Mayer Brown has been thoroughly embarrassed by a French lawyer who revealed it had been wrongly identifying associates as partners.
Avi Bitton, formerly an associate at Clifford Chance's Paris office, has long been a thorn in the side of international law firms. The most recent target of his ire was Mayer Brown. Bitton claimed that 15 of the firm's 25 French partners were technically associates. Under French rules partners must have a right to vote, and these "partners" (presumably salaried partners) had no such right.
Bitton pointed out to the French legal press that according to the letter of the law Mayer Brown only had nine partners in Paris, and that instead of having the five female partners it claimed, it actually had none. He suggested that if clients knew the true state of affairs they would be less than delighted. Mayer Brown however, in a fit of pique, lodged a complaint against Bitton with the Chairman of the Paris Bar.
That claim has now been thrown out, and Mayer Brown has been forced to issue shares to 13 of its fake partners to turn them into proper partners. A delighted Bitton told RollOnFriday his big question now is whether Mayer Brown "billed to its clients the hours of the false-partners at the rate of true-partners?" If so, the enterprising Frenchman offers a solution: "On a personal note, I would be delighted to assist the clients in such claims”.
A spokeswoman for the firm said "we do not wish to comment on this".
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Avi Bitton, formerly an associate at Clifford Chance's Paris office, has long been a thorn in the side of international law firms. The most recent target of his ire was Mayer Brown. Bitton claimed that 15 of the firm's 25 French partners were technically associates. Under French rules partners must have a right to vote, and these "partners" (presumably salaried partners) had no such right.
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A fake Frenchman yesterday |
Bitton pointed out to the French legal press that according to the letter of the law Mayer Brown only had nine partners in Paris, and that instead of having the five female partners it claimed, it actually had none. He suggested that if clients knew the true state of affairs they would be less than delighted. Mayer Brown however, in a fit of pique, lodged a complaint against Bitton with the Chairman of the Paris Bar.
That claim has now been thrown out, and Mayer Brown has been forced to issue shares to 13 of its fake partners to turn them into proper partners. A delighted Bitton told RollOnFriday his big question now is whether Mayer Brown "billed to its clients the hours of the false-partners at the rate of true-partners?" If so, the enterprising Frenchman offers a solution: "On a personal note, I would be delighted to assist the clients in such claims”.
A spokeswoman for the firm said "we do not wish to comment on this".
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