Looking forward to the day that every telephone call is accompanied by a digitised image of your correspondent…?
Who exactly would that be…?
Protest, politics and Law Society guidelines…
Keeping your politician on message…
Mixing law politics and the media; all you need is Joanna Lumley…
Relocation, relocation, relocation and some politics…
Most litigation settles before it ever gets to court…
Taking on the partner machine from the inside requires thought, tactfullness and shrew tactics…
Lawyers tend to take a fairly conservative line when it comes to most things. Change has to be deliberated and negotiated; concessions made, bargains sought. So when law firms move offices en-masse, there’s all sorts of potential for discussion…
In our (brief) absence the Anonymous Assistant has been hard at work. So, if you missed out, here is a double billing…
Ascending the law firm ladder, this is the part that you don’t get taught in law school
The latest installment from Anonymous Assistant – the game of promotion… Poacher Turned Gamekeeper
So the “Associateship Assessments” are over and Tarquin is confident that he will be promoted.
“It’s a foregone conclusion that I shall be a Senior Associate,” he tells Liz, “I am, by far, the best candidate in the team. It’s just a matter of time before I’m invited to the partnership table.”
“It must be nice to have such a high level of self confidence,” I muse.
“Even if it is misplaced,” sniffs …
Awkward moments come to all of us. Some are of our own making, others are definitely not. From this week’s Anonymous Assistant , A Proposition :
Amelia has given in and accepted my final offer.
I don’t blame her. She’s walked away with a cool £50,000, a glowing reference and a flash new job. What more could she have wanted?
Aside from the public flogging of Philip Carlton, perhaps?
If she doesn’t want it, I certainly do. Far from being contrite and apologetic for the …
Settlement negotiations, the best part of any litigation – The Pay Off from this week’s Anonymous Assistant :
Carlton has not given up his fight with Amelia. He has another trick up his sleeve.
“Even if she is interviewing with Chance Investments, I don’t have to give her a good reference, do I?” his voice is tinged with triumph.
“If it is your firm’s usual practice to give references then you must give her a fair one,” I point out.
“Then I could just …
Helen Bailey and friends receive news that many will find familiar and the plot thickens on her employment dispute…
As Grindman sets to work stalking Amelia, The Boss decides it’s time to give us another of his pep talks.
“Some of you may have noticed that I have not taken a summer holiday this year.”
All of us have noticed. We’ve talked of nothing else.
“I did not think it was appropriate for me to go swanning off The Med, whilst some of my …
Helen reveals to her colleagues the reasons for the Boss’ misgivings about private detectives and the ‘investigation’ continues with Detective Watching :
Carlton is easy to convince. Grindman is sufficiently lacking in scruples to impress a snake like him. Only The Boss remains hostile; unnerved by his previous brush with the shady world of private investigators no doubt. Not that he lets on. When questioned about his preference for Corporate Intelligence Solutions, he declares them to be more trustworthy and upright …
Re-joining Helen in her excitement at instructing a private detective; here we meet Mr Grindman in Detective Stories .
The Boss insists on meeting the prospective investigators.
“I know a thing or two about subterfuge,” he tells me.
“Is that how you made it to partnership?”
“Absolutely. You don’t make it to where I am without being devious Helen,” he smirks, as if remembering his former glories. “It’s dog-eat-dog out there; if you don’t out-wit the opposition, the opposition will out-wit you.”
I know that. Because the opposition always out-wits me.
“It’s …
Here we have the latest installment of Helen Bailey’s struggles to assert herself amidst the egos and eccentricities of a large City law firm, Private Detection :
The Boss immediately delegates the job of contacting the private detective to me.
“How exciting!” Liz exclaims, when I tell her. “Working with a real, live detective. You get all the best cases.”
Hardly.
“Will he be like Magnum PI, do you think?” asks Alex.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jane snaps, before I can respond. “This is London not Hawaii. …
About ten years ago English litigation had an image change. Out went aggressive tactics and court room bullying and in came touchy-feely tecnniques like, “alternative dispute resolution” and ”case management conferences”. Most litigators found it easy to get to grips with the new system, but The Boss isn’t ”most litigators”….
“It wasn’t like this in the good old days,” He tells me when I hand him an allocation questionaire. “Men were men back then and opponents were crushed by the weight of my mighty reputation!”
If …
