Legal Business

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The Legal Business 100

Legal Business marks three decades of demystifying law firm performance

Career changes: The measure of intelligence – Lawyers and the great career change-up

LB sat down with successful lawyers who made the switch from completely different careers to ask how unconventional routes into the profession made them better at their jobs

Ireland focus – The thunder rolls

Legal Business’s first trip to Dublin since the pandemic finds managing partners in fine fettle. With the full impact of the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine yet to be felt across Europe, can Ireland’s legal community keep up the momentum?

The Ireland debate: Top GCs gather in Dublin to thrash out the strategic role of in-house counsel

Legal Business’s inaugural Ireland Forum with Addleshaw Goddard in Dublin staged a lively debate with high-profile panellists on the strategic role of in-house counsel

The Client profile: Claire Holdsworth, Marathon Asset Management

Claire Holdsworth, GC of Marathon Asset Management, discusses her unusual journey into law, record-breaking motorbike meets and operating in a man’s world

Life During Law: Robbie McLaren

‘I look back now and think about all the opportunities I could have explored. The whole ecosystem that existed around London was completely unknown to me.’

Leader: 30 years of LB100 – So much has changed but also shades of déjà vu

It is always educational and entertaining to view how the industry has evolved through the eyes of those veterans who lived it, and this – the 30th anniversary of the LB100 – presented the perfect opportunity to do that.

Pritchard: Still vulgar to talk about money? Three decades have made the industry less coy

‘I don’t think you will get any of the City firms to talk about this sort of thing… You have? Well. I am astonished. It is one thing for the Americans and accountants to get into this sort of thing, but not the lawyers.’

Baker McKenzie breaks up UAE alliance following homophobic tweets

Baker McKenzie in September announced that it is ‘parting ways’ with Dr Habib Al Mulla, name partner of member firm Habib Al Mulla & Partners, following a series of anti-gay Twitter comments.

EU parliament eyes litigation funding regulation

The EU is gearing up to regulate the third-party litigation funding market following an EU parliamentary vote in favour of the resolution.

Global 100 firms expand in Asia as Dentons and Goodwin establish new bases

Dentons has become the first global law firm to combine with a law firm in India, as it finalised its tie-up with full-service firm Link Legal in October.

Strategic recruitment: Kirkland takes four from the Magic Circle as global players make moves in Madrid

The beginning of autumn has seen the lateral hiring merry-go-round intensify after the more muted summer months, as UK and international firms secured substantive reinforcements in corporate, funds, tax and infrastructure.

Stick or twist? City firms battle it out in NQ salary brinkmanship after Allen & Overy freezes rates

The war for junior talent at the top end of London’s legal market entered a new phase of brinkmanship this year, as firms jostled for position after Allen & Overy (A&O)’s decision to freeze its associate rates.

‘Never say never’: KPMG legal chief Nick Roome on law firm buyouts and supercharging lateral recruitment

At a watershed moment in the Big Four’s protracted entrance into the UK legal market, KPMG’s head of legal remains bullish about making a big impact

Partner promotions: Kirkland unveils largest ever class as US firms reveal 2022 cohorts

The first wave of US firms has announced their latest round of partner promotions, as Kirkland & Ellis, White & Case, Goodwin, Morgan Lewis and Covington & Burling revealed their classes of 2022.

LB Awards and GC Powerlist UK 2022: A night to remember

Shoosmiths, Travers Smith and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners were among the major winners at the 2022 Legal Business Awards, which welcomed more than 800 guests to the Grosvenor House hotel on 27 September.

The Legal 500 View: Chart-toppers: the elite firms dominating this year’s UK Legal 500 rankings

UK editors Georgina Stanley and Ben Wheway take a deep dive into the performance of the Legal Business 100 firms in the most recent UK Legal 500 research

The Last Word: Market comment

From innovation to economic headwinds to premature reports of the demise of the Magic Circle, leaders at Legal Business 100 firms give us their views on the past financial year and look ahead to the next