The Global 100: The devil you know – The two visions for Freshfields

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The Global 100: The devil you know – The two visions for Freshfields

‘Some of the management are dinosaurs. They don’t understand how important this is.’ So speaks one loyalist Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner of a growing unease shared by some regarding the City giant’s direction.

When Legal Business’ last focus on the 276-year-old institution hit desks in late 2015, the question was how newly-elected senior partner Edward Braham and co-managing partner Chris Pugh would secure the firm’s place in the Global Elite as the challenge from profitable US rivals mounted. Continue reading “The Global 100: The devil you know – The two visions for Freshfields”

Global 100 overview: Escape velocity as the world’s largest firms pick up momentum

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Global 100 overview: Escape velocity as the world’s largest firms pick up momentum

Compared to the dramatic events that have defined each of the three previous years, 2018/19 was relatively benign for the world’s top 100 law firms. True, the world has been dealing with increasing protectionism, US-China trade wars and the endless saga of the UK-EU divorce. But none of these headwinds were a shock for an industry that three years ago was reeling from the Brexit referendum in the UK and in 2017 from the start of Donald Trump’s presidency in the US.

Last year’s Global 100 report spoke of two milestones, with the global legal elite smashing the $100bn collective revenue barrier and entering the age of the $3bn law firm. Those looking for events of a comparable magnitude this time around will be disappointed. But if the legal industry appeared resilient in summer 2017 and flourishing 12 months later, this year it is nothing short of booming. Collectively, these are the strongest results since the pain of the financial crisis started to be felt ten years ago. Overall revenue for the group grew by 9% to $113.51bn – the fastest rate of growth for a decade; gross profit rose by a healthy 8% to hit $43.44bn – a pace unmatched in ten years. Average profit per equity partner (PEP) also rose by a solid 7% to $1.87m. Continue reading “Global 100 overview: Escape velocity as the world’s largest firms pick up momentum”

Global 100 – Letter from Silicon Valley

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Global 100 – Letter from Silicon Valley

For reporters used to the profession’s usual cautious pronouncements, it is striking how enthusiastic California lawyers are about the outlook; in the Bay Area you can forget the caveats that still dominate in New York and London. ‘We are in this extraordinary period of extended boom,’ says Cooley’s San Francisco corporate partner Rachel Proffitt. ‘We see equal strength in capital markets and M&A and that’s because there is so much capital. All indicators point to a continued strong year.’

The list of bullish quotes collected in a dozen interviews with the West Coast legal elite is certainly lengthy. Many note the much-touted fact that if the state was a country, California would be the world’s fifth-largest economy (now larger than the UK). It is also America’s most populous state and third-largest by land mass, measuring 770 miles at its longest point. Others simply invite you to drive down the 101 route from San Jose to San Francisco and look around at the offices of the Sunshine State’s corporate titans like eBay, PayPal, Google, Visa, Intel, Oracle, Twitter… the full list of tech giants remaking multiple industries on a global level. Continue reading “Global 100 – Letter from Silicon Valley”

Scotland: Art of the possible

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Scotland: Art of the possible

Wherever you look, there are women filling legal roles that had previously appeared closed to them in Scotland: Lorna Jack has been chief executive of the Law Society since 2009; Lady Dorrian has been Lord Justice Clerk – the country’s second-most senior judge – since 2016; and Angela Grahame QC has been vice-dean of the Faculty of Advocates for three years, the second woman to hold the role but the first to have been competitively elected to it.

At the same time, practically all the big independent firms are now either led or co-led by a woman, many for the first time in their history. At Brodies, chair Christine O’Neill works alongside managing partner Nick Scott; Burness Paull is co-led by managing partner Tamar Tammes and chair Peter Lawson; while Morton Fraser chair Maggie Moodie manages the firm along with chief executive Chris Harte. Continue reading “Scotland: Art of the possible”

Top Trumps, City-style – Who holds the cards in private equity?

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Top Trumps, City-style – Who holds the cards in private equity?

If there’s one City practice that has barely paused for breath in recent years, it is private equity (PE). Global buyout values reached a record high in 2018 and, while Mergermarket data suggests the first half of 2019 slipped back somewhat, activity levels remain strong, with take-privates driving much marquee M&A activity.

This has only served to underline the drawing power of the sector’s top dealmakers and recent years have seen a flurry of lateral moves. Kirkland & Ellis, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Latham & Watkins are among the most potent threats to the Magic Circle, but others, such as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Willkie Farr & Gallagher have also made investments to build out their City operations. Continue reading “Top Trumps, City-style – Who holds the cards in private equity?”

Ticking boxes – Is City law going beyond the platitudes on ethnic diversity?

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Ticking boxes – Is City law going beyond the platitudes on ethnic diversity?

‘People are so scared to talk about race in the UK,’ Linklaters senior partner Charlie Jacobs says. ‘They think it’s a landmine they’re going to walk straight into, so they’d rather avoid it entirely.’

A landmine – easy to lay but hard to get rid of – which has seen Big Law for years avoid a substantive discussion around ethnic diversity. Gender is already an uncomfortable topic for the industry, yet not so uncomfortable that it has obscured increasingly intense scrutiny of the profession’s poor record promoting female partners. In contrast, ethnic diversity at the upper reaches of commercial law is rarely addressed head-on, being submerged in the wider ‘D&I’ discussion. Continue reading “Ticking boxes – Is City law going beyond the platitudes on ethnic diversity?”