‘You can’t appeal to people’s better natures because they don’t have one. Everyone is fundamentally selfish.’ Nihilistic as this remark from a senior corporate partner may sound, on darker days, most law firm leaders would find it hard to argue the point. While that partner can always be relied upon for a no-holds-barred, often strongly-worded …
Continue reading “Lessons in management: Spoiler alert – it doesn’t get easier”
My mum got me my first job at Essex County Council in PR. The first exam I ever failed was a PR diploma! It wasn’t for me. I’m not a sales person. I did an A-Level in law to see if I enjoyed it. I did. Keeping my options open, I applied for the CPE …
Undaunted by a hectic few days in which details of Natasha Harrison’s new firm Pallas Partners hit the headlines, the former Boies Schiller leader and litigator has discussed her agenda with Legal Business. The influential Harrison (pictured) is taking well-regarded partners Tracey Dovaston, Fiona Huntriss, Will Hooker, Neil Pigott and Matt Getz with her to …
Natasha Harrison has left Boies Schiller to set up a rival firm in the City, with five other partners also departing the firm. The move will be a massive blow for the US litigation giant’s City ambitions, given Harrison’s reputation as one of the most influential and outspoken law firm leaders as well as a …
Continue reading “Harrison leads Boies Schiller team exodus to set up rival firm”
The Zoom call with Gemma Roberts, private equity partner and recently-appointed co-chair of Goodwin’s London office, has not got off to the most auspicious of starts. First Roberts has a tech malfunction and then the interview is disrupted by the world’s loudest weekly fire alarm test. ‘Learning points for our next call will be to …
A senior legal headhunter friend, who could easily be described as a Renaissance Man, recently confided that one of the lesser-known challenges of placing lawyers today is that it is no longer sufficient just to be technically brilliant. Employers want candidates to have emotional intelligence and be able to communicate with clients and colleagues – …
I grew up in the Midlands in the ̒80s. It was hard hit by the recession. My dad lost his job as an engineer, working for Smiths Industries, which supplied the car industry. It was the deindustrialisation of large parts of the UK. My father was a businessman and entrepreneurial. He became self-employed, started his …
Kirkland & Ellis has shortened its path to equity partnership by a year in another audacious move that will doubtless make rivals sit up and take notice. The move means that its most-talented lawyers will now be considered for equity partnership nine years out of law school, rather than 10.
The phrase has long been a cliché among industry circles, but no-one is better at being cautiously optimistic than a law firm leader. For years, individuals have been compelled to temper any bullishness on market outlook with a healthy recognition that disaster is probably just around the corner. After all, few things make the sting …
While commentary from LB100 leaders in recent years may have occasionally sounded like a broken record, with gingerly repeated soundbites about ‘cautious optimism’, this is certainly not true of our 2021 report. This time last year, despite the market’s best efforts to put a brave face on things, we were still very much in the …
Continue reading “LB100 proves pacier than hoped but there’s plenty of ground still to cover”
