04 October 2007
Key Points:
CU link officially launched
The Clayton Utz Alumni program CU link is now officially underway with the program's first three events having taken place in London, Sydney and Melbourne in May.
The London event, held at the Great Eastern Hotel's Champagne Bar, was attended by Chief Executive partner David Fagan, partners Doug Jones, Mary Still, Peter Knight, Dan Fitts, Fred Hawke, Peter Mann, Risk Management director Catherine Johnson and more than 60 Alumni guests. David said the function was well attended by CU Alumni now living and working in London and was a great success.
The recent Sydney and Melbourne launches involved a sit down lunch and presentation from guest speaker Li Cunxin.
Li Cunxin inspired Alumni and partners with his incredible life story, starting from the age of 11 when he was plucked from poverty in rural China and taken to Beijing to train at Madame Mao's Dance Academy. Li became one of the world's top male dancers before commencing his current life as a stockbroker in Australia.
Sydney partner and Alumni program sponsor Grant Fuzi said the events were a great start to the Alumni program.
"I am particularly proud to know that our guest speaker at the Sydney and Melbourne launches, Li Cunxin, provided our Alumni with an event that was not only inspiring but also entertaining," Grant said.
"The success of all three events proves our commitment to ensuring that CU link is a program that is of benefit and an enjoyable experience for our Alumni and a way for us all to stay in touch. I look forward to building up our program year by year."
Sporting round-up
Clayton Utz continues to be involved in a number of inter law firm sporting competitions. In recent months, CU staff have achieved some great results – and had a lot of fun along the way.
Skiing
In August, the annual Lawyers' Ski Weekend saw a team of 17 CU skiers and a number of supporters take to the slopes of Thredbo NSW.
The A Team, which comprised Joshua Knuckey, Colin Loveday, Patrick Wilson and Georgia Quick, retained the Championship Trophy by a record margin of 12.82 seconds.
John Sheehy, Mihkel Wilding, Bjorn Gehle and Phil Turner as the B-Team completed the first-ever firm quinella where the fastest composite team, bolstered by the World Champion and Olympic bronze medallist Zali Steggall, only beat them by 1.33 seconds.
Individual results of note include Joshua Knuckey, who was the fastest male skier overall with a time of 41.14 seconds, Colin Loveday, fourth fastest male (43.87) and the aptly named Georgia Quick, third fastest female (46.60).
Soccer
Once again, football teams from more than 12 of Sydney's major law firms faced each other across the football pitches of Sydney’s Queens Park to battle it out for the Inter Law Firm Soccer Trophies.
CU started off the men’s competition with a 0-0 draw against Corrs, but managed to defeat Mallesons 2-0 in the next game. Following another nil-all draw against the joint Middletons/Hunt & Hunt team, CU was narrowly defeated by Freehills 1-0 in the semi-final.
The women’s competition got off to a mixed start with one of the team members sustaining a knee injury. Despite the early bad luck the team managed to pull off a win against Allens, beating them 2-1. In the second game, CU was defeated 3-1 by Mallesons, which presented a strong side. In the semi- final match CU squared up against Freehills. After an even game with two goals a piece Freehills managed to sneak in a golden goal in the final minute of extra time.
Rowing
The Leichhardt Rowing Club (LRC) Corporate Rowing Regatta was held on Sunday 8 September at the Sydney International Regatta Centre at Penrith Lakes.
A last minute injury meant a squad of nine CU rowers plus the cox of "Clutzing at Oars" arrived at the shores of the Sydney Olympics rowing venue along with crews from other law firms, construction companies and financiers.
After a few early morning intensive training sessions (only two members of the team had ever rowed before) the team was ready to race.
The first heat proved a little more difficult than anticipated, and after a shaky start they managed to get back on course to finish in fourth place. By the second heat the crew had things under control, cruising across the finish line in a commendable second place.
Following CU’s 2006 loss of the trophy to Blake Dawson Waldron the crew was determined to perform well in the highly anticipated Lawyers Race and put in their absolute best against the finalist firms Hunt & Hunt, Hicksons, and the favourite, Tress Cox. After a strong start the crew expended every last ounce of energy they had and sped the boat over the finish line to take out first place – the Lawyers Cup was coming home.
The last race of the day saw the best of the best from all the industry sectors go head to head. The likes of Morgan Stanley, Westpac and TIDC were all there. Clayton Utz started well but as the pace and intensity grew one of the crew 'caught a crab' (which is when an oar hits the water incorrectly) half way into the race. Despite that and a couple of other minor mishaps, the Clutzing at Oars crew finished the race in bronze medal position.
