SJ Berwin partner slammed by Tories
SJ Berwin partner slammed by Tories" />SJ Berwin partner Jonathan Djanogly, who is Conservative MP for Huntingdon, has been criticised by his Westminster opponents after using the firm's trainees for parliamentary research work.
An Electoral Commission investigation found that Djanogly failed to declare that he had received around £155,000 of donations in trainee time from the firm.
While the commission has no power to reprimand him, and while Djanogly contacted the commission voluntarily to ask whether he should make a declaration, the corporate finance partner has come under fire from the Labour party.
His political opponents criticised him for failing to declare the trainees' work as a donation in kind.
In the Parliamentary register Djanogly said: "From time to time SJ Berwin seconds a trainee solicitor to carry out research for me."
SJ Berwin has operated a three-month trainee secondment to parliament since 2003, with secondees carrying out work for shadow solicitor general Djanogly.
Djanogly told TheLawyer.com that, after he contacted the commission, it said it would have to carry out an investigation on the late registration.
Despite the row, the parliamentary seat is a highly popular option for SJ Berwin trainees and is usually over subscribed.
Newly qualified private equity funds solicitor John Atherton did his last half-seat with Djanogly. "In a lot of ways I quite miss it," he said. "I'm quite jealous of the trainee who's there at the moment with all the financial work and debates being held about bolstering the economy."
Readers' comments (3)
Ex-SJB associate, | 20-Nov-2008 10:36 am
Don't put it in writing!
See SJB's "PLUM" trainee recruitment magazine for an article by one of the Djanogly's lucky trainees...QUICK, before they take it off their website.
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Ex-SJB | 20-Nov-2008 12:32 pm
Don't put it in writing
Too late, they've pulled it.
The seat is a "highly popular option" and oversubscribed by corporate trainees hoping for a respite from the beasting!
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Ex-SJB associate | 20-Nov-2008 6:09 pm
No, it's still there...
Having barely sat down for my first day in Parliament, I was handed the task of researching and writing a speech for an upcoming House of Commons debate on a proposal to extend TUPE employment laws to share sales. Having not written anything of such depth since my final year dissertation, it became clear that my time in this seat was going to be a world away from SJ Berwin’s corporate led practice.
The Parliament seat is a three month secondment from the capital equity markets and mergers and acquisitions department, working as a speechwriter and research assistant to Jonathan Djanogly MP who, aside from being a corporate partner at SJ Berwin, is also MP for Huntingdon, the Shadow Solicitor General and a Member of the Shadow Ministry of Justice and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Responsibilities of a secondee include researching and writing speeches on the areas for which Jonathan has responsibility, analysing and tabling amendments to upcoming pieces of legislation, writing questions to put to the Government and attending meetings of the Shadow Ministries and business organisations. More generally, you are also expected to be the ‘eyes and ears in the House’, listening out for what is happening in Parliament on a daily basis.
It would be impossible for me to give an example of a typical day, because the cliché of ‘no two days being the same’ definitely applies to this seat. My experiences ranged from being buried knee deep in the intricacies of the Employment Bill and drafting a proposal to reform the Electoral System to fielding calls from the Financial Times and Daily Mail looking for comments on agency worker laws, having a speech quoted in Private Eye, and drinking champagne to celebrate the announcement of a Shadow Secretary of State’s civil partnership.
I honestly could not have wished for a more enjoyable and fulfilling experience from my secondment to Parliament. No other law firm offers such a unique chance to become so involved in how laws are debated and created and to experience the inner workings of the British legislative system. I feel extremely privileged to have been given this opportunity and would wholeheartedly recommend it.
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