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The UK’s changing legal landscape

Fox Rodney’s Adrian Fox analyses UK legal market trends.

How have commercial dynamics in law firms changed?
I was practising in the mid-1980s when law firm commercial dynamics really changed – the time of the Big Bang. I remember having a more than slightly heated discussion with a then senior partner of my firm about whether a law firm’s purpose was to service its clients or make profits for the partners. He was from the old school and he had gone within 12 months.

What has most defined the legal landscape in the last 25 years?
The rise in prominence of US firms is the single most important feature that has defined the legal landscape over the last 25 years. When the majority started to open in London in the mid-1990s, they often set up in the West End (as near as possible to Lady Diana) and they also thought Brussels would be the next DC. It was quite quaint back then. How times have changed. Alongside this, the demise of lockstep has been a central theme.

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Recruitment at record levels

Frank Varela of V&P Global details the changing face of legal recruitment over the last 25 years.

Legal Business is 25 years old and the legal recruitment market has played a significant part in its development and in its revenues. It has provided many of the headlines and inspired some of the stories that have captivated the market over that period.

It seems opportune then to look at how the legal recruitment market itself has fared over that period. There has been a demonstrable surge in recruitment over the last 25 years – certainly more lawyers, more law firms in the market and so more demand for talent than ever before. After a post-2008 lull, the competition for the best talent is so hot that guarantees are ‘back in vogue’.

The market is now full of headhunters, but that certainly wasn’t always the case. When Legal Business first went to the printing press, I was founding Longbridge International, at the time the first executive search boutique dedicated to the legal profession.

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The Israeli legal market over the last 25 years – then and now

Yigal Arnon’s Simon Weintraub and Ruth Loven report on the burgeoning Israeli market.

The Israeli legal market has undergone a robust expansion in the last 25 years. In 1990 there were 10,697 lawyers registered with the Israel Bar Association. As of the beginning of 2014 there were 53,750 registered lawyers in Israel. Israel has the highest number per capita of lawyers in the world, with 585 lawyers per 10,000 people. Correspondingly, there has been a significant increase in the size of Israeli law firms. If you look at our law firm as a microcosm you will note that in 1990 there were only 21 lawyers in Yigal Arnon & Co., and currently, in 2014, Yigal Arnon & Co. has approximately 140 lawyers. In 1990 there was no single Israeli law firm which had even 50 lawyers and today there are approximately 11 law firms in Israel who have more than 100 lawyers. Law firms in Israel have been consistently growing in size from year to year with an emphasis on creating large ‘one-stop shop’ law firms.

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‘Fits our philosophy and style of practice perfectly’: Three Crowns hires its first female partner from Covington

Arbitration boutique Three Crowns has hired its first female partner, Carmen Martinez Lopez, from Covington & Burling as the firm boosts its arbitration capabilities, especially in the Latin American and Spanish-language markets.

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Dealwatch: HSF, Debevoise, Weil, and Freshfields double down on Sky Bet sale

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) continues to cash in on its ever strengthening relationship with Sky as the digital giant goes through a major overhaul of its operations, this time advising on the company’s £800m sale of a stake in Sky Bet to private equity group CVC Capital Partners, which instructed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

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Insight report on cyber security – Anatomy of a breach

With breaches impossible to stop, companies are focusing on managing the huge risks of a major cyber incident. We teamed up with PwC to gauge the client response.

In cyber security circles, it has already become a hoary cliché to claim that there are two types of companies: those that have been breached and those that have yet to discover they have been breached. This rang particularly true this year when JPMorgan revealed that 76 million households and eight million small businesses were exposed to its data breach over the summer.

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Taxing times: Lawyers’ reactions to the Autumn Statement

After his Autumn Statement, which may be UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s last if the Conservative party fails to be elected in next year’s general election, tax practitioners across the City have been besieged by calls from funds managers and banks nervous about the government’s proposals while real estate lawyers are facing a late night.

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Guest post: judicial review at bay – playing ping pong with the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill

Judicial review has been described by Liberty as ‘a crucial tool which allows ordinary people to challenge decisions by the authorities – either because they’re unlawful, irrational, or made in the wrong way’. This tool has come under attack from the Government. In this post, I look at the House of Commons debate on 1 December when House of Lords amendments to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill were considered. Continue reading “Guest post: judicial review at bay – playing ping pong with the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill”