For months I’ve refrained from adding to the reams of pointless Brexit commentary given that until developments develop, not much can reasonably be said. But now article 50 has been triggered, there is a little more to work with. Actually, I could have taken a break from banging on about King & Wood Mallesons a …
Continue reading “Prepare for a bumpy Brexit ride and to be ignored”
Ah, despite the changing fashions, technology and economic realities of the day, in law you can always rely on that curious mix of mutual hypocrisy, miscommunication, mistrust and conflicting agendas between clients and law firms to endure. The latest flashpoint is Deutsche Bank’s current panel review, which has pressed tendering law firms to write off …
Continue reading “Clients and rookie lawyers – some awkward truths”
Will this year’s Global London report chronicle the high watermark for the Square Mile as a global hub for foreign law firms? The possibility has to be considered with the article 50 notice about to be delivered as I type these words, representing the biggest threat to London’s position since the 1990s’ run-up to the …
Continue reading “Global London: Has the City reached the end of its curious post-Lehman boom?”
Barely into 2017 and it has already been an eventful year for verein-based law firms, with King & Wood Mallesons meeting a painful end in Europe while, in happy contrast, Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has just secured its second substantive US merger in the shape of Chadbourne & Parke.
What are we to make of the most aggressive raid between top ten City firms since Allen & Overy helped itself to the bulk of Norton Rose’s leveraged finance team back in 2002? In some ways, news this month that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is to ship in a productive five-partner buyout group from Ashurst seems …
Continue reading “Comment: Hot private equity money is remaking Europe’s legal market”
Hearing that Legal Business was gearing up for an in-depth look at the collapse of the European arm of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), a well-informed contact told me that this story could not be told without going back to the Stanley Berwin days.
Hearing that Legal Business was gearing up for an in-depth look at the collapse of the European arm of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), a well-informed contact noted that this story could not be told without going back to the Stanley Berwin days. True, the old SJ Berwin had a maverick spirit that mesmerised its …
Continue reading “Myths and monsters – how KWM got swallowed by its own culture”
Barely into 2017 and it has already been an eventful year for verein-based law firms, with King & Wood Mallesons meeting a painful end in Europe while, in happy contrast, Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has just secured its second substantive US merger in the shape of Chadbourne & Parke. The deal hands NRF 300 lawyers …
Continue reading “NRF’s New York merger – the trade-offs of federalism”
What are we to make of the most aggressive raid between top ten City firms since Allen & Overy helped itself to the bulk of Norton Rose’s leveraged finance team back in 2002? In some ways, news this month that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is to ship in a productive five-partner buyout group from Ashurst seems …
Continue reading “Hot private equity money is remaking Europe’s legal market”
As Barclays sifts through the wreckage of King & Wood Mallesons‘ European practice and claims of fresh departures swirl around Ashurst, you have to say that the marriage of Herbert Smith and Australian leader Freehills could have gone worse. A lot worse.
