Following this week's news of tough conditions being imposed on Cobbetts partners by acquiring firm DWF, former Halliwells rookie Marc Piano draws on his experience to predict what lies ahead for the stricken firm's trainees...
Author Archives: Marc Piano
Well-Being Corner: Why Five Minutes of (Non-Chargeable) Meditation Could Save Your Career
Editorial note: Former Halliwells trainee Marc Piano knows a thing or two about handling stress, as he explained last month when he charted his experiences of the now defunct law firm’s collapse. These days Marc is practising Buddhism in south east Asian monasteries. From Myanmar, he brings Britain’s stressed-out lawyers some tips on how to relax.
From Halliwells To BLG To Clyde & Co To Buddhism In Two Years: A Trainee’s Journey In A Shaky Legal Market
Marc Piano says Halliwells' collapse contributed to his decision to pursue some time out practising Buddhism in South East Asian monasteries.
When it became clear that Halliwells’ insurance litigation team intended to transfer to Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG), I drafted up a business case (read: begging letter) for them to take me with them and gave it to my former supervisor. If I was going anywhere, I wanted to go with my colleagues from the team I had spent most time in.
At that point, the position of trainees – and everybody else – was far from clear. Indeed, the situation seemed to change daily. I wasn’t sure what, if anything, was being done about the trainees; communications were sketchy to non-existent from the top at first, rumours abounded and I wasn’t prepared to wait and assume all would come out OK in the end.
Since I was in a corporate seat at the time – equity partner heavy with an excellent department manager – we were kept very well-informed as the carve-up of the firm’s practice areas began to take shape. Sheffield and Liverpool offices were going to Hill Dickinson. Manchester insurance litigation was going to BLG. London and Manchester commercial were going to...nobody was quite sure yet.