I was in the first ever gender-mixed year at my college in 1976. I got on very well with one particular girl and she was reading law and I developed an interest. I applied to Freshfields, Linklaters, Allen & Overy, Lovell, White & King and Simmons & Simmons. I got five interviews and five offers …
In a surprise announcement, Barclays has today (30 August) revealed that Bob Hoyt has taken over from Mark Harding as group general counsel (GC), following the announcement in February that Harding is to retire. The decision to appoint an external candidate to one of the most high-profile legal roles in banking ends months of speculation …
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In some ways this week, with the recall of Parliament and the UK tabling a UN resolution, seems like a fast replay of the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Many people’s attitudes to what’s happening are informed by the experience of Iraq, and reflect the view they took of that action ten …
Continue reading “Guest post – Syria: the UK can legally use force”
Macfarlanes has become the latest City firm to decide on its trainee retention rates, with 18 out of 24 trainees – equating to 75% – being offered a permanent position at the firm. The figure, which represents a dip on last year’s near full house of 92%, comes after three trainees were not offered a position, …
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There’s understandably been a great deal of reaction to the nine-hour detention at Heathrow airport of David Miranda, who was travelling as part of his work with Guardian journalists covering Edward Snowden’s disclosures, and whose laptop and memory stick were seized as a result of his detention and questioning under paragraphs 2 and 6 of …
Continue reading “Guest post: Could David Miranda be a “terrorist”?”
One lens through which to view a large part of the corpus of business and management literature is that of metrics. Simply consider how much of what’s written consists of discussions about what to measure, what to optimize, and how to enhance all those numbers. So, in retailing, we have such yardsticks as sales per …
‘Tesco Law’ is a phrase that, thankfully, is finally dying out as the reality of alternative business structures (ABSs) takes hold, but what it represents – big brands entering the legal market – has become truer than ever this month. First there was Direct Line Group’s long-awaited announcement of its plans to set up a …
Continue reading “Guest post: In the ABS landscape, it’s all about the brand – oh yes”
Here’s Scenario One: you’re in an executive committee or practice group or departmental meeting at your law firm, and the question arises for discussion why one or a handful of your partners are engaging in activities which, from the firm’s overall perspective, are clearly marginal: the activities could be pursuing a particular client or lobbying …
Moses LJ has set his satirical pen a scribbling in a recent speech reported in the Gazette. It simplifies, as satire must I suppose, but it got me thinking about something that has been bothering me for some time. Before I come to that, let me set the general theme. There is already a market …
