Originally posted by KKLL ↑If she doesn’t charge is she still a...

Originally posted by KKLL ↑

Originally posted by Pioupiou
Keeping teams in a steady stream of work is highly desirable, rather than continually scrambling for employees to meet contracted commitments, and ditching employees in slack times. This is one of the reasons why Management should selectively solicit contracts to optimise the deployment of teams and equipment, rather than respond to every tender that is announced.

I underlined “solicit”, which I had changed from “tender for” to emphasise that the process should be proactive, rather than waiting for tenders to be issued, and only then reacting.

We shall see how this mining-cum-infrastructure boom plays out. Pundits say it will be more controlled than the previous boom.

On your PA being upskilled, the more tickets employees have, the easier it is to keep them gainfully employed. In the 1960s my cousin worked first as an unskilled labourer in a paper mill in the north of Canada, then during his first mid-winter break, he did what his workmates did, he went to Vancouver and got himself a trade ticket as a welder. In a subsequent mid-winter break, he obtained a mill wright's ticket. The need for mill wrights was infrequent, but critical, so my cousin never experienced unemployment, because paper mills justified employing him as a welder, a steady requirement, and they switched him to installing and repairing heavy machinery when required. He worked hard and consistently, and retired circa 2000 as a wealthy man, partly due to marrying a woman who was smart with money.

Pioupiou … I was just wondering … is a lady barrister who loses her briefs a solicitor?

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If she doesn’t charge is she still a solicitor?
if she didn’t charge was she feeling ......tender.....?

and why do lawyer jokes make me think of CIMIC?

For the record CIMIC was awarded (bankrolled itself via its funding arm -Pacific Partners -plus whatever else) an enormous rail contract in NSW last Friday ($725M).https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/cimic-team-wins-725m-of-australian-rail-work

The Goverrnment gave it the job.

Strangely, CIMIC, along with some others, featured in a Government Senate Enquiry published ast March .... into ‘the scourge’ of foreign bribery. https://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/Committees/economics_ctte/Foreignbribery45th/report.pdf?la=en
There was plenty of corroborated evidence ( do a search on the name within the document ) CIMIC was guilty as charged
“......foreign bribery remains an issue across a variety of industry sectors, particularly mining and construction.
1.16 Despite these cases being widely reported, there have been only a limited number of prosecutions for foreign bribery in Australia. This has been the subject of concern for international bodies, such as the OECD, as well as Australian commentators, who have consistently criticised Australia's foreign bribery legislation as being too narrow in scope and inadequately enforced.
.......
1.79 The committee accepts that, since Mr Sasse* left Leighton, the company has undergone a process of change, including the launch of its Code of Conduct and changing jits name to CIMIC. Nonetheless, Mr Sasse's evidence provides a damning assessment of Leighton's ability to handle adequately allegations of corruption and it is not clear that these deficits have ben ameliorated.”

*Former executive, Mr Sasse, was a whistleblower in the Leighton case I feel he also thinks of CIMIC when people make lawyer jokes.
”3.38 Mr Sasse suggested to the committee that 'a good investigation starts quickly and finishes quickly'.40 Emphasising the importance of a speedy investigation, Mr Sasse suggested that delays see thhe evidence available to investigators degrade: In any investigation...you need to get the investigation underway and completed as soon as you possibly can. The longer it takes, the more it is delayed—people lose thiyngs, they forget things and they create cover stories.
This stuff has to be acted on, more or less, immediately...it seems to me that the AFP and, to an extent, the regulator [ASIC] just do not act with the alacrity that one needs for these kinds of issues.”

(What's the difference between a good lawyer and a bad lawyer?

A bad lawyer can let a case drag out for several years. A good lawyer can make it last even longer.)

The Senate Enquiry also cited this comprehensive document:
https://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2016/the-bribe-factory/day-1/leighton-news.html


The Federal Police may also still be investigating whether CIMIC’s ‘ticket’ stands up to inspection.
They have been assessing the allegations since 2012 according to the Australian Financial Review last year.
The AFR was reporting on CIMIC’s 2017 Annual Report on February 7, 2018 including ;
... “CIMIC said the Australian Federal Police, which started investigating alleged bribery at the company in 2012 when it was known as Leighton Holdings, continued to investigate its international operations and it did not know when the investigation would be concluded.
A Senate inquiry into foreign bribery, which has involved looking at CIMIC's operations, is due to report by the end of March...”
(Search terms for the story February 7, 2018: “CIMIC Annual bet profit up 21pc on Australian Infrastructure Boom”


All of this makes me feel, even though we may not be tendering for Chevron contracts on Barrow Island, that due to our reputation we may be well placed in any direct competition with CIMIC anywhere in the private sector.
However innocent and good the local employees of that company might be, word gets round.
Whether CIMIC is in the right in it’s attempts to sue Chevron for $1.1 billion, or not, court cases are a dirty business.
So are Federal Police investigations however cold their case is.

And currently?
AFR reporting on the 2018 CIMIC report on February 6 - “CIMIC’S executives cashed-up after 11pc jump in annual profits”....noted there are still major legal problems in Hong Kong:
.... “CIMIC continues to win new infrastructure projects in Australia, such construction work on Sydney's new Rozelle interchange which will join the WestConnex motorway but Macquarie warned that future work in Hong Kong is at risk from a government inquiry into alleged defects on Leighton's Asia's MTR construction project.

MTR, which is majority-owned by the Hong Kong government and operates most of the city's railways, revealed in May 2018 that construction of a platform slab at Hung Hom station on the $HK87.3 billion ($15 billion) new Sha Tin to Central rail line had been shoddy, with inadequate steel support structures.

Leighton Asia - which is headquartered in Hong Kong and part of CIMIC's CPB Contractors division - is the lead contractor on Hung Hom station, having won a $HK5.2 billion contract to build new platforms.

An inquiry is underway into the construction problems with the Hong Kong government's counsel accusing Leighton Asia of "corporate arrogance" and poor project management, according to the South China Morning Post.....”