After a promising first year for King & Wood Mallesons/SJ Berwin, its UK practice saw a bruising 12 months. Tom Moore reports on its efforts to regain the initiative. The first 12 months of SJ Berwin’s merger with King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) seemed plain sailing. The expected fallout that often occurs after such a …
Continue reading “Sum of its parts: can King & Wood Mallesons match the hype?”
To mark our annual Global London report, Legal Business teamed up with Venturis Consulting to assess the dramatic progress made by US law firms in the City. Can anything slow the advance? It has been the defining force in the City legal market this decade: the emergence of US law firms as credible and increasingly …
Continue reading “The Global London debate – Tipping points”
It feels like 2014 again as the SRA pushes for an upheaval to the PII market amid benign conditions for insuring law firms. But with negligence claims mounting, how long can the calm last? In what felt to many in the profession like a bureaucratic version of Groundhog Day, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) again …
Continue reading “Professional Indemnity – There may be trouble ahead”
The trailblazing global law firm has had more than its share of knocks since the banking crisis. Will a popular new leader and strategic shake-up help Clifford Chance regain the magic? ‘There seems to be a point at every lunch and every cocktail party where the conversation turns to Clifford Chance. It always happens with …
Continue reading “Global 100: Clifford Chance – The shoulders of giants”
More than 160 senior litigators and GCs came together for Legal Business’ first Commercial Litigation Summit on 13 May in central London. We bring you comprehensive coverage of the day’s debates.
With Asia overtaking Europe as the second-most wealthy region in the world, the pressure is on global private client practices to follow the money. Legal Business assesses the front runners. Whenever money changes hands, disputes follow. Between now and 2025, predictions are that 90% of the world’s private wealth will have new owners. An awful …
Continue reading “Trust and estates litigation – The great leap forward”
As part of our 25-year anniversary, Legal Business talks to industry veterans to assess the big forces impacting the profession and asks what it will look like come 2040. The profession faces an unprecedented period of upheaval and uncertainty in the next ten years in which the pace of change will continue to accelerate. Discuss.
Devolution, nationalism and the dramatic shake-up in its political landscape – it’s been another turbulent period for Scots law firms. In the early hours of 8 May, Alex Salmond, the former leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), delivered his victory speech after being returned to Westminster as MP for the constituency of Gordon, Aberdeenshire, …
For many ambitious law firms the holy grail of partner recruitment is the team hire. Legal Business asks if hiring en masse is all it’s cracked up to be. A little over a decade ago structured finance partner Jonathan Walsh had reached the moment of truth after months of discussions. Walsh told his firm, Norton …
Continue reading “The prize – is team recruitment all it’s cracked up to be?”
After a relatively stable coalition government, Britain goes to the polls amid huge uncertainty, with the main parties far apart on key policies. Legal Business assesses the manifestos to identify the issues impacting the City and the profession. ‘You can follow all the polls but the money is a much more reliable guide,’ observes one …
Continue reading “Fault lines – tax, Brexit and what the general election means to City lawyers”
