Comment: Less dire than expected but profession may yet squander influx of BAME lawyers
The good news is that up close the reality turns out to be not as awful as the cynics have…
Comment
Comment: A Big Four breakthrough will need a far better GC offensive
This title is on the record as having doubts regarding the Big Four’s legal ambitions, at least judged against claims…
Comment: Being most things to most clients isn’t sustainable (and it’s choking the City elite)
Years ago, in the immediate wake of the banking crisis, I wrote a column on the notion that top London…
Lucrative, dependable business-as-usual
The fourth, and largest, Disputes Yearbook returns to find the contentious legal scene much as we left it in 2018.…
Sponsored foreword: Period of upheaval set to continue
It is fair to say that the volume and nature of commercial disputes generally reflect shifts in the prevailing winds…
Comment: ‘This ain’t stewardship’ – delaying partnership until mid-30s is unsustainable
Having recently shared a few drinks with one of the most talked-up youngish corporate lawyers in the City, the question…
Comment: Too much jam today for partners yet the future of law will need long-term investment
A little over five years ago Legal Business produced a cover feature dubbed ‘How to improve a law firm in…
Letter from… Frankfurt: Pillars of stone – finding the right mix is tough but global interest in Germany is growing
Two documents outlining the strategies of international firms in Germany came to light between 2016 and 2017. ‘Agenda 2020’ by…
Comment: The Legal Business view on the profession for you to cut out and keep
On occasion, we are asked to give our house view at partner conferences and the like. Undertaking one such gig…
Looking back on 2018 – The year in law through ten on-point pieces
As 2018 draws to a close, an editor’s thoughts naturally turn to digging out stuff we’ve already done when they…
Letter from… Singapore: A warm welcome and slick offering keep Singapore ahead in the race to be Asia global hub
The view from Fort Canning Hill is telling. You stand next to an early 20th century lighthouse, a testament to…
Comment: PRIME and the rise of law’s tick-box diversity ‘solution’
The sheepish evasion now emanating from the once-lauded social mobility project PRIME is an abject lesson in what ethically ails…
Comment: We come not to bury the Magic Circle but to save it
A number of contacts have been telling me of late that Legal Business is gaining a reputation for being ultra-bearish on the…
Comment: The great distraction – The innovation bandwagon has hobbled law’s market forces
I used to believe the UK legal profession was more imaginative than it got credit for – now I find…
Comment: NDA mess shows age of just-about-OK legal ethics has passed
Once, not long ago, considerations of ethics were simple for law firms, if they bothered thinking about them at all.…
Letter from… Shanghai: Despite high hopes, it turns out there is no such thing as a free trade lunch
‘The thing about China is there have always been those who think the bubble is going to burst and the…
Disputes Eye: ‘Draconian’ measures as SFO tackles privilege via the back door
Despite the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opting in October not to pursue its much-publicised privilege appeal against ENRC any further,…
Comment: For good or ill, Kirkland is now redefining high-end law
Though I’ve always known that soul-of-a-law-firm cover features are the biggest draw for our readers, the response to our Kirkland…
The LB100 Comment: Smoke, turmoil and a tonne of cash
The latest financial year has not been a vintage period for those wishing the legal industry would fall into concise patterns.…
Letter from… Moscow: Apocalypse now beckons as sanctions and turmoil batter foreign lawyers in Russia
Remember the days when Russia was the El Dorado of the Western legal elite? Potent New York outfits like Cleary…