Access your pdf edition of LB magazine – issue 318
Euro Elite 2024: Art of resilience
Euro Elite firms discover agility is key to survival. Contains an overview, market commentary from all covered regions, main table and comment.
Baker McKenzie: One eye open
The leadership of Baker McKenzie has earned hard-won plaudits for having a clear strategy where others have failed, even as tragedy and controversy threatened to derail it. Has the sleeping giant finally awoken?
If you build it – firms put together infra dream teams as market booms
Infrastructure has been one of the hottest London lateral markets in recent years, with US firms snapping up a stream of top talent. But what are the factors driving all this activity?
Infrastructure profile: Sara Pickersgill – ‘Pick something you love doing and do it only for as long as you love it’
Kirkland & Ellis’ Sara Pickersgill on switching track from opera singer to infrastructure lawyer and why The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe offers salient lessons for a career in the City
Financial Regulatory and Disputes Summit: Stranger than fiction
In a standout panel discussion, a group of disputes luminaries came together to discuss a fraud case worthy of a Netflix documentary. What lessons have been learned?
Life During Law: Richard Lever
The Godfather is a great film. Tom Hagen was a bit of an inspiration. He says: ‘I have a special practice. I handle one client. Now you have my number. I’ll wait for your call.’ That kind of power, that kind of control was inspiring.
The Client Profile: Nigel Paterson, Currys
Currys’ GC discusses shifting from telecoms to the consumer industry, extols the value of a blame-free culture, and confesses his love of singing Kate Bush in the shower
Reasons to be cheerful: the hustle is back for 2024
Whether it is the prospect of another few weeks still left of winter, many law firm leaders seem to have started the year under an uncharacteristic cloud of despondency.
No shoo-ins at the Legal Business Awards, and beware the perils of TL;DR
Awards season. It should be viewed as a time of joy and anticipation, when law firms clamour to showcase their finest achievements of the last year, whether that’s an especially standout deal or matter, or an extraordinary individual moving the dial for the profession.
Paul Weiss continues London expansion as Magic Circle responds in US
The lateral hiring market for December and January was once again dominated by Paul Weiss’ impressive recruitment efforts in the City, resulting in the Magic Circle stepping it up in the US.
‘The human cost’: Post Office Horizon fiasco throws scrutiny on litigators and shines light on litigation funding
The Post Office Horizon scandal saw over 700 subpostmasters convicted of fraud, theft, or false accounting. The victims were prosecuted for accounting shortfalls that were in fact the result of errors made by the Post Office’s Horizon accounting software.
From wellness amenities to stranded assets: leading real estate partners give their 2024 predictions
Following a year of high interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty and inflation, the real estate sector would be forgiven for feeling a little worse for wear. However, when LB caught up with some of the industry’s leading partners, their outlook for 2024 was more positive than might be expected.
‘Not just merger control’: Freshfields eyes opportunities in rising tide of antitrust regulation
Off the back of Freshfields’ recent recruitment of former FTC commissioner Christine Wilson into its US antitrust practice as a senior adviser, LB looks at the growing importance of competition law, and what it means for the firm’s global strategy
‘Bolder, pragmatic, more proactive’: Regulators bare teeth, but will they bite?
2024 started with uncharacteristically decisive action from the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), when in January it issued its joint highest-ever fine against Clyde & Co, following a slew of anti-money laundering breaches.
The Last Word: Euro vision
As part of our annual Euro Elite report, management at independent firms in Europe give their views on today’s market challenges
