More details have emerged around the “hardship fund” being set up for former staff of the failed Europe, UK and Middle East partnership of King & Wood Mallesons.
Tim Bednall, the former managing partner of the EUME arm, has followed up on an earlier request to former partners to have them contribute to a fund that will benefit former support staff suffering “undue hardship” because of the partnership’s collapse.
According to Legal Week, Bednall has asked around 100 ex-partners to donate between £1,000 and £2,500 to the fund by the end of May. The fund is expected to make one-time payments to beneficiaries next month.
The fund will support around 20 beneficiaries. These staff members were on or due to start maternity leave when the partnership went into administration, haven’t lined up new work, are caring for ill dependents, or are currently ill, the publication said.
Bednall is being assisted by EUME general counsel David Willman and London litigation partner Darren Roiser in the effort. The trio have contacted former partners who were there when the firm collapsed, or left two months before. Bednall encouraged former partners in February to donate to the fund.
Earlier that month, more than 200 former employees of the EUME partnership sued over how KWM handled redundancies after it filed for administration on 17 January.
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