While the advance of global law firms has stalled in recent years, high-quality independents have regained their purpose. Welcome to the Euro Elite, our first study of the advisers redefining the Continent’s legal market. ‘There’s economic value in the culture of a firm,’ says João Vieira de Almeida, managing partner of Portuguese firm Vieira de …
Continue reading “The Euro Elite top 25 – Wars of Independence”
German independents maintain elite status in a fiercely competitive market, despite the attention of some formidable global players. ‘Our market is one of the most competitive in the world,’ asserts Tobias Bürgers, co-managing partner of Noerr, Germany’s largest independent law firm with 427 fee-earners. In 2015, Noerr increased turnover by 5% to €207.7m. ‘Over the …
A new generation is revitalising the performance of a trio of Italian leaders committed to remaining steadfastly independent It’s been a hard decade for Italy, not least for its law firms: the product of a flat economy and relatively few deals. Even before the crisis, the economy had the lowest sustained growth of any OECD …
Dominant in their home markets, law firms from Spain and Portugal have weathered the tempest by heading for far-flung locations. As the EU’s fifth-largest economy, Spain is home to two of Europe’s legal giants, Garrigues and Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira: between them they have more lawyers worldwide than Linklaters – 1,410 and 970 respectively. In dwarfing …
Continue reading “Euro elite: focus Iberia – Pushing boundaries”
Price wars, political and economic tensions and prolonged attention from large Anglo-Saxon players in the region have made the going challenging for independent firms in CEE. With a few notable exceptions, the last five years have seen some international law firms retreat from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) – in part a belated reaction to …
Continue reading “Euro elite: focus Central and Eastern Europe – The tiger by the tail”
All the cultural stereotypes are ingrained in Swiss law firms – well-organised, independent and highly-impressive. Six Swiss firms make the Euro Elite – impressive for a country of just 8.4 million people. But then the Swiss have a longstanding reputation for being well organised, well educated and well resourced, while the economy – lightly regulated …
Continue reading “Euro elite: focus Switzerland – Like clockwork”
‘In our worldwide business, the volume of mergers is at a record high. However, in Switzerland we can talk about a stagnation of deals,’ says Guy Vermeil, managing partner of Lenz & Staehelin. His downbeat assessment of the domestic M&A market is supported by last year’s numbers. As the broader Swiss economy stalled with GDP …
Continue reading “Red dragon, white cross – Can Chinese money kickstart Swiss markets”
