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Law Firm Under Investigation For Overworking Associates

No more sleeping under your desk...

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Does the concept of associates sleeping at their desk to meet deadlines seem strange to you? Well, maybe it should. Mega Australian law firm King & Wood Mallesons is under investigation for overworking their attorneys, who are allegedly being subjected to grueling conditions.

In a first for Australian law firms, the occupational health and safety regulator, WorkSafe Victoria, sent King & Wood Mallesons a notice for improvement based on the working conditions for attorneys at the firm. As Law.com reports, a public inquiry into misconduct in the financial sector has led to an increased workload for the firm:

The high volume of work has led junior lawyers at King & Wood Mallesons’ Melbourne office to be subject to grueling work conditions, with some employees sleeping in the office so they could deal with tight deadlines and the huge volume of work, according to claims cited by the Australian Financial Review. The firm has until mid-November to respond to the WorkSafe investigations.

The firm’s chief executive, Berkeley Cox, said the firm is staffing up, creating a shift schedule and getting additional work from paralegals and clerks. Additionally, King & Wood Mallesons is reviewing their procedures to ensure the health and safety of their employees:

After receiving the WorkSafe notice, Cox said the firm is “undertaking a comprehensive review of what else we can do to better identify and prevent high-pressure situations for our people … [and] ensure our people are supported and are given regular and proper opportunities to rest and recover.”

Though the investigation is firm-specific, Michael Tooma, Australia managing partner of Clyde & Co., said it’s a wake-up call for the entire legal industry:

“This is a wake-up call for the legal industry that we need to tackle this head-on,” Tooma said. “It’s a significant development. There will be potentially a precedent created for others.”

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U.S. associates can only hope overworking associates becomes verboten around the rest of the globe.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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