|
Edition 66
Welcome to the final edition of the Laurence Simons newsletter of 2009, and we wish you Season's Greetings wherever you are in the world.
You'll notice from the Latin flavour of this newsletter that we are very excited and enthused about our recent new office opening in the city of Sao Paulo and would like to thank Josie Jardim of GE and Alessandra Del Debbio of Nokia for contributing to this month's newsletter with an excellent article.
We'll see you again in 2010.
www.laurencesimons.com
| Laurence Simons opens in Brazil |
|
Recession, what recession?
Whilst other legal recruiters may be reining back, Laurence Simons is on the expansion trail with a new office in Sao Paulo, Brazil, making us the only international legal recruitment specialist in the region’s leading economy. Handling both private practice and in-house work, the office will be headed by Pedro Amaral Dinkhuysen, a lawyer and one of the pioneer recruiters in the legal, tax and compliance sectors throughout Latin America.
For further information on the office’s work or to discuss staffing or individual career plans, contact Pedro or find out more about our services by visiting our website.
| Legal in Skirts |
|
Following on with our Latin American theme this issue we bring you an article from two of the region’s most high profile General Counsel.
Josie Jardim, GE’s General Counsel for Latin America (right), and Alessandra Del Debbio, Nokia’s General Counsel for Latin America (left) - on the growth of networking amongst senior female in-house lawyers through ‘Juridico de Saias’ or ‘Legal in Skirts’ to you and me.
To read the whole article click here, and please leave your comments on our LinkedIn discussion page.
| An eye for detail |
|
Hands up please the lawyer who hasn’t made an unfortunate proof reading error at some point in their career. Mmmm…we thought as much. Spare some sympathy then for the marketing team of Latvia’s capital city, Riga, which has just had to cancel a £500,000 publicity campaign.
Designed to attract English-speaking visitors to Riga’s delights, the campaign was to be based around the snappy tagline, ‘Riga City – easy to go, hard to leave’. Unfortunately the mound of leaflets and posters that came back from the printer featured the slightly less attractive ‘Riga City – easy to go, hard to live”.
As a spokesperson for the team succinctly put it, “Nobody checked it. It is very embarrassing.”
| Still tough in The City |
|
Regular readers will be aware of our continuing interest in gender discrimination cases and the strange ongoing phenomenon which prompts so many of them at City institutions which are able to pay out substantial sums in compensation.
The latest to hit the news has been the Jordan Wimmer claim for £4 million from former employer and hedge fund boss, Mark Lowe. Ms Wimmer, a marketing executive at Lowe’s Nomos Capital, who was earning nearly £600,000 at the firm, was emotionally distressed by trips to lap dancing clubs and by attending meetings with colleagues who wore hot-pants to the extent that she had to be treated for depression. Despite this some of the media have been downright uncharitable towards Ms Wimmer.
Christina Patterson at The Independent newspaper, for example, pointed out that the award would be 432 times more than Anthony Duncan, a soldier with the Light Dragoons, received for injuries and ‘mental anguish’ in Iraq, and 4,000 times more than residents of Abidjan received from Trafigura as compensation for the health problems caused by the dumping of toxic waste.
As she puts it, “A woman who works for a man who devotes his life to making very, very rich people even richer by a form of high-class (or at least weirdly high status) betting, is shocked when he treats other people as objects? Who did the poor darling think she was going to work for? Nelson Mandela?”.
We, as usual, have no comment.
| Managing In-House Legal Services |
|
 |
This recently published book by Mark Prebble and Richard Norman provides highly practical guidance for managers of in-house legal teams. We were interested to come across this new guide as it’s
the first one we have seen which addresses the different aspects
of running an in-house legal function.
It enables the reader to tap into the considerable experience of Mark and Richard who have managed both smaller teams and large international legal departments (Mark held the position of Group Legal Adviser at The BOC Group Plc and Richard was Vice President, Legal & Corporate Affairs for Dell Inc).
As they are the first to admit, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to some issues, and the book is not a substitute for selective consulting. Nevertheless the guidance should be very helpful to in-house lawyers grappling with the challenges of management or simply seeking confirmation that they are addressing the right issues.
Given the narrow-mindedness of the literary establishment, you are unlikely to see Mark or Richard signing copies at popular booksellers, so visit here for more information.
| Global Leaders in Law Anniversary Party |
|
As a long standing partner of Global Leaders in Law the international forum for General Counsel, Laurence Simons are delighted to announce the 1st year anniversary party which will held on Thursday, 14th January 2010 at the Aston Martin Showroom, Park Lane, London W1.
If you are currently working at a senior level in-house (or are simply in the market for a new car) and would like to join us at the event, simply email Rachael North.
| Who needs a Lawyer... |
|
|
…when you could employ a beautician instead. In a classic David versus Goliath (or whatever the female equivalent of David is) case, a young beautician from Essex named Georgina Blackwell has demolished the legal team of house builders, Bellway, in a dispute over rights of access and won £75,000 in compensation for her mother.
Now, in a scene straight from some mawkish US TV movie, not only has it emerged that she had always wanted to study law and had to turn down a degree offer when her mother became ill, but also that the law college, BPP, have stepped in with a free place on their law course worth an estimated £10,000. Isn’t it nice to have a bit of good news for a change?
Anyway, about that double dip recession…
| How to be a truly modern manager |
|
|
Are you struggling to get the best out of your team in these days of flatter organisations and consensual management?
Then you may be interested in a new training programme from the leadership management institute, Mannaz, which works with major businesses around the globe such as Alcatel Lucent, Canon and Deloitte. Mannaz’s latest programme for senior managers is called ‘Are you an Orc’ and is based around the world’s most popular online fantasy game, World of Warcraft, which currently has over 11 million subscribers.
According to Jacob Theilgaard, the business psychologist at Mannaz behind the project, “Managing and directing international teams increasingly means that the traditional ‘face-to-face’ model of leadership is no longer possible and, for younger employees in particular, not even relevant. In this sort of context leaders need to be collaborative, consensual and inclusive. And, ironically, given its name, that’s exactly what a role-playing game like World of Warcraft teaches.” And of course the nice thing about managing in World of Warcraft is that if anyone doesn’t pull their weight you don’t have to worry about all that tiresome stuff such as appraisals, consultation and warnings – you just kill them.
If only real life was so simple.
| Oops... |
|
Our last issue stated the incorrect phone number for our Paris office. Be assured, if you would like to speak to them, you can on + 33 (1) 5652 9201 or find out more by clicking here.
| Referrals and recommendations |
|
|
Do you have a friend or colleague who is looking for a career move? Simply email the details to refer@laurencesimons.com, stating whether we can mention your name and we'll do the rest.
And, if we are successful in helping your contact find a new position or fill the role we'll express our thanks by providing you with Virgin vouchers that can be used for hotels or health club breaks, holidays, meals out, wine and much, much more, to the value of £500.
| Contact us |
|
Laurence Simons
322 High Holborn
London WC1V 7PB
UK
Tel: +44(0)20 7645 8500
Fax: +44(0)20 7645 8501
E-mail: info@laurencesimons.com
|
|
LinkedIn yet?
|
|
We are the most popular legal recruitment group on LinkedIn with over 800 members. If you have any ideas on how to improve the group, please let us know.
Join our group today.
|
|
