New look Linklaters – cuddly inclusiveness proves oddly compelling

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New look Linklaters – cuddly inclusiveness proves oddly compelling

It has been a long, long time since one of London’s elite law firms has genuinely shifted direction. So the shake up currently unfolding at Silk Street under the newish teaming of managing partner Gideon Moore and senior partner Charlie Jacobs is, professionally speaking, a big deal.

The mood music from Moore’s 2015 election had already signalled a more consultative stance – a welcome shift after a series of bruising post-Lehman restructurings.

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A buzzword with edge – Macfarlanes head reviews the most hyped professional services book for years

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A buzzword with edge – Macfarlanes head reviews the most hyped professional services book for years

Collaboration within a law firm is as self-evidently a good thing as motherhood and apple pie. But then you might think the case for global warming is pretty clear too. So, despite the wave of professional recognition Harvard Law School professor Heidi Gardner (pictured) has received for her work on team-working, her new book, Smart Collaboration, has the considerable challenge of getting lawyers past the outskirts of platitudinal praise and towards the town centre of actual working habits. Continue reading “A buzzword with edge – Macfarlanes head reviews the most hyped professional services book for years”

‘Unprecedented applications in the legal industry’: Dentons’ Nextlaw backs two legal tech startups with funding and training

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Nextlaw Labs, the legal tech platform launched by Dentons last year, has invested in two legal startups, alongside venture funding company Seedcamp.

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Is Kennedys keeping up? Insurance player claims innovation and expansion provide the right cover

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Kathryn McCann and Victoria Young discuss Kennedys’ prospects with longstanding senior partner Nick Thomas

‘I’d like to tell you that Kennedys is a crap practice,’ one law firm leader tells Legal Business, ‘but it is reasonably good. The unfortunate thing is that it follows rather than leads in its market and that’s a strategic disadvantage.’

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RPC Consulting targets £50m turnover in plans to challenge Big Four

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New software boosts expansion plans for firm’s start-up

RPC’s insurance management consulting arm is pursuing significant expansion as it bids to hit a £50m turnover target within the next five years.

RPC Consulting managing partner Rory O’Brien said the start-up had been boosted by its acquisition of financial modelling tool Tyche last year, which has led to new deals with high-profile insurance clients.

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Offshoring goes in-house: Shell to launch external legal centre to service global operations

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In the latest twist to the offshoring saga, and following news last week that two global 100 firms are to outsource to Poland and Manila, Royal Dutch Shell is preparing to open its own offshore legal centre to service the oil giant’s global operations.

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