One-stop shopping is here but it’s not doing what it was supposed to

Posted on | Comment |

Sometimes in business what you correctly forecast can prove as problematic as what you get wrong. Because even when you manage the considerable feat of identifying what will happen in the world you are left with problems of unintended consequences. Take the one-stop shop, a dominating idea during the legal industry’s defining 1990s-era globalisation as …

Continue reading “One-stop shopping is here but it’s not doing what it was supposed to”

KWM – ultimately a question of confidence

Posted on | Comment |

These are tough times for the house that Stanley Berwin built, with exhibit A being recent news that King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is undergoing a sweeping partnership restructuring set to trim its European business by nearly two dozen partners, or 15% of its ranks. While global managing partner Stuart Fuller (pictured) attempts to frame …

Continue reading “KWM – ultimately a question of confidence”

The tiger that came to eat BLP’s culture for breakfast and other sorry tales

Posted on | Comment |

These are tough times for another house that Stanley Berwin built, with exhibit B being the acrimonious end of merger talks between Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Greenberg Traurig. While the practice fit between the two looked both convincing and distinctive, these were two firms with plenty of strong characters. Summing up the prospect of …

Continue reading “The tiger that came to eat BLP’s culture for breakfast and other sorry tales”

A title fit for the modern GC – The In-House Lawyer has been completely re-imagined

Posted on | Blogs |

With the recent relaunch of Legal Business‘ sister title The In-House Lawyer, we are unveiling a total overhaul of the magazine first launched over 20 years ago. The title, the first dedicated to the UK’s expanding community of corporate counsel, has long been an important part of the stable of our parent company Legalease, which …

Continue reading “A title fit for the modern GC – The In-House Lawyer has been completely re-imagined”

Comment: Too many reasonable men? What ails law firm leadership

Posted on | Blogs |

As two of the most highly regarded leaders in the Square Mile – David Morley at Allen & Overy (A&O) and Chris Saul at Slaughter and May – prepare to hand over, it’s an apt moment to reflect on the state of leadership at leading UK law firms. It’s not clear that what emerges from …

Continue reading “Comment: Too many reasonable men? What ails law firm leadership”

Too many reasonable men? What ails law firm leadership

Posted on | Comment |

As two of the most highly regarded leaders in the Square Mile – David Morley at Allen & Overy (A&O) and Chris Saul at Slaughter and May – prepare to hand over, it’s an apt moment to reflect on the state of leadership at leading UK law firms. It’s not clear that what emerges from …

Continue reading “Too many reasonable men? What ails law firm leadership”

BLP/Greenberg: unique, compelling, bloody difficult

Posted on | Comment |

In the age of the anodyne corporate law firm, you can at least say a marriage of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Greenberg Traurig would be a distinct beast. If the talks are successful, it would be the first major international deal built on the foundation of real estate. It would also be the first …

Continue reading “BLP/Greenberg: unique, compelling, bloody difficult”

Comment: What did Brussels ever do for us? The lawyerly view on Brexit

Posted on | Blogs |

Classicists holding to the maxim ‘first, do no harm’ will be looking in dismay at the debate on the UK leaving the EU. Because – perhaps less than six months ahead of the historic vote over the UK quitting the EU – it is still entirely unclear what the public will be voting for as …

Continue reading “Comment: What did Brussels ever do for us? The lawyerly view on Brexit”