Despite some partners pocketing a cool £1.23 million a year
Clifford Chance has fired off an internal email to its lawyers asking them not to take the piss with their free taxi rides.
The magic circle giant — which is based in Canary Wharf — offers a free car service for lawyers who are still plugging away at the office after 10pm (or 9pm in the winter). With each lawyer able to claim back up to £60 a day in free cabs, it would appear some Clifford Chancers may have been pushing their luck.
According to a leaked email (in full below), first acquired by legal blog RollOnFriday, there are a “disproportionately large” number of lawyers ordering cabs to the firm’s headquarters just before 10pm.
Continuing, the email suggests that lawyers may be doing this so they are picked up just after the 10pm “cut off”, and therefore eligible for a free trip home. Winning.
However it appears Clifford Chance big wigs have finally clocked on.
The email states that while management isn’t suggesting the taxi perk is being abused, it would like to softly remind lawyers to use their “judgement in interpreting and applying the policy guidelines”.
The penny-pinching email comes just one month after Clifford Chance trumpeted the results of a bumper financial year. With turnover hitting £1.39 billion, average profit per equity partner (PEP) now stands at an eye-watering £1.23 million.
And for those Clifford Chance lawyers considering a few in the pub after work tonight followed by a free taxi home, be warned. The email reminds staff that “all journeys are recorded” and “monthly reports” are “reviewed”. Big Brother is watching.
Clifford Chance declined to comment.