So much for the rule of law – court fees and undermining the City

Quinn Emanuel disputes veteran Ted Greeno argues that a self-defeating stance on hiking court fees will undermine London In their piece entitled ‘Strangling the golden goose’ last month, Nigel Boardman, James Shirbin and Andrew Blake of Slaughter and May bemoaned the cost of commercial litigation in England and suggested London’s pre-eminence as a dispute resolution …

Pinsents and the confidence dividend – successful law firms need a spring in their step

There are lots of factors that are supposed to have a major role in the success of a law firm that on closer examination are hard to sustain. Issues in this camp include remuneration models, culture, strategy and a specific practice mix. What this list has in common is that there is no right answer …

Strangling the golden goose – English law needs reform

Slaughter and May’s Nigel Boardman, James Shirbin and Andrew Blake argue that English law needs drastic reform to remain internationally competitive English law occupies a privileged position. Thanks in significant part to the City’s role as a major global financial centre, England has become the jurisdiction of choice for many enterprises and deals (and subsequent …

The national market – brutally competitive but opportunity abounds

At one point in our Regional Insight report – a major collaboration with our colleagues at The Legal 500 included with this issue of Legal Business – one GC based in the North West discusses a recent pitch in which a City law firm came out best on price against regional rivals. Surprising as it …

The cost of culture – HSF finds mega-mergers always come at a price

This month’s cover feature on Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) looks in hindsight like an informal trilogy on storied London firms agreeing high-stakes mergers, following earlier pieces on Hogan Lovells and Ashurst. Taken together, patterns and contrasts emerge. The legacy Herbert Smith, Lovells and Ashurst were all wrestling with similar cultural and strategic issues ahead of …

Dissent: Platitudes and a missed debate – how GCs are pushed off their ethical course

Paul Gilbert argues that lazy thinking and perverse incentives are dulling the ethical and intellectual edge of in-house counsel It’s stated so often but never questioned: everywhere you turn, in-house lawyers pay tribute to the holy grail of ‘being commercial’. But, as I will argue, such an approach raises substantive and troubling questions regarding the …

Democracy and half measures are not delivering for Addleshaws

I wrote recently of the need, when commenting on the firms and individual lawyers we cover, to give the benefit of the doubt, and I meant it, but sometimes it’s hard to find that silver lining or constructive slant. Addleshaw Goddard, unfortunately, has become a case in point. Recent years have seen materially below-trend financial …

The last word – American hustle

In this month’s Global London special we report on the advances made by US firms in London, particularly in litigation. Senior players in London give their perspective. GO WEST ‘Although Magic Circle firms have offices in the US, they haven’t penetrated the biggest legal market in the world. Those firms haven’t got past a couple …

American without tears – succession planning at the increasingly transatlantic DLA Piper

So the experiment ends as a qualified success. News of the early-timed succession planning at DLA Piper confirmed that well-regarded IP and technology partner Simon Levine is to assume Nigel Knowles’ role as co-chief executive, with Knowles next year taking on the role of co-chair in place of Tony Angel. Angel, of course, had been …