Staff on high alert
Security has been ramped up at King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) London office because journalists have been attempting to “access” the site without permission, an email claims.
Legal Cheek can reveal that the message was sent by the management team of another company situated within the same building as KWM. It warns its staff that security personnel “will be double checking all guests” after “reporters” tried to access the building to speak to the troubled giant’s staff.
Continuing, the email urges employees not to speak to legal hacks loitering outside the building — which is based in the heart of the City — during this “sensitive time”. A spokesperson for KWM declined to comment on this.
The news comes as KWM’s managing partner, Tim Bednall, confirmed that the firm’s bank would no longer be approving salary payments. Yesterday, in an internal memo to all staff, Bednall revealed that attempts to strike a deal with Barclays — which would hopefully see its employees get paid on a weekly basis — had failed.
And things seem to be going from bad to worse for the beleaguered outfit. No sooner had the firm notified the courts of its intention to appoint administrators for a second time than news broke the proposed administrators, AlixPartners, had pulled out. This was reportedly because of funding concerns. The firm has now instructed Quantuma — a Southampton-based restructuring specialist — as its administrator.
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