The Week: Redundancy – FFW and Manches, A Distracting Bonus, Save a Solicitor
More redundancies trickle through as the week draws to a close. Field Fisher Waterhouse has laid off seven fee-earners at the end of its third redundancy consultation and Manches has laid off ten people (including fee earners and support staff) mainly in its corporate practice. So the blood still flows on the front line… As the recession rolls on and on and the underlying economic news deteriorates, does anyone else get the impression that bankers’ bonuses are usefully monopolising headlines …
More redundancies trickle through as the week draws to a close. Field Fisher Waterhouse has laid off seven fee-earners at the end of its third redundancy consultation and Manches has laid off ten people (including fee earners and support staff) mainly in its corporate practice. So the blood still flows on the front line…
As the recession rolls on and on and the underlying economic news deteriorates, does anyone else get the impression that bankers’ bonuses are usefully monopolising headlines whilst diverting attention from the rest of this disaster. You can decide that one for yourselves but bonus witch-hunts do make for snappy reading. Fred the Shred still seems to be getting it in the neck and no-one seems to know quite how he managed to snare such a great leaving present from his old employer. Most redundant associates are getting a lot less than £16m and they didn’t even ruin their firms; at least we haven’t heard of any accomplishing that milestone yet. Meanwhile super-lawyer Cherie Blair sorry Booth has been wheeled out ridden in like a legal knight in shining armour on behalf of local authority pension funds to see if some justice can be served on RBS – how fitting.
Adding to the irony is the fact that many senior bankers (not to mention politicians) in charge before the disaster started have swapped hats/jobs been appointed to keep a hand in lift us out of it. Could this twist of circumstance be applied to all the unfortunate lawyers facing layoffs right now; perhaps a job cretaion scheme could be set up whereby they review their old files for errors/negligence/general cock-ups and then sue their old firms on behalf of their old clients and some new ones, acting in a new capacity. Maybe I’m just confused.
Anyhow, the American administration is having the an eerily similar problem with AIG to that had by GB and friends with RBS. Appears to be doing more about it though. Pander to populism, enact a law and Sam’s your uncle – US lawmakers have voted in favour of a bit of retrospective legislation. Any bonuses paid out by rescued firms to employees earning over $250k will attract a tax levy of 90% – ouch.
So, on that cheerful note I’m going to run to the pub to prop up the local economy, blank out the recession and make the most of happy hour before the world is engulfed in misery or an emergency law is passed to curb boozers’ bonuses. Cheerio.
March 20, 2009
going to the pub already! you guys have it easy
March 20, 2009
The bonus stories are obviously a diversion, so indeed is Cherie Booth QCs appearance on the scene. Brown and co have messed up so much in the last few months and the cracks are beginning to show. They have also attempted to deceive the public at various points in this crisis – lack of knowledge about Goodwin’s bonus being one of many. Time will show how poorly this has, and still is, being handled.
March 20, 2009
There does seem to be a lot of musical chairs – like going from corporate transactional work to corporate recovery when a deal you got wrong for your client explodes and they need advisers to help pick up the pieces.
March 20, 2009
This is what’s wrong with the elitist establishment we have. Even a labour prime minister is so enamoured with bankers he dares not sort them out properly and even gives them all jobs as government advisers. They should all be sacked and sent to the gulag.
March 20, 2009
wish i got even £1m when they gave me the shove