The Last Word
In this month’s Global London special we track the fortunes of the leading international advisers in the City. But are…
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Converging in on an end game for Global London
Remember convergence? In the 1990s’ tech boom the concept was all the rage. It was the simple idea that rapidly-advancing…
Disputes revival has huge implications for City law
A few years ago – during what in retrospect turned out to be a boom – you knew where you…
The Last Word
With Cobbetts entering into administration, are we likely to see more law firms in trouble this year? Why?/Why not?
Rising clout means a new kind of corporate politics for GCs
Oxymoronic as it sounds, news that Barclays general counsel (GC) Mark Harding is to depart has been received as startling…
The Last Word
After a year of significant legal market consolidation in 2012, do you think we will see more mergers involving UK…
Another conventional wisdom
A lot of firms talk a lot of rubbish about cohesive, collegiate partnerships these days but the competitive spirit within…
All hail the comeback kings
Two features this month focus on firms that have dusted themselves down and have come back fighting. For markedly different…
Law firms forced to prove their worth
Panel reviews are a cut-throat business these days, even for firms like SNR Denton and Slaughter and May. The duo…
Norton Rose Fulbright aims at Global Elite
The worst-kept secret in global law finally became official in November. Norton Rose and Fulbright & Jaworski announced their 3,800-lawyer…
Cohesion critical in proving three into one does go
By the time you read this Dentons (as anyone sane will call it), a three-way merger between SNR Denton, Salans…
The Last Word
From our first ever in-house survey, released in October 2012, it was clear that the hourly rate is still very…
The appeal of the hourglass
One particularly interesting statistic emerged from our in-house survey last month: 33% of respondents said they felt law firms were…
Lateral thinking required with international expansion
Last month, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton did something that it has only done once before – open two non-US…
Getting more with less
There’s good news and bad news for law firms in our first-ever survey of in-house counsel this month. The good…
Freebies needs to address profitability concerns from the get-go
By the time you read this the Herbert Smith Freehills merger will be live – a firm with revenues of…
Panic has ramped up merger mania
A clear message from last month’s LB100 report was that the merger of two firms that have ‘simply cuddled together…
Two decades of consistency
When we first published the gross fees of 35 leading firms with revenues over £20m in 1992, we were approaching…
Twenty years on and the numbers still add up
In 1992, Bill Clinton was elected US president; the Maastricht Treaty was signed and Legal Business published the financial data…
It’s all in a name: why branding matters
Over the past few months CMS Cameron McKenna’s managing partner Duncan Weston has been on a charm offensive. Through lunches…