Fighting back – a golden opportunity to take on the Big Four in tax services

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Bakers City head Alex Chadwick argues that law firms are increasingly primed to take core tax work off Big Four rivals

As the international tax framework becomes subject to increased scrutiny and legal change, the demand for strategic global advice has never been stronger. In the UK, law firms have traditionally played second fiddle to the Big Four accountants when advising on tax. Today, however, law firms with the right infrastructure are incredibly well positioned to take more of a leading role in the tax affairs of their clients. This is down to a combination of greater regulation of audit services, tougher restrictions on the provision by accounting firms of non-audit services, such as tax, valuation and legal services and deregulation of the legal profession.

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A Brexit veto? The best-laid plans for Scotland’s future in the UK and in the EU

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Brodies’ Christine O’Neill looks at the constitutional and legal position north of the border

It might be premature to say that the dust has settled on the result of the EU referendum. Although the initial shock of the outcome has worn off, there has been ongoing upheaval with a change of prime minister, the abrupt ending (and revival) of several political careers and the launch of a leadership challenge within the opposition.

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Comment: Ashurst’s Ben Tidswell argues a volatile risk landscape is a call to arms for modern law firms

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One of the many lasting consequences of the downturn has been a prolonged expansion of the globalised compliance framework. Increased oversight of financial markets has been at the forefront of this development, as reflected by the passage of the US Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 and a succession of EU directives. Continue reading “Comment: Ashurst’s Ben Tidswell argues a volatile risk landscape is a call to arms for modern law firms”

Comment: Fieldfisher’s Chissick on why real change on diversity needs leadership in law

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‘Did you see the game at the weekend?’ is the type of question I am often asked at events. I know my answer, ‘no, I don’t really follow sport’ – will kill the conversation dead, and I don’t have the skills or required knowledge to blag my way through the small talk of the weekend’s fixture list.

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It’s a risky world out there… and a big chance for a new kind of lawyer

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Ashurst’s Ben Tidswell argues a volatile, globalising risk landscape is a call to arms for the modern law firm

One of the many lasting consequences of the downturn has been a prolonged expansion of the globalised compliance framework. Increased oversight of financial markets has been at the forefront of this development, as reflected by the passage of the US Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 and a succession of EU directives. This trend has also witnessed a heightened focus on white-collar crime, targeting areas such as fraud, corruption, tax evasion, terrorism financing and money laundering. Existing laws, such as Canada’s Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, have been strengthened, and new legislation, such as the UK Bribery Act, has been introduced.

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We wanted diversity, we got box-ticking – real change on diversity needs leadership in law

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Fieldfisher’s Michael Chissick says progress on gay inclusion masks a wider diversity failure in law

‘Did you see the game at the weekend?’ is the type of question I am often asked at events. I know my answer, ‘no, I don’t really follow sport’ – will kill the conversation dead, and I don’t have the skills or required knowledge to blag my way through the small talk of the weekend’s fixture list.

Continue reading “We wanted diversity, we got box-ticking – real change on diversity needs leadership in law”

Comment: Picking up the New Law gauntlet – CC’s City head calls for a new approach to training the lawyers of the future

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New entrants to the legal profession will be competing head on against Kim, the virtual assistant from Riverview Law, and Ross, IBM Watson’s ‘super-intelligent’ attorney, in delivering services to clients. Ross, unlike most of us, has the ability to research every resource of legal knowledge in seconds, and, even more impressive to the older ones among us, remember it.

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Comment: Gibson Dunn’s Geffen argues law firms can sell judgement or process but few can excel at both

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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’.

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Are you selling judgement or process? Few modern law firms can excel at both

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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”

Keeping up with Ross and Kim – the work to do on shaping the legal stars of tomorrow

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CC’s David Bickerton says the profession is yet to master training the lawyers of the future

New entrants to the legal profession will be competing head on against Kim, the virtual assistant from Riverview Law, and Ross, IBM Watson’s ‘super-intelligent’ attorney, in delivering services to clients. Ross, unlike most of us, has the ability to research every resource of legal knowledge in seconds, and, even more impressive to the older ones among us, remember it.

Continue reading “Keeping up with Ross and Kim – the work to do on shaping the legal stars of tomorrow”