The best Freshfields corporate lawyer Silk Street ever produced is now leading Linklaters, with incoming senior partner Charlie Jacobs ushering in a very different style at the City giant to the technocratic revolution pushed through by previous regimes.
The charismatic South African has long stood out, not only for a clubbable style more associated with Freshfields’ deal team but also for an entrepreneurial drive that looked increasingly exceptional amid Linklaters’ more seasoned M&A lawyers (the firm promises the next generation of M&A partners will rectify that).
