It is 2025 and the view from the nominal head office of the leading City law firm remains as uncertain as it has for the last 15 years. Not that there hasn’t been progress at what would once have been called a Magic Circle firm. With revenues of £2.5bn, the firm now generates only 30% …
The rise of boutiques has been yet another development shaping the legal industry that no-one predicted. Conventional wisdom for years held that law firms should go global or specialise but that was largely in the context of mid-tier players becoming more tightly defined around a handful of profitable practice areas (which pretty much hasn’t happened …
Continue reading “Comment: Legal boutiques – unheralded, thriving and coming after your lunch”
The in-house profession has doubled in size in the UK over the last 15 years and gained once unthinkable levels of influence in delivering legal services to corporate Britain. And what have the profession and its watchdogs done to recognise that seismic shift in the legal industry, with all its far-reaching ethical implications? Pretty much …
Continue reading “Comment: Going native – ethics and the modern GC”
It has turned out to be the biggest election upset since 1992 and months of polling have been proved wrong but as the final results from the 2015 UK general election come in, the Conservative Party looks highly likely to win enough support to secure a working majority.
On 7 May the nation faces one of the most unpredictable elections in recent history and one with high stakes given the issues on the table, including a potential EU exit, the break-up of the UK, big decisions on austerity and public finances and fundamental electoral reform.
The rise of boutiques has been yet another development shaping the legal industry that no-one predicted. Conventional wisdom for years held that law firms should go global or specialise but that was largely in the context of mid-tier players becoming more tightly defined around a handful of profitable practice areas (which pretty much hasn’t happened …
Continue reading “Legal boutiques: unheralded, thriving and coming after your lunch”
The in-house profession has doubled in size in the UK over the last 15 years and gained once unthinkable levels of influence in delivering legal services to corporate Britain. And what have the profession and its watchdogs done to recognise that seismic shift in the legal industry, with all its far-reaching ethical implications? Pretty much …
On 7 May the nation faces one of the most unpredictable elections in recent history and one with high stakes given the issues on the table, including a potential EU exit, the break-up of the UK, big decisions on austerity and public finances and fundamental electoral reform. The profession – like the City, like the …
Continue reading “Politics has changed – a high-stakes election for the nation and the City”
A long, long time ago when I used to report on fund management, one of the defining figures was Tony Dye, then the chief investment officer of Phillips & Drew, one of the City’s most storied asset management houses.
‘We’re not a corporate firm, we’re an investors’ firm.’ That simple statement by one partner stood out more than any other during a recent meeting with Ropes & Gray. The point being made was that the firm – and its rapid progress in the City – had not been built on the back of large …
Continue reading “Comment: A new model, a new game as US firms secure a decisive victory”
