These are tough times for another house that Stanley Berwin built, with exhibit B being the acrimonious end of merger talks between Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Greenberg Traurig. While the practice fit between the two looked both convincing and distinctive, these were two firms with plenty of strong characters.
Comment: Gibson Dunn’s Geffen argues law firms can sell judgement or process but few can excel at both
A few years ago the general counsel of one of the big banks told me that they only went to outside law firms for three reasons. First to get advice on what to do. That could be on a deal, a dispute or some other objective of the bank. It requires senior time and is not particularly price sensitive. Let’s call that ‘advisory work’.
Comment: KWM – ultimately it comes down to a question of confidence
These are tough times for the house that Stanley Berwin built, with exhibit A being recent news that King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is undergoing a sweeping partnership restructuring set to trim its European business by nearly two dozen partners, or 15% of its ranks.
Continue reading “Comment: KWM – ultimately it comes down to a question of confidence”
KWM – ultimately a question of confidence
These are tough times for the house that Stanley Berwin built, with exhibit A being recent news that King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is undergoing a sweeping partnership restructuring set to trim its European business by nearly two dozen partners, or 15% of its ranks. While global managing partner Stuart Fuller (pictured) attempts to frame the move as repositioning KWM for the future, the storm clouds are ominous. The firm has suffered a string of significant exits in the last 18 months in its funds, litigation and corporate practices, losing several notable clients along the way. The firm was already going through a performance-driven partnership review set to manage out at least 10% of its ranks by this April (the firm’s German practice has struggled particularly). While the firm managed to achieve respectable growth in 2014/15 and increases in profitability in Europe, having to go through more major cuts is hardly an advertisement for its partnership.
Continue reading “KWM – ultimately a question of confidence”
The tiger that came to eat BLP’s culture for breakfast and other sorry tales
These are tough times for another house that Stanley Berwin built, with exhibit B being the acrimonious end of merger talks between Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Greenberg Traurig. While the practice fit between the two looked both convincing and distinctive, these were two firms with plenty of strong characters. Summing up the prospect of the proposed deal recently, Legal Business noted that proceeding with a union would be holding ‘the proverbial tiger by the tail’. So it quickly proved, as on 16 March the pair officially called time on the discussions amid some discontent from the US firm, which was unhappy at the messages being put out by BLP at the end of the talks.
Continue reading “The tiger that came to eat BLP’s culture for breakfast and other sorry tales”
Are you selling judgement or process? Few modern law firms can excel at both
Charlie Geffen argues the legal market is segmenting between two diverging arenas
A few years ago the general counsel of one of the big banks told me that they only went to outside law firms for three reasons.
First to get advice on what to do. That could be on a deal, a dispute or some other objective of the bank. It requires senior time and is not particularly price sensitive. Let’s call that ‘advisory work’.
Continue reading “Are you selling judgement or process? Few modern law firms can excel at both”
Here we must run, just to stay in place – what it takes to be a law firm partner in 2016
Macfarlanes’ Charles Martin reflects on the paradoxes facing the modern partner
I confess the analogy is not perfect, but reflecting on the bizarre and often contradictory pressures on partners in law firms today brings to mind the world of Alice in Wonderland. Today, many question the appropriateness of the partnership model itself. They certainly question the strange, often opaque feudal master/servant process by which the aspiring lawyer serves their apprenticeship. They then work (following the white rabbit down the hole past many locked doors) until they leave all caution behind and take the option of partnership – a bit like Alice eating the cake with ‘EAT ME’ written on it. Readers of the story will know that the result is Alice growing to such a tremendous size that her head hits the ceiling! The analogy is maybe not so imperfect after all.
Continue reading “Here we must run, just to stay in place – what it takes to be a law firm partner in 2016”
Guest post: Slater and Gordon’s woes have nothing to do with being an ABS
It is somewhat appropriate that Slater and Gordon (S&G) sponsors England cricket captain Alastair Cook (pictured), no stranger himself to sudden collapses.
Continue reading “Guest post: Slater and Gordon’s woes have nothing to do with being an ABS”
Comment: Privacy v transparency – Withers’ Noseda on incoming OECD tax rules opening a new battle front
In almost every field of legal work, privacy is regarded as a primary and legitimate concern to protect the interests of individuals and organisations.
Comment: Doing something radical – how Dentons sort of won me over
Everywhere I go in legal circles these days, people ask about Dentons. How incredible it would have been even 18 months ago that this child of a second-line Illinois player and the most battered City law brand of the 2000s would attract such interest. Much of that attention is aghast that this dismissed institution has emerged somehow after a remarkable 2015 as the world’s most lawyered firm.
Continue reading “Comment: Doing something radical – how Dentons sort of won me over”