Shoosmiths has issued a half-arsed denial to claims that it is still doing over staff who volunteered for a pay cut six years ago.

The firm took an absolute beasting in 2009: its equity partners saw their average profits fall from £327,000 p.a. to £150,000 p.a. overnight. In a bid to try and shore the firm up Shoosmiths took the unique step of giving its future trainees a choice - either agree to abandon their training contracts altogether or defer their start dates for up to two years with absolutely no compensation. Matters were made worse when two students wrote a spectacularly brown-nosed letter*, clearly at the request of the firm's grad rec department, praising Shoosmiths for its atrocious behaviour. And the firm then put the icing on the cake by inviting all staff earning more than £25,000 p.a. to accept a pay cut.

Most staff accepted this cut, but 10% of them stood their ground and told Shoosmiths where to stick it. Their salaries were unchanged. But the Lawyer reported this week that the other 90% are still - six years down the line - being hammered by the pay cut. Given that partnership profits have now risen to an average of £416,000, that seems as tight as a duck's arse.

Quack

In a carefully worded statement a spokesman told RollOnFriday that "every year since the recession, we have increased pay and there is not a two-tier pay system, so The Lawyer article is not accurate". But she refused to give any further comment, so it's perfectly possible that the pay rises have been minimal and there is in fact a three-tier pay system.

*"we are resolved to rise to the challenge of succeeding in these tough times, together", "one of the chief reasons we remain attracted to Shoosmiths is the quality of the way they do things" and "together we will progress and prevail through this economic downturn".