Moving Targets – Risk Management Survey: Part 1

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2011 was always going to be a turbulent year, but the arrival of several new challenges has put risk teams under greater pressure than ever.

There’s never been a more important – or perhaps a more stressful – time to be a risk manager at a law firm. Previous Legal Business and Marsh risk management and professional indemnity reports have dealt with the need to properly establish a risk culture and gain effective buy-in from the wider firm in anticipation of major changes that were just around the corner.

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Round the Houses – Office Moves

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From upwardly mobile US firms to national practices with ambitious City plans, we analyse the winners and losers of law firm property.

It’s early February, ten days before Pinsent Masons moves in and the final touches are being made to the firm’s new London offices. Carpets are being fitted, a problem with the lift fixed and the IT guys are looking confused in front of their fancy new AV equipment.

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Kop Kings – Liverpool FC

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From the fields of Anfield Road to the offices on Bunhill Row, the takeover of Liverpool Football Club was played out in the full glare of the courts and the press. Legal Business talks to the key legal players

When John William Henry II descended the curving flight of stairs into the cool, inconspicuous client reception at Slaughter and May’s offices on Bunhill Row on the afternoon of 15 October 2010, he was met by an unusual sight. As the threshold of a law firm that has long prided itself on its understated manner, it’s usually exceptionally quiet. But that afternoon there was little evidence of calm: pandemonium had taken hold.

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Litigation round table

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Trends in international commercial litigation were to the fore in the second Legal Business round table in conjunction with McCann FitzGerald. From the globalisation of disputes to rising levels of disclosure and tougher regulators there was plenty on the agenda

There has arguably never been a better time to be a litigator. Although the much-anticipated tsunami of litigation has not hit the market, there has been a discernible rise in disputes, which more often than not require a litigator to keep them out of the courts.

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In the soup

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Historically, the largest law firms have had a patchy relationship with the profession’s regulators. Can the Solicitors Regulation Authority build bridges?

Martin Baker, head of risk and compliance at Taylor Wessing, is sitting in a boardroom in front of a mountain of documents. He has only just read through the first few pages of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) second consultation paper on its proposed new code of conduct. With a worried look on his face, he mentions that, in order to bring his firm’s current risk and compliance handbook up to date, he may as well start implementing the changes now before they come into force next October. Continue reading “In the soup”

Two’s company

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After getting Beachcroft fit for the modern age, senior partner Simon Hodson and managing partner Paul Murray will run the firm for five more years. Time for a progress report

Beachcroft senior partner Simon Hodson (see left) often has his tongue firmly in his cheek when commenting on the industry, but this time he’s deadly serious. ‘These pissing contests over how many hundreds of thousands people get paid are obscene and, frankly, not good for the profession.’ You might expect this from a buyer of legal services, but not from the senior partner of the 23rd largest firm by revenue in the UK. To his left, managing partner Paul Murray (see right) nods in agreement. Continue reading “Two’s company”

Under review

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Over the past decade panels have defined the relationship between law firms and the major banks. But as the nature of those relationships shifts, panels are becoming even more important

Mark Harding insists there’s been a shift of power. ‘Previously, with a lot of work, the boot was always on the law firm foot,’ Barclays’ general counsel asserts. ‘Now the boot is on the other foot.’ Coming from one of the most senior GCs in the City, head of a 900-strong in-house team with a legal spend of £100m, it’s something to take note of. Continue reading “Under review”

Education, education, education

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Law firms take their training very seriously. LB spent some time in the classroom to see how education has become more than just a break from the billable hour

It’s all far removed from a university lecture. The 20 Norton Rose senior associates turn up on time, apparently without a hangover in sight. The lawyers help themselves to the spread of fresh fruit and coffee and take their seats at a U-shaped desk which leaves nowhere to hide. They have come from as far afield as the Hong Kong and Dubai offices to the firm’s London HQ for a three-day course on marketing and business development. Continue reading “Education, education, education”