The international outfit’s European arm entered into administration earlier this year
Former partners of the now defunct Europe, UK and Middle East (EUME) arm of King & Wood Mallesons have been urged to contribute up to £2,500 each to a fund set up to help staff impacted by the outfit’s collapse.
In an email sent to around 100 ex-colleagues, KWM EUME’s former managing partner, Tim Bednall, asked for contributions of between £1,000 and £2,500 to put towards a staff hardship fund.
According to Legal Week (£), the collection will benefit “around 20 individuals” who are either unable to find new jobs, are caring for ill members of family, are suffering from illness themselves, or were on or due to start maternity leave at the time the firm went under.
Continuing, the report states that Bednall has been joined by KWM EUME’s general counsel David Wilman and London litigation partner Darren Roiser in helping to coordinate the fundraising campaign. Ex-partners are being asked to cough up cash by the end of this month, with donations due to be dished out in June.
News of the KWM kitty comes just weeks after 200 former members of staff were given the go-ahead to bring an employment claim against the firm.
The legal action is related to the outfit’s alleged failure to carry out a formal 45-day consultation prior to making redundancies. An employment tribunal hearing is expected to take place in the coming months.
For all the latest commercial awareness info, and advance notification of Legal Cheek’s careers events, sign up to the Legal Cheek Hub here.