The guerrilla tactics of Avi Bitton, RollOnFriday's favourite French lawyer, seem to have worked as his union has won three of the 16 seats on the National Bar Council.
Avi has long been a pain in the collective arse of French law firms. He had a long running dispute with his former employer Clifford Chance, his former employer, when he got himself elected as a shop steward and therefore virtually unsackable. After trouncing CC in court he turned his attention to the rights of associates at other firms such as Allen & Overy, highlighting the fact that they are technically self-employed and can be fired at will.
After more courtroom successes he launched a union to fight for the rights of downtrodden associates. One of his candidates hijacked a recent meeting at Orrick to generate what turned out to be some useful publicity - Avi's union has won three seats (including his) on the National Bar Council.
Now that he has some official clout, Avi can do rather more to change the nature of French law firms than just publicly embarrassing them. Expect 2012 to be the year when law firms finally have to give some rights to their staff.
A delighted Avi said that he was sending some flowers to Orrick "for the advertising they offered to our candidates" and thanks RollOnFriday's French readers for their support.
Avi has long been a pain in the collective arse of French law firms. He had a long running dispute with his former employer Clifford Chance, his former employer, when he got himself elected as a shop steward and therefore virtually unsackable. After trouncing CC in court he turned his attention to the rights of associates at other firms such as Allen & Overy, highlighting the fact that they are technically self-employed and can be fired at will.
After more courtroom successes he launched a union to fight for the rights of downtrodden associates. One of his candidates hijacked a recent meeting at Orrick to generate what turned out to be some useful publicity - Avi's union has won three seats (including his) on the National Bar Council.
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A victorious Frenchman yesterday. Sort of. |
Now that he has some official clout, Avi can do rather more to change the nature of French law firms than just publicly embarrassing them. Expect 2012 to be the year when law firms finally have to give some rights to their staff.
A delighted Avi said that he was sending some flowers to Orrick "for the advertising they offered to our candidates" and thanks RollOnFriday's French readers for their support.
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