A false ‘war for talent’ has seen law firms create their own staff shortages, argue Laura Empson and Louise Ashley. Since McKinsey & Co first coined the term in 1997, the ‘war for talent’ has been the focus of a stream of conferences, media articles and consulting assignments. It has spawned a new human resources …
Continue reading “DISSENT: The battle for talent and other phoney wars”
Aside from bad knitwear and excessive alcohol consumption, Christmas is a time for reflection as well as looking ahead. With this in mind, we asked some senior law firm figures for their thoughts. Rose-tinted spectacles are optional. Striking the balance ‘Much of our focus this year has inevitably been on integration and on being instructed …
The other night I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the FT’s Innovative Lawyers 2013 US awards ceremony. (The report was published here the next day in the paper, and you can download a PDF.) Since this is now an annual event – this year marks the fourth time they’ve done it in …
Arrow Global IPO Debevoise & Plimpton and Slaughter and May landed roles on Arrow Global’s initial public offering (IPO). Slaughters was the primary adviser to Arrow Global and its primary shareholder RBS Special Opportunities Fund (RBS), led by corporate partners David Johnson and Richard Smith. The London office of Debevoise, led by David Innes, advised …
Continue reading “Deal watch: Corporate activity in October”
The most hackneyed cliché of the pundit is history repeating itself, a claim that rarely holds up upon closer examination. But with the recent departure of Linklaters’ private equity co-heads Ian Bagshaw and Richard Youle for White & Case, well, sometimes you just can’t escape the past. Personality clashes, a mid-market practice not gelling with …
Continue reading “Comment: ‘2006 and all that – an oh-so-familiar mess at Linklaters”
With a slowing economy and the political landscape unsettled, we ask leading international partners with noted Indian practices for their prognosis on the country and whether tougher times will shake up the local legal market Policy paralysis ‘It is the understatement of the year to say that India has been having problems. At the beginning …
I am sure you, like me, have been on the lookout for an elegant, readable, sophisticated and fairly short book about sovereign debt agreements. And one that happens to end as a critique of elite legal practice. And here it is, The Three and a Half Minute Transaction: boilerplate and the limits of contract design …
Continue reading “Guest blog – Securities lawyers and sticky contracts: innovation and elite law”
The market for legal services will never be the same again. Mergers, alternative business structures, multi-disciplinary practices, law firm failures, onshoring, offshoring and the continual advance of technology all signpost change, and will continue to drive change in the future. But as we all jostle for market position and attempt to make sense of this ongoing maelstrom, how much thought is being given to the lifeblood of …
Continue reading “Comment: The social contract – what is the law firm but the people?”
Debates about innovation in law can be a bit tribal. The Creative Destroyers decry the billable hour. They mock Big Law as a broken model and see law as a dusty rule book in need of big data and a scientific reinvention. Law is vastly complex and inefficient. More traditional folk point to the resilience …
Continue reading “Guest blog – Innovation in law: are you one of us?”
Recognised as a strong choice for UK mid-market buyouts and cross-border transactions, Jones Day’s London private equity team has expansive ambitions with the hire this week of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) corporate finance partner Michael Weir on the heels of former BLP colleague Raymond McKeeve. Weir, who was made a partner at BLP in 2012 and specialises in private equity …
