Half the partners in BLM's Southampton office have resigned.

Eight partners have handed in their notices including the head of the Southampton and Bristol offices, Michael Renshaw, RollOnFriday has learned.

According to inside sources, the fleeing partners are citing management issues and the salary and bonus system as their reasons for leaving BLM. Although presumably Renshaw thought his own management skills were passable. There are, says one source, "more disillusioned partners waiting in the wings", and claims other lawyers and non-fee-earners are also expected to leave. Which is perhaps not surprising given that a lot of work is presumably about to walk out the door.

    "Nobody start running until we're round the corner"

The firm endured a pasting from staff in the RollOnFriday Firm of the Year 2016 survey, in which it came fourth from bottom with a score of just 33% (which is generally awarded for being a law firm and having an office). Its lawyers said that the firm's pay was "horrendous", with one adding "you should look into it - it really is a complete joke". Others claimed there was "terrible communication from the top" and a "totally opaque" bonus system. Employees have apparently got so used to departures they have found a novel silver lining: "Members of staff leave and are not replaced which means there is room to stretch out on spare desks". Following news that BLM is making mass redundancies in Manchester, they are likely to have at least one office each.

A spokeswoman for BLM confirmed that it had received "a number of resignations". But although half the office is about to vanish, she said BLM does not "anticipate any impact on our existing relationships" with clients, who have all "assured" the firm "of their continuing support". So all fine then.
 
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Comments

Roll On Friday 08 April 16 08:03

They should never have replaced the ginger ninja

(Though hard to feel sorry for all these insurance firms who spent the last 10 years merrily lobbying themselves out of a future)

Anonymous 08 April 16 08:47

Remember when all those turkeys voted for Christmas by supporting the Jackson reforms? Blinded by the them vs us ( claimant lawyers vs defendant lawyers) mentality they threw their weight began the insurance industry and walked straight into mass redundancies. Defendant PI lawyers should be stripped of the right to vote on anything. They have proved themselves to be idiots.

Anonymous 08 April 16 10:46

https://www.keoghs.co.uk/Join-Us perhaps this gives a clue as to why BLM staff are departing... The chief Turkeys are attempted to drive down the market again

Anonymous 08 April 16 11:31

Renshaw is one of the best lawyers I ever worked with. And a great manager. SJ Walsh, Sydney

Anonymous 08 April 16 13:25

BLM has always been in chaos. Moving to swish new buildings in the City is like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. Ain't going to solve any problems or convince anyone.

Anonymous 08 April 16 13:53

Is anybody surprised? As a solicitor at BLM I'm not. Poor communication. Management take note.

Anonymous 08 April 16 13:54

The headline should read “BLM Partners first to take Keoghs’ coin” given that Keoghs have been pestering all the defendant insurance litigation firms (again) with promises of fat pay cheques, so expect more to follow. Brings the added complication of explaining to their current staff why there’s such a differential in pay between those at the Retail Park and those on the south coast. Odd way to use private investor’s money. Plexus II anyone??

Anonymous 08 April 16 14:42

They have taken the insurers' dollar even helping calculate fixed costs for Jackson recently and actually joining the ABI. Karma!!! I've never worked in such an unhappy talentless place!

Roll On Friday 08 April 16 15:33

No matter how dreadful it is to work at BLM, they're in for a masterclass of misery if they've gone to Keoghs.

Anonymous 08 April 16 23:47

There is one common denominator in all this disaffection and misery...the leadership or lack thereof by the current senior partner.

Anonymous 09 April 16 08:21

BLM get good work. BLM have some very good lawyers.
It's the culture and half witted management that have always let it down. Oh and the egos.

Anonymous 09 April 16 09:30

They are losing their good work, they've just lost the Ministry of Defence contract which was, not surprisingly, headed up by the senior partner so, not only does he have no regard for his staff but also his clients it seems. Both are talking with their legs!!/5

Anonymous 09 April 16 09:47

So much chatter about a pi firm. Like the Dutch football team and total football pi is total zero law. You could get a troop of chimps to do the job.

Roll On Friday 09 April 16 12:19

Someone has mentioned the Titanic in one of the comments. Keoghs already sunk once in 2001. Follow link: http://www.managingpartner.com/news/regions/keoghs-closes-southampton-office

This second attempt could be the Titanic sequel.

Anonymous 10 April 16 15:00

Reference the comment at 08.30 (09/04/16) : Who has won the MOD contract if BLM have lost it? There has been no mention of this in the press.....

If it is true BLM have lost it that's a telling sign.

Anonymous 11 April 16 09:51

Word on the grapevine I'd that Plexus has won the MOD contract. No doubt BLM will make an announcement in time.

Anonymous 11 April 16 13:29

BLM won't make an announcement. They are not that sophisticated. It's a scene of headless chickens in BLM offices.

Anonymous 11 April 16 14:31

An ex-colleague of mine said that when she worked at BLM, if you didn't hit your daily chargeable hours target of 7 hours because, for example, you were forced to attend an all day training session, you were pulled in by a supervisor the next day and questioned as to why 7 chargeable hours weren't hit the day before. I can't believe anyone in their right mind would work for them.

