With a far higher percentage of public sector respondents and a high proportion of SME businesses, Wales has unique legal requirements.
Yorkshire: No quarter asked
As one of the region’s most sophisticated and competitive hubs, Yorkshire lawyers are still expecting to fight for work, even in a reviving economy.
Joining the Partnership: John Lewis appoints BG Group veteran as GC
The John Lewis Partnership has appointed BG Group’s deputy general counsel (GC) Keith Hubber as the successor to Margaret Casely-Hayford, who stepped down this summer.
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Comment: What does it mean to be a modern GC? Discuss. Or rather don’t
What does it mean to be an in-house counsel these days? The profession is agreed that the job carries considerably better status and prospects and attracts a better calibre of lawyer than 10 years ago. There is, in addition, widespread consensus that general counsel now operate much more closely to the business, moving beyond their role as narrow managers of legal risk.
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Eversheds’ sole adviser mandate under threat as Severn Trent starts tender process
FTSE 100 company Severn Trent Water is to kickstart its tender process in a matter of weeks, as its current single-supplier mandate with Eversheds expires at the end of March 2015.
The clients’ verdict: Linklaters wins best firm in show from annual in-house survey
In what signals a marked return to favour for the City’s elite players, Magic Circle firm Linklaters has led the field in Legal Business’ third annual in-house survey as best overall adviser in 2014, pushing Eversheds, which emerged as the clear overall favourite in 2013, into second place.
The In-House Survey
Linklaters wins best firm in show from annual in-house survey
In what signals a marked return to favour for the City’s elite players, Magic Circle firm Linklaters has led the field in Legal Business‘ third annual in-house survey as best overall adviser in 2014, pushing Eversheds, which emerged as the clear overall favourite in 2013, into second place.
Our 2014 survey, which drew responses from 436 individuals at major companies operating in the UK, reveals the top ten firms comprise largely the same names as last year, with the Magic Circle plus Eversheds, DLA Piper, Pinsent Masons and Baker & McKenzie all appearing. The only significant change was alternative legal services provider Axiom taking the tenth spot, pushing Herbert Smith Freehills into 11th place, demonstrating how non-law firm providers are winning over some bluechip clients.
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The In-House Survey: managing counsel – Getting with the programme
For years clients have decried advisers’ poor attitude to flexibility and value. Our third in-house lawyer survey shows the message is getting through at last.
Deborah Prince, head of legal and company secretary at the British Heart Foundation, who is forthright in her views on questionable behaviour by external advisers, recalls a recent incident with a law firm that she swears she will never use again. Responding to a request to work on a high-value contract, the firm sent back an excessively long document, containing endless provisions on issues that were never going to be a concern.
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The In-House Survey: adviser feedback – The usual suspects
As clients give advisers credit for improving value and service, our third annual in-house lawyer survey shows some of the City’s top firms making the most ground
‘When Magic Circle firms are appointed on appropriate matters, they offer real quality and value. The problem is, there is an ever-increasing type of work that is not appropriate to instruct them on as other firms offer significantly better quality and value. When the Magic Circle is retained on work that is not appropriate, my experiences are broadly negative.’
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