No matter how much technology accelerates cumbersome processes like document review, the human element must always be hovering in the background. When it comes to e-discovery, there are five essential stages to the process: find, collect, review, redact and produce. The further up the chain, the greater the need for human judgement and sign-off. This …
The successful application of technology to a law firm’s business ultimately hinges on one key question: is it technology that drives the business or business that drives the technology? Most of the main IT decision makers argue that it must be the latter, while questioning whether technology should even be the main consideration. ‘Technology is …
Continue reading “Practice management tech: Made to measure”
While the outcomes are far from clear, Legal Business asks how advisers and clients can best tackle Brexit ‘There are known knowns… There are known unknowns… but there are also unknown unknowns.’ Former US Secretary of State for Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, took a lot of flak when he famously uttered these words in …
Continue reading “The blueprint – clients and advisers scramble as the UK kicks off Brexit”
On the face of it, Cyprus has much to celebrate. In March, the country completed the three-year economic adjustment programme that followed 2013’s €10bn bailout package agreed with the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. That the country has finally wrested back control of its finances was coupled with the Commission’s …
With cyber risk exploding and storm clouds over the economy, it’s harder than ever to balance risk with commercial realities. Legal Business’ annual risk survey asks how law firms are coping. While no major law firm has yet fallen prey to the sort of high-profile data breach that the mobile operator Talk Talk suffered in …
Continue reading “The battle within: Risk management and professional indemnity survey 2016”
Legal Business teamed up with Simmons & Simmons to discover how financial institutions are coping with the twin threats of regulation and litigation, and assess whether the end is in sight. If there was ever any doubt about what might be in store for the Volkswagen Group following its recent emissions scandal, a glance at …
Russia-based lawyers are a hardy bunch, conditioned to working in a volatile market where ups turn into downs on an almost annual basis. No matter how good things might appear, they are well aware that some form of political interference or economic disaster might be lurking around the corner. Most get by on the knowledge …
Continue reading “Chasing the bear – Sanctions bite on Russia’s legal market”
While their transactional colleagues in Moscow are suffering, the current sanctions on Russia have been a boon to trade and sanctions lawyers, who are fielding countless enquiries from Russian and international clients. The fact that the sanctions are so multi-layered, leaving plenty of scope for interpretation, has increased the demand, particularly when it comes to …
Continue reading “Straining the bonds – why disputes counsel is high on the agenda in Russia”
In today’s ultra-competitive legal market, the thin line between success and failure hinges on the quality of a firm’s leadership. LB teamed up with Berwin Leighton Paisner to investigate what separates the truly visionary from the merely ordinary. There was a time, not that long ago, when running a law firm didn’t require a huge …
Continue reading “Leadership and innovation – Visionaries, politicians and survivors”
Demanding clients, advancing tech and a tough economy have ushered in intense pressure for law firms to change. Can law firm leaders press their institutions to adapt or does the partnership model fundamentally block innovation? Steve Jobs, the late co-founder, chairman and chief executive of Apple, once remarked that ‘innovation distinguishes between a leader and …
Continue reading “Leadership and innovation – The partnership dilemma”
