Shine Lawyers may exhibit many of the signs of a Slater and Gordon doppelganger (a questionable "Work in Progress" accounting system and mooted class action sound familiar?), but who says you can't draw inspiration from more than one of your law firm contemporaries?
Seems the Sunshine State law firm is also doing its best to mimic Herbert Smith Freehills. Yes, Shine (or HSF-lite) is in the midst of dealing with its very own mass-exodus of high-ranking types. So hot right now!
The departures just keep mounting. It all started in December with chief legal officer Jim Holding bidding the firm farewell. Then came MD/CEO Courtney Peterson, who resigned.
That same month Shine's head of HR Melissa Leahy threw in the towel. Then in February we had the resignation of the firm's company secretary and general counsel Vicki Clarkson, followed by the chief financial officer Daniel Wilkie. Word is there are more exits to come.
We're told Shine (steered by its two major shareholders Simon Morrison and Steven Roche) is trying desperately to stop the bleeding. But apparently no one's keen to hang around.
So what does any good law firm do in such circumstances? It forces its "team" to stick around. We understand Peterson and others are now having to serve out their notice periods. Which always does wonders for staff morale.
