and despite repeated requests for comment none has been forthcoming. So the mystery remains.
 

Comments

Feel free to enter your comments on the news story below, subject to our terms and conditions. Please note that comments are subject to moderation and so will not appear immediately.

Please keep it nice. Thanks.
Order By:
anonymous user
22/03/2013 08:10
Rate it
0
Report as offensive
Dundas & Wilson never bothered going through the correct process when making redundancies in 2011. I understood it to be because they used the "law firm" get out provided for in legislation?
anonymous user
22/03/2013 08:20
Rate it
30
Report as offensive
Bet you 50p that most of these people will be the Cobbetts associates and staff. Basically DWF bought Cobbetts' work for a knock-down price when it was in distress and is now stuffing everyone involved it doesn't want. (And didn't even make any of Cobbetts partners into equity partners at DWF either). Basically got a load of money for very little.

What a right royal stuffing Cobbetts has had. Makes the old corporate raiders of the 1980s look kind-hearted.
anonymous user
22/03/2013 09:41
Rate it
21
Report as offensive
One law firm treated all it's support departments as seperate business units - making no more than 19 from each "business unit" redundant. Putting 60+ people at risk without needing any consultation.

By the book.... If you know how to work the book....
anonymous user
22/03/2013 10:15
Rate it
-2
Report as offensive
I think it was 2012 that D&W made redundancies....
anonymous user
22/03/2013 11:15
Rate it
0
Report as offensive
Clearly after all those mergers there will be people in duplicate rolls so it is understandable that there will be redundancies. If the business were failing in the first place then they clearly have to make cuts - unfortunatley support staff dont bring in money so are normally first to go! What is heartbreaking for those at risk, is the hard faced way they go about the redundancy process.
anonymous user
22/03/2013 12:15
Rate it
88
Report as offensive
This is only the beginning!!!
anonymous user
22/03/2013 14:40
Rate it
9
Report as offensive
Whilst the people from Cobbetts will (quite understandably) be feeling nervous, they can at least take comfort that the regime at DWF will axe anybody without hesitation.
anonymous user
22/03/2013 18:55
Rate it
10
Report as offensive
Nobody is safe, it's almost a hobby of DWF getting rid of staff, whether their own or new staff as a result of mergers
anonymous user
22/03/2013 19:25
Rate it
30
Report as offensive
Speaking as an ex employee of DWF and one who worked there for 2 years before going through consultation as a result of a merger - nobody is safe, particularly support staff who are seen as a burden
anonymous user
22/03/2013 21:10
Rate it
2
Report as offensive
Legal profession aint what it used to be, I got caught up in the Eversheds debacle, I might earn peanuts in the NHS compared to my previous earnings but am so glad I'm out of this
anonymous user
23/03/2013 09:22
Rate it
10
Report as offensive
I'll go on record. I work for DWF following acquisition. I don't like it. In fact, I don't actually know anyone who does. The atmosphere is terrible. No-one wants to speak up about how they feel because they are too scared in case it will be held against them. No-one is safe. DWF are ruthless when it comes to redundancies. Tap on the shoulder, your at risk, blah blah and off you go with a bad taste in your mouth and a standard redundancy package - treated horribly by. They "live their values" - I certainly hope they don't!!
anonymous user
23/03/2013 13:39
Rate it
21
Report as offensive

DWF is a business being run as a business. So many law firms have equity partners with no clients, no fee earning responsibilities but as they form part of a bloated "management structure" they are allowed to continue to earn well whilst bringing little to the business. Combine this with an excess of support staff and you have a recipe for disaster.
Better to cut away the fat to ensure the firm not only survives but also thrives.
The speed at which litigation heavy firms are responding to the challenges created by the Jackson reforms is poor. Many are sleep walking into a disaster because the excess staff, the bloated management structures and the non-performers should be being managed now rather than when the cash flow starts to falter.
Lawyers are pretty clueless when it comes to managing their own businesses. DWF's approach seems the right one to me (assuming of course the non-fee earning equity partners are limited to say, one - the Managing Partner).
anonymous user
24/03/2013 08:25
Rate it
-19
Report as offensive
Dwf used to be a great place to work. The chaps whose names are over the door are decent blokes, on first name terms with the majority, and one is still on the "shop floor" - for now, at least. Even he's probably not safe, the way things are going.
anonymous user
25/03/2013 22:25
Rate it
11
Report as offensive
DWF believe strongly in their values. How can a firm be taken seriously for its values when they treat their people so poorly.
anonymous user
05/04/2013 18:54
Rate it
1
Report as offensive
Hopefully the Cobbetts clients will appreciate they are pawns on an unsophisticated chess board and find decent lawyers asssisted by the Cobbetts partners who were told "join us or you're bankrupt". No-one's under an illusion DWF
Wananbes remember DWF

Weekly Email Update

To receive a weekly European email update, please login or register to RollOnFriday.