From living with Brexit to harnessing technology, Legal Business 100 leaders state what must be done to thrive
HARD CHOICES NECESSARY
‘We’ve been building on our strengths and worrying less about the things we don’t do but other firms do. We’ve been forced to make choices that we didn’t have to ten years ago because it isn’t viable anymore to do everything or pretend to do everything. Not even the Magic Circle can do that. It is about identifying where you want to play and focusing on that.’
Jeremy Hoyland, managing partner, Simmons & Simmons
GET ON WITH IT
‘The environment over the last 12 months has been difficult. Brexit will be a drawn-out process, and that is definitely a distraction for the market. I hope the government just gets on with it. We need some sensible individuals, on both sides of the table, to realise a deal as soon as possible.’
Chris Lowe, co-managing partner, Watson Farley & Williams
SIZE DOESN’T MATTER
‘What has accelerated over the last year is that major clients are not categorising firms anymore as mid-market and top of the market. If you can demonstrate your relevance to a client then you’re in the frame. For us, relevance is down to technical expertise, knowledge of the sector or market and delivering legal services in a different and innovative way. Any firm that is able to offer something interesting and relevant across all three will do well.’
Richard Foley, senior partner, Pinsent Masons
ALL ABOUT EFFICIENCY
‘Efficiency is a big trend: that is why we are investing to get a platform that will make us more efficient. Everyone is focusing on that more than ever, because clients are becoming more demanding. The overall size of the legal market has not increased, so to be competitive you have to be more efficient.’
Peter Martyr, global chief executive, Norton Rose Fulbright
UNKNOWN QUANTITY
‘Clients are interested to understand what Brexit means for them but you can’t give any definitive advice yet. We don’t have anything to really advise on at the moment. It will be a few years down the track before we can give detailed advice around topics.’
Sharon White, chief executive, Stephenson Harwood
FISHING LICENCE
‘There will be some consolidation in the mid-tier in London, simply on the basis of some firms trying to reduce their cost base. Some of the lesser nationals will continue to try to grow turnover by opening offices in the regional centres. That in itself is a challenge because you will end up at saturation point. The big difference with us is that we can fish where we want to fish.’
Ian Gilbert, corporate and managing partner, Walker Morris
THE ENDGAME
‘Twenty years ago, achieving growth by winning market share was easier. Firms now have become stronger and more sophisticated. By the nature of things, if competition is up to the mark it will make winning market share more difficult. The UK legal services market grew enormously in the last 20 years and there is a feeling it is unlikely to grow much more.’
Quentin Poole, head of international projects, Gowling WLG
THE DILEMMA
‘We spend a lot of time thinking about the impact of Brexit, but the dilemma is that nobody knows. It’s impossible to take steps based on it – you can only provide one-way clarity until the parties reach agreement on key terms. I’m not sure more certainty comes in the next six months.’
John Joyce, managing partner, Addleshaw Goddard
COME TOGETHER
‘Uncertainty in the mid-tier offers an opportunity for UK firms. Scale is important but sometimes being able to collaborate and bring capacity together on projects when it’s needed, rather than having that scale all the time, can be very compelling to clients.’
David Pester, managing partner, TLT
PROFITS UNDER PRESSURE
‘If the economy continues to flatline, some firms will find that profitability continues to fall where they have got sizable fixed overheads that they are unable to reduce, in a marketplace where we have pressure on fees, where there is salary inflation and where the acquisition and retention of talent is key to giving those firms momentum.’
John Westwell, managing partner, Foot Anstey
Click here to return to the Legal Business 100 menu