Last orders – Addleshaws gets behind its new leader, but can it regain its form?

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National thoroughbred Addleshaw Goddard has consistently struggled to find its form since the credit crunch. Kathryn McCann assesses if new MP John Joyce can galvanise the firm.

‘There is a general sense of optimism in the firm at the moment,’ comments one former Addleshaw Goddard partner of their old shop. ‘But then you have got to realise how bad it was. The reason why people are so upbeat is because the last four or five years have been nothing short of a disaster. It has stopped the rot, but the big challenge is what’s going to happen next.’

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Freshfields veterans Braham and Pugh set to go head-to-head in senior partner elections

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Jaishree Kalia follows the contest between the firm’s disputes and corporate partners Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s former disputes and corporate heads are expected to be the frontrunners among those campaigning for the senior partner role as the firm kicks off the election process.

The nominations for the firm’s new generation of leadership, which is overseen by its partnership council, were already underway as Legal Business went to press and were expected to close in early April.

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Q&A: Mishcon de Reya’s Kevin Gold talks peers, New York and international strategy

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High-flying City firm Mishcon de Reya recently kicked off a review of its strategy, aiming to create a ten-year vision. Managing partner Kevin Gold, last month named Management Partner of the Year at the Legal Business Awards, talks to Sarah Downey about the firm’s future as a limited liability partnership, its Manhattan struggles and his leadership style.

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Reshuffles: Norton Rose Fulbright finalises restructure as it reviews practice areas

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Norton Rose Fulbright has carried out a reshuffle of its management positions including creating a new global business head and scrapping its deputy managing partner role as it moves forward with plans to revamp its tax practice’s and smaller departments’ strategies.

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‘We have to find our own place’: Mishcon de Reya kicks off strategy review as it looks for 10-year plan

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After surpassing revenue targets two years early last summer, high-flying City firm Mishcon de Reya has kick-started the process for its firmwide strategy review and is currently interviewing external consultants to help shape its vision.

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Simon says – DLA Piper gears up for a life after Nigel

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DLA Piper pushed its regional brands to unprecedented heights under a trailblazing leader only to hit the inevitable grind of global integration. Legal Business meets the man charged with finishing what Sir Nigel started.

‘I had to ask Nigel to stop referring to his standing down as the firm’s Sir Alex Ferguson moment,’ laughs Simon Levine, the man tasked with replacing one Sir Nigel Knowles. ‘I didn’t want to go the way of Moysey.’

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The 2015 Risk Report – What lies beneath

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Law firms have benefited from a relatively settled risk environment, despite a run of crisis-linked claims. But Legal Business’ annual risk survey finds dangers new and old lurking beneath the surface.

On the face of it, news in December 2014 that the number of professional negligence claims against solicitors had tripled in a year, based on research from RPC, was enough to give law firm risk managers and professional indemnity insurance (PII) specialists pause. RPC reported that High Court cases against law firms for professional negligence had increased by 192% from 143 in 2013 to 418.

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