From time to time, I am asked to talk at panels and conferences. Though I usually weasel out of such commitments on account of deadlines looming threateningly over my head, I did recently agree to a one-on-one discussion with the senior partner of a mid-tier UK player at the firm’s partnership conference.As part of the prep, we sketched out some outline questions and I then wrote down some notes to order my thoughts. Since it was flowing conversation and I wasn’t looking at those notes, what is below only loosely relates to what I said on the day. But since I often get asked these kind of questions and such Q&As have an off-the-cuff accessibility, I thought it would make a decent blog.
I have resisted the urgent to rewrite my downbeat view on consolidation (news of the Irwin Mitchell/Thomas Eggar talks came out just before the conference, soon followed by the Addleshaws/Maclays saga). That’s partly to stick to my guns and partly because an Addleshaws/Maclays tie-up is just wrong and weird.
