Shaping the industry – the veterans’ view on what mattered in the last 25 years

Posted on | Analysis |

Legal Business asked more than 20 legal heavyweights to name the defining moments that shaped the profession since the launch of Legal Business. Wim Dejonghe, managing partner, Allen & Overy On globalisation in law: ‘Domestic firms going global – this has been the main event of the last 25 years. That started in the mid-1990s …

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The national market – brutally competitive but opportunity abounds

Posted on | Comment |

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 …

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Respected Paris boutique launches London arm to target deal work

Posted on | News review |

French firm AyacheSalama has launched its first international office in the City with four partners as it looks to advise on client investment from London into France more efficiently. The new City desk will practice French law only and aims to strengthen relationships with investment funds and banks, private equity funds and French companies that …

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Evasive Action – Can Olswang live up to its own ambitions?

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TMT leader Olswang is hard to pin down these days as profits ebb, reports of discord emerge and a leader suddenly departs. Can the firm push on with its ambitions to take brand Olswang global? ‘David is in back to back meetings every day for the next four weeks,’ says the Olswang staffer. ‘It would …

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Linklaters reshuffles to boost corporate and disputes

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Magic Circle firm Linklaters has moved its TMT and tax groups from its commercial division into corporate. The firm has overhauled a three-strand structure – corporate, commercial and finance and projects – in a bid to strengthen its corporate team as the firm looks to crack America. Around 40 lawyers globally from tax and TMT …

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Insight report on cyber security – Anatomy of a breach

Posted on | Insight |

With breaches impossible to stop, companies are focusing on managing the huge risks of a major cyber incident. We teamed up with PwC to gauge the client response. In cyber security circles, it has already become a hoary cliché to claim that there are two types of companies: those that have been breached and those that …

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Cyber risk moving up the in-house agenda

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General counsel (GC) are increasingly involved in handling cyber security issues at board level, reflecting a more comprehensive shift towards effective risk management, research from Legal Business and PwC has revealed. In a survey of corporate attitudes to cyber security risk this autumn, which garnered more than 800 responses from a broad mix of senior …

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The king is dead – hunting out the new breed of dealmakers in banking lawyers sights

Posted on | Analysis |

The veteran deal bankers have moved on and there’s a new pecking order with US banks and credit funds staking their position in Europe’s leveraged finance market. Legal Business assesses the debt professionals that lawyers want on their speed dial. ‘The crisis hit and Paul de Rome, who was then head of leveraged finance at …

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Double-edged – cutting both ways with third party funding

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It’s been a turbulent year for third-party funders, from court battles shining a spotlight on risky investments to new entrants and exits. Legal Business scopes the changing landscape for litigation’s bankrollers. In early autumn, high-flying disputes lawyer Harvey Rands was taking a vacation in upstate New York. While many spend breaks catching up on books …

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