The Extreme Trauma of Mergers

 Mergers, as all of us know, can be brutal on the manpower.

Common is being designated as "redundant."

Also, the whole category of a kind of job can disappear. That's exactly what's playing out in the UK as BLM merges into Clyde & Co.

RollonFriday reports that at the new entity there is no role which is compatible with the present job of salaried partner at BLM. At BLM there are about 140 salaried partners, as well as 40 to 50 equity ones. The function of Clyde & Co. salaried partner is different.

The deal will be done on July 1st. So, the major challenge for current BLM salaried partners is to apply, if they want to stay in that game, for opportunities at Clyde & Co. There are several options. One is become what is called "Legal Director." 

Mergers are a monster to navigate even in the situations which can be favorable to employees, at least some of them. The latter can land a big break.

This particular one seems like a horror.

Of course, it is scary to envision that model could become a British import in America. More and more new partners in the US legal sector are income not equity partners. 

Full Disclosure: In a US corporate merger I got put out on the street. It was with a year's severance and health insurance but the experience was so traumatic that I opened my own communications boutique.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

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