Forget the Silicon Valley guff – can your firm shift course in 2018?

Posted on | Comment |
Forget the Silicon Valley guff – can your firm shift course in 2018?

Well, 2017 promised to be a challenging year and it did not disappoint with its disappointment. With the Brexit vote upsetting an already-delicate balance in key markets, an inconclusive general election in the summer managed to ramp up the uncertainty further. Overall, deal activity was solid throughout the year but no more, beyond a continued …

Continue reading “Forget the Silicon Valley guff – can your firm shift course in 2018?”

Super growth or decline? Which firm are you?

Posted on | Comment |
Super growth or decline? Which firm are you?

Everyone knows the legal industry has been a different place since the banking crisis but it is only when you take the long view that you realise how dramatic these changes have been. For this month’s cover feature, we looked at three mid-tier law firms that have sustained above-trend growth for ten years. To identify …

Continue reading “Super growth or decline? Which firm are you?”

Ditching lockstep – better too late than never?

Posted on | Comment |
Ditching lockstep – better too late than never?

‘Lockstep in its current form has to go. It’s just not working.’ Legal Business, June 2015 ‘The current incarnation of lockstep is an overly restrictive model that was a child of its time…. The failure to substantively adapt the model… has increasingly threatened to shatter a system that still delivers considerable benefits.’ Legal Business, October …

Continue reading “Ditching lockstep – better too late than never?”

Northern exposure – The Scots GC debate

Posted on | In-House |
Northern exposure – The Scots GC debate

Earlier this year, Legal Business ventured north of the border to highlight the community of commercial counsel flourishing in Scotland in an extended feature. To follow up, this autumn we teamed up with Addleshaw Goddard to gather a panel of senior general counsel (GCs) at Edinburgh’s Signet Library in Parliament Square to debate a range …

Continue reading “Northern exposure – The Scots GC debate”

Comment: What’s the point of Baker McKenzie? (And does Paul Rawlinson have an answer?)

Posted on | Blogs |
Comment: What’s the point of Baker McKenzie? (And does Paul Rawlinson have an answer?)

Ever wonder what Baker McKenzie is waiting for? The firm once had a crystal clear market position as the only major commercial practice that got anywhere near being truly globalised. And while the sprawling nature of the network meant a 20-year battle to shrug off the franchise tag, Bakers has long achieved polished mid-market credibility …

Continue reading “Comment: What’s the point of Baker McKenzie? (And does Paul Rawlinson have an answer?)”

Comment: The Legal Services Act ten years on – still waiting for the Big Bang

Posted on | Blogs |
Comment: The Legal Services Act ten years on – still waiting for the Big Bang

As our October/November issue hits desks, it will be ten years since the Legal Services Act gained Royal Assent, ushering in the most liberal services market in the world by some margin. Given that span of time, and the five years since the most radical elements of the act came into force with the regime …

Continue reading “Comment: The Legal Services Act ten years on – still waiting for the Big Bang”

Comment: The associate pay smoke screen is fooling no-one

Posted on | Blogs |
Comment: The associate pay smoke screen is fooling no-one

Associate pay used to be simple. Lockstepped and transparent to the nth degree on both sides of the Atlantic, you knew exactly where you stood and exactly when the legal market was overheating. There were obvious downsides to such transparency. Back in the late 1990s/2000s boom, a salary war triggered by Palo Alto law firms …

Continue reading “Comment: The associate pay smoke screen is fooling no-one”