Sparke Helmore Reviews

3.6

76% would recommend to a friend

(121 total reviews)

64% positive business outlook

Sparke Helmore has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 121 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Sparke Helmore employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Legal industry (3.8 stars).

Reviews by job title

121 reviews
3.0
2 Feb 2019

Watch your back

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Top ranked firm in certain areas Consider people outside the pedigree of private school, private uni, top marks, and take people coming in alternative pathways

Cons

There is a particular team in Melbourne that has an embarrassingly high turnover. They know who they are. 5 people leaving in 6 months is a problem. They churn and burn at least one person every few months. One lawyer is a bully, others don't care about whether you stay or not and don't care about teaching you (I learnt more from secretaries). Backstabbing is rife. Some people get away with lower standards of work than others. Unrealistic expectation of perfection in just a few months with no resources/training. One senior secretary has domination over the others. She manipulates others, and when she slips up (like misses a court deadline) she blames others and the lawyers don't bat an eye. I'm not one to share experiences of past employers as I quite quickly moved on, but I think it's important to warn people when employers repeatedly display unacceptable and unreasonable behaviour towards multiple people. Somebody has to speak up and I hope that someone reads this and decides against this firm. For their development, their health and future opportunities (word does get around in the legal industry and they will soon have to answer to this poor treatment of staff).

2.0
26 Jan 2022

Mixed bag - depends who you work for

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some good people. Training systems are ok.

Cons

Totally inequitable between what is offered at different offices and in different teams. Very political. They do not support current employees, generally people only get a promotion or pay rise by threatening to leave and having a powerful partner in your corner. Otherwise they will happily screw you down. Partners can do anything - HR has no power (or will) to modify their behaviour. Complaints go unanswered until the complainants leave.

2.0
6 Sept 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great people culture - Office is nice - Decent Perks - Some teams have a great Partner heading them with plenty of support, decent work hours and timely promotions

Cons

Some teams are headed by Partners that are on an ego-trip, provide no mentoring and require work hours ranging from 12-16 hours daily. Employees in these teams are run down, depressed and suffer deeply in their personal lives. Salary, while seemingly decent on starting the job, quickly becomes overwhelmingly inadequate. Further, some Partners emotionally belittle their team members on a daily basis, leading (obviously) to an excruciating work environment.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 121 Reviews

Glassdoor has 129 Sparke Helmore reviews submitted anonymously by Sparke Helmore employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Sparke Helmore is right for you.