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Ashurst moves towards greater alignment in Oz but denies partner cuts

As an Ashurst Australia employee, I can tell you the morale amongst the legal staff at the moment is pretty low. From the start, people have been perplexed why we are tying up with a third tier UK firm. We (and I assume clients, peers, prospective employees etc) have had to try to reconcile being (/being associated with) a top-tier firm with a mid-tier brand. I don’t question the quality of legal talent here, but there is a lot in brand and one wonders how long the status quo will subsist, particularly when you hear of the likes of A&O, Clifford Chance, Jones Day etc doubling in size in their first few years in AU. We are told the vision is to be one of a handful of “elite global firms” but how is this possible when the apparent strategy is to use a brand with a patchy reputation as springboard to “elite” status, all the while as top legal talent trickles out the door?

4-Feb-2013

6:14 pm