Hell hath no fury like fee-earners and support staff scorned. Tulkinghorn was interested in an email sent round SJ Berwin‘s London partnership about its latest cost-saving measure: axing free parking for partners. It suggested that partners themselves should pay the £2,500 annual fee.
The suggestion was met with a sour response from one partner. “What about the spaces used by fee-earners and support staff?” he wrote. “How about starting with them?”
To which another partner replied: “They accepted small pay rises to keep average profits per partner at £400,000.” At this point two partner chimed, “Well said” and “Hear hear”.
The conversation obviously didn’t impress the staff member who found it, however, who kindly forwarded it to Tulkinghorn with the following note: “I’m sure if the support/fee-earners knew the real story, they wouldn’t have ‘accepted’ the situation.”