The stories on the following pages are pervaded by those frustrating vibes that emanate from the fight for increased market share in an increasingly insecure environment. We ask whether Lovells is hindered by partners who may simply be too comfortable to push for further heights.

Or take our partner focus - 'A decade in the life…' - which examines a drastically altered legal market, contrasting the fortunes of those made up in 1994 with the challenges facing new partners today. Eversheds partner Colin Brown provides a good example of the change. Now in charge of the Paris office, he started his career at a little Norwich firm that was later subsumed by the international giant. (In this issue we zoom in on just what he's left behind in the East of England.) Eversheds expresses its commitment to such places, while striving to climb up the rankings from its 34th position in our new Global 50 - our exclusive analysis of the world's top firms. Try keeping on top of those kinds of management issues - it's enough to make your head spin.
Tom Freeman, Editor