‘There was a point where centres in Africa, Asia and other parts of the world started saying, “hang on, we have lots of parties from this region doing international arbitration but they’re all going to London, Paris, Geneva – we should have some of it here”,’ recalls Herbert Smith Freehills London-based global arbitration partner and president of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), Paula Hodges QC. Continue reading “More seats at the table”
I was always naturally argumentative. But I didn’t have any role model at all, nobody that I knew was involved in law.
I was either going to be a journalist or a lawyer. What swayed me? I grew up in the 1980s and you start to get politically awakened in your teens. This was at a time when Margaret Thatcher was in government and everything was extremely political. I realised that I would probably have to write in accordance with the political wishes of the editor and I didn’t think I could do that. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Sue Millar”
I come from a family of engineers. I have not a single engineering bone in my body, to my father’s great disappointment, but it’s about problem solving, and I guess that’s the sort of thing that runs through engineering and through law. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Susan Dunn”
I was one of those children who spent a lot of time arguing with parents and siblings over the dinner table. They must have thought I was a natural advocate, even if I didn’t. I fell into law, frankly; I studied history at university. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Rob Fell”
‘What would you do if you weren’t afraid? When I’m making big decisions, there’s always fear attached. I try to put the fear aside and say: “What would I do if not afraid?” Last year when Natasha Harrison still ran Boies Schiller Flexner’s (BSF) London office, she revealed her mantra in conversation with Legal Business. When news broke in January that she and the majority of her disputes team were leaving BSF to start a new litigation-only firm, Pallas Partners, such thinking must have been at the front of her mind. Continue reading “Boies Don’t Cry”
Two years on from the UK’s first lockdown and the buzz has returned. Litigators might now work part-time from their homes and courts persist with virtual hearings for simple procedural hearings and the like, but a level of pre-2020 familiarity has been restored. Continue reading “Back to life – cases of the year”
As the world watches the battle rage in Ukraine, talking about gender inequality risks coming across as somewhat trite. But with women and children making up the overwhelming majority of the more than one million people displaced by the invasion so far, this year’s International Women’s Day has a pointed resonance. Everyone suffers during war, but women and girls are notoriously vulnerable to its impact, both physically and economically. The images of those flooding out of Ukraine to seek sanctuary elsewhere only serves to highlight this.
We’ve therefore taken the decision to still mark International Women’s Day and its #BreakTheBias message, as gender equality still needs to be fought for across all industries, including law and politics, and progress made still needs to be celebrated. Continue reading “‘Get the credit you deserve’ – top female partners on breaking biases and inspiring role models”
London. A bitingly cold day at the end of January and Legal Business ventures out on a novel expedition to Liverpool Street. An enforced pandemic-induced break from office-dwelling has made deciphering which of Exchange House’s two entrances will gain us access to the Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) offices a little more challenging than it should have been.
Luckily it’s not just us. Ironically, Justin D’Agostino, HSF’s chief executive, encounters the same quandary. This is his first in-person meeting since taking the top job in May 2020. It is also his first day in London for nigh on two years. Continue reading “Herbert Smith Freehills: Between two peaks”
‘Every week two women are killed by their partners and three commit suicide due to domestic abuse.’
With such a chilling opening line, it is no wonder that Travers Smith’s submission for CSR Programme of the Year at the 2021 Legal Business Awards stopped the judges in their tracks. Continue reading “The business of saving lives”