Anonymous 11 April 16 19:35

That is correct about the meetings. Its all about power and a majority are over promoted and inept.
Favouritism was rife when I worked there but its such a crazy place that you may be flavour of the month one minute then ignored the next. No rhyme or reason. The moods of the supervising partners changed more than the weather. Perfect set up for a reality TV show.

Anonymous 11 April 16 23:46

It will be hard for BLM to put a positive spin on all of this. Crisis meetings and all of a sudden a lot of dental appointments cropping up (aka interviews).

Anonymous 12 April 16 01:49

the real truth here is they closed the Manchester Fraud team, which was the highest performing, lifted DACs Fraud team from Birmingham to replace the Manchester lot, all before they had even started a consultation, which annoyed (polite way of saying) the Mcr crew who all rejected the 6 measly jobs created in Mcr, which coincidentally was to deal with the mess going on in Southampton. There hasn't been a ship sinking so fast since 1912

Anonymous 12 April 16 16:44

Think ROF posts are the only updates we are getting.
The panic is seeping around the offices.

Anonymous 12 April 16 18:27

Lol recruitment agencies are all over this and my gf has had 4 calls since friday. Last one out turn the light off.

Anonymous 12 April 16 19:27

As a current Birmingham employee in the fraud team I have to say that we have some fantastic staff in place. The problems stem from the bean counters at the top of the tree who listen then ignore the issues put forward. Poor pay, lack of pay rises, poor bonus structure, failure to recognise good staff, blatant favouritism, unhealthy workloads and targets. They need to change the mindset for it to become a so called centre of excellence - at the moment I'd say that 90% of staff would walk if the right opportunities were available in the Midlands

Anonymous 12 April 16 20:03

omg so glad 2 posts have talked about favouritism as I saw someone get promoted for some bizarre reason after she had made a monumental c@@k up, she has to ask the trainees what to do.

Anonymous 12 April 16 22:11

Those saying "I'm in Brum and would move if the chance arose" could do worse than look at Evesham.
There's a firm there doing the same work who will always consider strong candidates. ;)

Anonymous 12 April 16 22:42

Looks nailed on for the Golden Turd until what you see what's going on on the Hill of Dicks. They will take some shifting. The PI market is screwed

Roll On Friday 13 April 16 11:11


The 'firm in Evesham' couldn't be the one that's run so catastrophically badly that it's just emerged from administration? BLM may not be coming out of these comments looking very good, but that has to be the most idiotic suggestion in the history of RoF.

Anonymous 13 April 16 21:37

he he you are right we DID have easter eggs and ice creams in the summer. it all makes sense now. I have never worked in any organisation either which is banned from venues across London because of poor behaviour at the christmas parties.- that my friends was the icing on the cake for my rapid departure.

Anonymous 14 April 16 09:47

After years screwing over Joe Public with spurious whiplash claims and then making a handsome profit defending the same I am pleased to see Jackson had knocked the excess back. Of course these firms were on borrowed time and of course there will be insolvencies and unfortunately job losses. You cannot expect a bonus or pay of the good oledays the whole industry is on its knees. This isn't about firm A, B or C - this is the new normal in PI. Get with the programme and try find a new outlet for your socially useless skills.

Anonymous 14 April 16 11:20

well the BLM departures can look forward to Keoghs branded chocolate in place of their annual bonus... the Aldi of the legal sector knows how to cut costs alright

Anonymous 14 April 16 12:38

Ah the Easter eggs...those were the days. Don't forget about them getting rid of dress down Fridays as well.

Great.

Anonymous 14 April 16 13:23

so sounds a great place to be: culture is horrid, the pay is diabolical, the bonus is pathetic, favouritism is rife, the place is in chaos, clients are being lost, partners are wholesale jumping ship and you face nasty meetings if you miss 7 chargeable hrs a day..i'm applying today.

Anonymous 14 April 16 13:29

im sure that instead of reading this, realising that they have a massive internal crisis and doing anything to change it, the partners will instead mercilessly hunt down the commenters and reprimand them, just to make their lives that much more unbearable.

Anonymous 14 April 16 14:20

Ah BLM. I loved you once. From Equity Partner to Admin Clerk, the NSP knew your name and valued the job you did. Then you changed. You thought 'new' meant 'better'. You listened to all the wrong people and you forgot about those who had been loyal to you. Leaving you was the best thing I ever did. 

Anonymous 14 April 16 15:05

Sad to read but not entirely surprising. Worked there for a long time and wondered when the axe would fall. A zombie law firm if there ever was one.

Anonymous 14 April 16 17:47

The firm has been on a downward slope for some time now. Following the introduction of a shiny new NSP and 'management team' (who seem more intent on bringing back 80's makeup and who adopt a form of management we liked to call seagull management (made a lot of noise, flap around looking busy and then unpleasantly drop on you from above) the speed of the firms decent into chaos has continued to increase at an astounding rate.

Long gone are the days of the 'ginger ninja' a truly delightful NSP who made everyone feel valued. As stated by another commenter 'new' isn't always good.

Grab a bag of popcorn and watch the show its looking like a grand finale!!