What is it like to work as a lawyer in a fast-paced, risk-laden, tech-driven ‘disruptive’ company? How do general counsel (GCs) find the right level of resource in a company where legal is viewed as anathema to impatient entrepreneurs? When is a lawyer not a lawyer? These are the questions we put to senior in-house …
Continue reading “The GC (re)defined: Beyond the cookie cutter”
Could it be your year? Nominations are now open for the most prestigious showcase of talent in the industry, the Legal Business Awards 2019. The event will take place on Thursday 28 March 2019 at The Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London. You have until 16 November to provide submissions in any of the 25 …
Continue reading “Time to shine: nominations open for the Legal Business Awards 2019”
In the last boom year in 2008 before the global financial crisis took its toll, the picture was rosy for UK-bred law firms. Riding high on an exchange rate that was more than two dollars to the pound, Clifford Chance (CC) topped the table with revenues of nearly $2.7bn, heading a list of seven $2bn+ …
The decade since the fall of Lehman has seen some dramatic changes to the profession, not least law firms’ risk teams. Ten years since Legal Business first collaborated with broker Marsh to create our annual risk management and professional indemnity survey, progress has been made but the threats to the key players within the industry …
Craig Arnott, Burford Capital: Litigation finance used to be perceived as a last-ditch resort for impecunious clients. That has transformed, largely because of cost pressure. It is just at the start of the change, especially on the corporate side and what possibilities there are for outsourcing. It seems a little crude, but it is an …
Continue reading “The disputes funding debate: The value of everything”
Our debut risk management and professional indemnity report with broker Marsh in February 2008 featured a timid segue into an unfamiliar topic. We suggested that neither were ‘glamorous subjects’, while observing that firms were ‘thinking harder than ever’ about how to mitigate risks. A necessary evil, if you will. The risk landscape portrayed then – …
In a week dominated by European and international partner hires, US firms Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and King & Spalding were among four firms to add to their London benches with strategic additions in project finance and white-collar crime respectively. After the coup of hiring former Financial Reporting Council (FRC) heavyweight Gareth Rees …
Hyperbole and cliché over the end of an era can be justifiably deployed this morning (5 January) with news that Brodies’ figurehead Bill Drummond is to step down in April after 20 years as managing partner of the Scottish firm he joined as a trainee in 1980. Drummond (pictured) will make way for current real …
Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance have kept top-level US associate bonuses static at $100,000 for the fourth consecutive year, in line with Wall Street giant Cravath, Swaine & Moore’s recent announcement. The Magic Circle firms are awarding year-end bonuses of $ 100,000 for 2009 and 2010 US associates and $90,000 for 2011 lawyers, A&O …
Widely cited for her role in making Aviva’s highly-regarded legal team a pacesetter for the in-house profession, heavyweight UK Life general counsel (GC) and company secretary Monica Risam has left the FTSE 100 insurer after six years. Risam (pictured), who held positions including GC for Aviva Europe and GC for Aviva Group, has served as …
Continue reading “Big shoes to fill as Aviva UK Life GC Risam departs after six years”
