For years, seasoned practitioners have bemoaned the lack of top-notch arbitration facilities in London, casting an envious eye at the polished offerings in rival hubs like Singapore, even as the City has boomed as a global centre for dispute resolution. Now advisers sick of arguing about venues and decamping to hotels for major disputes are …
Having recently shared a few drinks with one of the most talked-up youngish corporate lawyers in the City, the question came up about mid-way through as to what age they made partner. The answer: 36! And there lies much of what ails major law firms, though older partners continue to float around effecting increasingly unconvincing …
Continue reading “The big 30 – Make ‘em partner or you’ll lose ‘em”
There was never any doubt that 2018 would prove another good year for US law firms in London coming off what has been a great decade for the breed. But it is only when you start to pull together the numbers that you realise how fast the City legal market is shifting in favour of …
Continue reading “US firms in London – the new apex predators are here”
A little over five years ago Legal Business produced a cover feature dubbed ‘How to improve a law firm in 17 easy steps’. The piece – intended as a series of practical proposals to improve the working of law firms – has aged as well as anything printed in these pages. And while point one …
Readers of a sensitive disposition in the face of journalists bigging up their own wares, please turn away, this piece is not for you. But general counsel interested in what we hope is a genuine flagship event, we believe you’ll find something of interest as we now unveil the programme for this year’s Enterprise GC …
Continue reading “Shameless plug alert: Unveiling the programme for Enterprise GC”
Regular readers will have to forgive two columns in one issue on capitalising law firms but the day I write this piece DWF has finally set out its stall for that much-touted public float. As can be gleaned from last autumn’s cover feature on law firm IPOs, there is a considerable scepticism regarding the rhetoric …
Continue reading “It’ll take more than a float to make DWF the new DLA”
If the news in late 2017 that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer private equity veteran David Higgins was joining Kirkland & Ellis was an insult to his Magic Circle firm, the announcement barely into 2019 that Kirkland was following up with his colleague Adrian Maguire looks like grievous injury. The record-breaking transfer of Higgins was a symbolic …
Continue reading “Beyond barbarian: Kirkland signs PE’s most wanted”
Simon Levine (SL), co-chief executive, DLA Piper: I had a bit of fun and looked at the article you wrote on me when I first started [as DLA Piper’s co-chief executive, published in March 2015]. Legal Business (LB): Are you trying to catch us out? Because we got into this job to be inconsistent.
Hamish McNicol, Legal Business: What are the changes people have made in their business in the last 18 months that made the most impact? Axel Koelsch, Addleshaw Goddard: When I joined Addleshaw I noticed the firm had done lots of innovative things, including paralegals up north, but they were scattered all over. We pulled those …
Continue reading “We have the technology – Re-engineering a law firm”
On occasion, we are asked to give our house view at partner conferences and the like. Undertaking one such gig last month for a top-50 UK law firm while the government unhelpfully melted down in the background, I put down some notes on the outline questions the law firm asked me to address before the …
Continue reading “Comment: The Legal Business view on the profession for you to cut out and keep”
