The Euro Elite 2018
The Euro Elite Overview: Ode to Joy
The good times are back in Europe – at least for now – making growth the word on every managing partner’s lips. According to the International Monetary Fund, last year’s European recovery was an ‘engine of global trade and economic growth’. Across the EU27, annual GDP grew between 1.5% and 5% – the biggest figures being recorded among the smallest member states that experienced a severe post-crisis downturn, including Ireland and some CEE countries.
The corollary? Bullish stock markets and buoyant initial public offerings with Mergermarket data showing that European M&A hit a post-crisis high of $929.3bn across 7,235 deals in 2017 – Europe’s resurgence has unleashed a wealth of corporate dealmaking ambition. Continue reading “The Euro Elite Overview: Ode to Joy”
The Euro Elite: Italy – And yet it moves
Looking out of the window of his office overlooking the picturesque Piazza del Duomo on a rainy April afternoon, one veteran Milan partner is feeling sentimental: ‘I remember the firms that used to dominate the market back when I started – Graziadei, Carnelutti, Pavia Ansaldo. No-one hears of them anymore.’ What on the surface seems nostalgic reflection poses a pressing question for Italy’s current legal elite: what will become of today’s top independents in the near future?
‘It is as if the market gets tired of dominating firms every ten years or so and replaces them with others,’ agrees a partner in another office in the northern Italian city. Continue reading “The Euro Elite: Italy – And yet it moves”
The risk debate: Silver linings playbook
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 have become more ominous.
We gathered together leading risk experts from some of the UK and international firms most affected by increased regulatory scrutiny, geographical cohesion, data security and PR disasters to reflect on the evolution of law firm risk management and look ahead to see how the landscape could develop over the next ten years. Continue reading “The risk debate: Silver linings playbook”