"I wish I was a lawyer in a Big City firm...."

The expression ‘Christmas clubbing’ has taken on a sinister new meaning this week as it has been revealed that several of the Big City law firms have outsourced their now annual cull of PUPs (Partners who Under-Perform) to mercenary gangs of Canadian seal clubbers from the Gulf of St Lawrence as a further cost-saving measure.

The opportunistic gangs are being paid handsomely for spiking literally scores of surprised and defenceless PUPs at their desks as they stare wide-eyed into their Inboxes.

Those that do not get clubbed are being noosed in a particularly dark technique known as ‘de-equitising’.

“Although it looks brutal, it is really quite quick and humane”, said one grateful survivor.

…but to cast aside and kill such noble and worthy creatures in this cynical way in the name of ‘profits per partner’ is surely short-termism gone mad.

So to draw attention to this shameful and pernicious practice and to provide continuity of employment for its unfortunate victims, we have launched the Red Snow Day Appeal to draw attention to their plight and to seek to provide them with the possibility of a home in the New Year.

City lawyers were asked to wear something red-and-white to demonstrate their support for the Appeal and, as only lawyers can do, they really got into the spirit of Christmas by donning festive Father Christmas outfits at their PCs.

Ironically, these self-same supporters were soon after asked to pack their Santa bags and were obliged to leave the building fast by any available exit in order to avoid the ministrations of the savage Christmas clubber gangs.

So if you know of a PUP who has taken a Christmas clubbing this year please tell them about the Red Snow Day Appeal…

…..and ask them to get in touch with us immediately.

(PS: Any head-hunters or recruiters responding to the Appeal will be required to donate their entire commission to the Red Snow Day Appeal– after all, it is Christmas.)

JOIN THE NEWS OF THE WORLD EMPLOYEE ACTION GROUP!

We have recently been contacted by a number of very concerned News of the World employees …or should we say ex-NoTW employees.

Rocked by yesterday’s shocking developments, News of the World employees are now not only acutely concerned for their immediate future, but are also distressed about the potential long term career damage that may suffer by being, as they see it, unjustly tainted by the acts of others.

News of the World employees are angered that they are effectively being scape-goated and punished when they have done no wrong.

Since they do not consider themselves to be at all responsible for the circumstances giving rise to the closure of the title, they are concerned to investigate the potential to claim Stigma Damages equivalent to those awarded in the BCCI litigation.

In response we have set up the News Of The World Employee Action Group, to provide co-ordinated and affordable support, advice and guidance for all News of the World employees through what will certainly be a troubling and distressing time for all concerned.  The initiative has been featured in The Lawyer and in The Financial Times.

If you are a News of the World employee, please register your interest now.

For an initial confidential conversation, without charge, please contact either:

Martin Donoghue       mdd@silvermansherliker.co.uk
Nicholas Lakeland     ncjl@silvernamsherliker.co.uk
Victoria Russell           vjr@silvermansherliker.co.uk

Tel: 020 7749 2700
www.silvermansherliker.co.uk

 HR Expert, David Thompson, has joined Silverman Sherliker to head up Silverman Sherliker Specialist HR Services, a dedicated HR Specialist service

The service will provide front-line HR advice and resources to complement the legal services offered by the firm’s extremely busy employment team.  
 

Innovative Client Benefit

Senior Employment Partner, Nicholas Lakeland, explains how this innovative step will benefit clients:

“Silverman Sherliker can now provide an integrated and complete HR Service thus assisting clients with practical advice and on site assistance whilst also being able to offer Employment Law advice as and when required. Our HR consultants are available to undertake regular weekly or monthly first-line human resources support on a retained basis or to deal with on one-off projects as may be required.    The services are flexible and can readily be tailored tosuit a client’s requirements.”

A Wealth of Experience

During his 23 years HR career with Barclays Bank, Dave Thompson has acquired a wealth of hands-on HR experience in successfully dealing with contentious and non-contentious HR-related issues.  Dave progressed through the branch network to Operations Management where he quickly gained a reputation as an effective troubleshooter, turning negative situations around through a combination of re-motivating employees and bringing good disciplines to the workplace. From the London Regional HR team, he progressed to Employee Relations Manager in Barclays’ Head Office and also spent two years as a Project Manager for Employee Development and was responsible for implementing Recruitment & Assessment Centres. 

Dave explains the service that he now heads up at Silverman Sherliker Specialist HR Services :

“I am excited to be offering a seamless professional service to businesses of all sizes, backed by Silverman Sherliker’s legal expertise.  We offer a standard HR package to small, medium and larger employers.  Our range of services includes:
 
·        Absence Management
·        Guidance on issues involving incoming employment legislation
·        Assessment & Development Centres 
·        Avoiding Employment Tribunal Claims 
·        Disciplinary & Grievance procedures
·        Employee Attitude Surveys & Employee Relations
·        Managing line managers and personnel to improve attendance
·        Organisational, Employee and Management Development 
·        Record Keeping/Monitoring
·        Psychometric testing, CV and  reference verification  
·        Restructuring and Redundancy
·        Salary Reviews
·        Terms & Conditions of Employment
·        Training Team Leaders on employment related issues.”
 
For further information please contact Dave Thompson on dt@s2hr.co.uk  or Nicholas Lakeland on ncjl@s2hr.co.uk  or call +44 (0)20 7749 2700