leaving

Dare ye visit the S&G Triangle?


Slater and Gordon has been quietly jettisoning and replacing staff in their hundreds, an insider has alleged.

The personal injury group employed almost 2,000 people in 2019, but that figure has dropped to 1,700, said a source, who alleged that within the last year and as the firm moved to permanent homeworking, 600 staff were made redundant and replaced, equivalent to churn of 38%.

A spokesperson for the firm said it was not true that there were 600 leavers, but confirmed that its Chief Commercial Officer, Jennie Hill, had left after just over a year, and that its Chief People Officer, Alicia Alinia, was leaving in December.

Hill's departure was "amicable on both sides", said the spokesperson, who added that, "We continue to promote and recruit talent into the business to enhance our management capability".

Staff referred RollOnFriday to Hill's eerily prophetic Slater and Gordon blog, in which she wrote, "I’ve always been intrigued by the myths surrounding the Bermuda Triangle. What dark forces caused planes and vessels to disappear, never to be seen again?"

A source said at least two heads of practice had vanished "with no notice - just signed on one day and told they are gone", while another said Alinia's departure was only announced internally because RollOnFriday got in touch with the firm.

An insider claimed that Slaters’ recent disposal of its London-based Crime and Misconduct Team to DAC Beachcroft "only came to light when someone in my team tried to contact the Crime team" and received an out of office response stating they had left.

"There has not been a single announcement, warning or anything to let the rest of the company know", said a source. A spokesperson said that characterisation was inaccurate, and that the news was disseminated to everyone via an internal newsletter and in team meetings. 

The departures have included all of the firm's press officers, one of whom denied that any of the others had left until he was also made redundant and disappeared, never to be seen again. The (new) spokesperson explained, "We have overhauled our external comms team to align it better with our company's strategic goals and are currently actively recruiting into the PR and media team".

Some Slaters staff claimed that incoming replacements did not always possess the same level of specialist knowledge as their predecessors. "My boss's boss has no legal background, she was a manager at a call centre for Argos", said one insider.

Slater and Gordon was anointed as the Golden Turd last year after staff voted themselves the least satisfied workforce in UK law. However, an enormous influx of fresh, motivated talent could be just the ticket to help Slaters pick up the top gong in 2022.


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Comments

Anon 10 December 21 09:04

“It’s not true there are 600 leavers, but it maybe a number between 500 and 599..”

Anon 10 December 21 09:05

“My boss's boss has no legal background, she was a manager at a call centre for Argos". 
 

Sounds a perfect fit for that firm. 

Rob 10 December 21 09:15

Glad to see Slaters go from strength to strength with motivated unqualified or newly qualified cheap talent, who I suspect can’t get a job anywhere else or their due diligence is about as good as Slater’s.

Anonymous 10 December 21 09:30

Managers, even those with a law degree and a solicitor's licence, should bugger off from all powerful positions of a law firm. Law firms are about lawyers, who can only truly work as a team when led by experienced and respected lawyers. 

Oddschecker 10 December 21 09:38

S&G Merger Odds

• 3-1 Womble Bond Dickinson

• 5-1 Quality Solicitors

• 6-1 Freeths

 

Dave 10 December 21 09:46

Same as last year. The head of PI left or got booted out and it’s been downhill since then - it’s a horrid place to work 

Anonymous 10 December 21 09:58

"The departures have included all of the firm's press officers, one of whom denied that any of the others had left until he was also made redundant and disappeared, never to be seen again"

Glorious - it's like getting to watch a sort of modernist LARPing take on a Kafka novel.

Someone should option to rights to this already.

Santa 10 December 21 10:04

Staff at the firm are on the whole really hardworking and loyal. They’re constantly let down by poor leadership by the CeO who makes changes constantly. The latest changes are a joke. Really good leaders like the CPO and the CCO leaving is a sign of how little they believe in the ownership and the deluded ceo. It’s a really sad shame. 

Gobblepig 10 December 21 10:12

"Some Slaters staff claimed that incoming replacements did not always possess the same level of specialist knowledge as their predecessors. "My boss's boss has no legal background, she was a manager at a call centre for Argos", said one insider." - I like the way RoF has avoided saying that this amounts to a lower level of specialist knowedge than that held by the predecessor (who, for all we know, also worked at Argos but had not reached the giddy heights of manager).

Anon 10 December 21 10:38

“Managers, even those with a law degree and a solicitor's licence, should bugger off from all powerful positions of a law firm. Law firms are about lawyers, who can only truly work as a team when led by experienced and respected lawyers. ”

So on that basis you’d get rid of the Chief Information Security Officer, Head of HR, Head of Technology  Head of Finance, Head of BD etc etc? 
 

You’ve clearly never worked in a law firm before.

Ano no, law firms are actually about providing legal advice to clients and making profit   

 

 

 

Markus R 10 December 21 11:24

Keep up the great work Jamie. Slater and Gordon is a joke of a business at last count they have had 6 heads of consumer legal services in 6 years.

Anonymous 10 December 21 11:38

Anonymous 10 December 21 09:30

"Law firms are about lawyers..."

Really? I thought it was about the clients and their access to justice.

It is this type of inward delusion that has led to our profession been seen as trustworthy as a car salesman. You need to take a long hard look at your career choice if you really think that it's all about 'you'.

YearofthePig 10 December 21 13:37

Why would any self-respecting, half-way competent lawyer work there?  Perhaps that's the answer.

Anonymouse 10 December 21 18:33

There can’t be many worse things to have on your CV than ‘Chief People Officer’ at S&G.

Maybe chief iceberg spotter on the titanic?

Or head of legal compliance for Boris?

Or head of truth at the Daily Mail?

The “missing” case files. 10 December 21 22:19

Whatever happened to their much hyped up podcast?? Gone the same way as many peoples claims?? 

Anonymous 10 December 21 23:20

"A spokesperson for the firm said it was not true that there were 600 leavers..."

'There were actually over 700 leavers...'

Too many chiefs 11 December 21 03:14

Plus eager bright eyed deluded minions. They will soon learn, give it a few months then get off this sinking ship. Go bake cakes its far more profitable.

Alex the Robot and his Cardiff dream team 11 December 21 03:18

Is it still a solid unit or has it fallen apart. Has he earned the title of chief anything yet?

Billy Butler 11 December 21 16:33

The (new) spokesperson explained, "We have overhauled our external comms team to align it better with our company's strategic goals"

What bull.

 

Leeds 16 December 21 14:49

I used to work in their Leeds office and it was an utter joke (but that means I was by extension)

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