The market for the world’s largest law firms remains as reliably turbulent as ever. As this month’s edition of Legal Business shows, top 100 law firms in the world as a whole eked out a 4% hike in revenues to generate $84.9bn, a figure slightly flattering underlying growth due to a handful of sizeable mergers …
Continue reading “Comment: The Asian century maybe but not the Asian decade for the Global 100”
If you are going to finally do a global merger, it would be fitting for one of the most distinctive City practices to hook up with the great outlier of the Global 100. That is what is on the agenda for SJ Berwin as it this summer mulls an outline deal to combine with King …
Continue reading “Comment: SJ Berwin’s choice – to soar or crash with an Asian giant”
Eversheds became the fifth major law firm to confirm its 2012/13 results today (5 July) with the top 15 UK law firm seeing revenues edge up 3% to £376m, while profits per equity partner increased 2% to hit £642,000 for its 133 full partners. The firm cited a strong performance in its litigation practice, while …
I’m not a big fan of comparing law firm mergers to marriages. All those torturous metaphors and incongruous imagery. But in assessing the three-year old union between Lovells and Hogan & Hartson, it’s hard to escape the nuptial motif. The deal was forged amid high expectations and a simple analysis: both firms were better off …
Continue reading “Hogan Lovells was right to get hitched. It needs to remember that.”
The market for the world’s largest law firms remains as reliably turbulent as ever. The group as a whole eked out a 4% hike in revenues to generate $84.9bn, a figure slightly flattering underlying growth due to a handful of sizeable mergers – including the creation of Herbert Smith Freehills and King & Wood Mallesons. …
Continue reading “The Asian century maybe but not the Asian decade for the Global 100”
Major law firms continue to appropriate ideas from legal process outsourcing with Ashurst today (12 June) announcing a venture to create a 150-strong unit in Glasgow to support its practice. The venture, which will launch later this year, will cover back office support and volume legal work, initially covering areas like document review in litigation …
How many times do you hear lawyers roll out the line about mergers having to be two-plus-two-makes-five? True in many regards. Getting bigger doesn’t make you better or necessarily solve structural and strategic issues and mergers are hard to pull off effectively. But when it comes down to it, this truism has become pretty misleading …
Continue reading “Comment: In defence of big – the maths are favouring two + two”
One of the most touted legal mergers of the last decade today (3 June) goes live with Norton Rose and US partner Fulbright & Jaworski unveiling a full governance team for the combined practice. Norton Rose Fulbright confirmed the make-up of its global executive committee and group-wide supervisory board, with Fulbright managing partner Kenneth Stewart …
How many times do you hear lawyers roll out the line about mergers having to be two-plus-two-makes-five? True in many regards. Getting bigger doesn’t make you better or necessarily solve structural and strategic issues and mergers are hard to pull off effectively. But when it comes down to it, this truism has become pretty misleading …
Continue reading “In defence of big – the maths are favouring two + two”
The worlds of business, politics and sport have since the 1970s fallen increasingly under the spell of the star individual and law has been anything but an exception. As partnership mitigates the heaviest excesses of the winner-takes-all compensation cultures seen in banking, sports and plc management, in law the star culture has manifested to a …
Continue reading “Comment: A star signing is one thing but who needs a lateral?”
