Wednesday, September 26, 2007

When partners get sacked

Had a tough time recently. A senior partner got the bullet following a series of cock ups and issues with his team.

It was sadly a slow death. First he was moved to an office fondly known as "the cellar". Then stripped of staff responsibilities and reporting duties. Finally he was bombarded with files which he was ill equipped to deal with.

Its the classic law firm guillotine method. Humiliate and then pile the pressure on.

The inevitable happened and he cracked - walking out with barely a whimper or a backwards glance. 14 years service and bugger all to show for it - not even a lunch or a card.

He is a nice enough chap and as you might expect people were upset at the way things were handled.

There will soon be a succession and regrettably this will involve an external appointment. What a pain that is going to be. Usual scenario is that someone will come in and be offered the chance of partnership if they impress. Few succeed

An aspirant solicitor out to impress can however, be a very dangerous beast. The next few months could be rather interesting.