The Israeli legal market over the last 25 years – then and now

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The Israeli legal market over the last 25 years – then and now

Yigal Arnon’s Simon Weintraub and Ruth Loven report on the burgeoning Israeli market.

The Israeli legal market has undergone a robust expansion in the last 25 years. In 1990 there were 10,697 lawyers registered with the Israel Bar Association. As of the beginning of 2014 there were 53,750 registered lawyers in Israel. Israel has the highest number per capita of lawyers in the world, with 585 lawyers per 10,000 people. Correspondingly, there has been a significant increase in the size of Israeli law firms. If you look at our law firm as a microcosm you will note that in 1990 there were only 21 lawyers in Yigal Arnon & Co., and currently, in 2014, Yigal Arnon & Co. has approximately 140 lawyers. In 1990 there was no single Israeli law firm which had even 50 lawyers and today there are approximately 11 law firms in Israel who have more than 100 lawyers. Law firms in Israel have been consistently growing in size from year to year with an emphasis on creating large ‘one-stop shop’ law firms.

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November sees introduction of new immigration rules

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November sees introduction of new immigration rules

Rahul Batra of Hudson McKenzie details the changes.

The written ministerial statement laid in the House of Commons on 16 October 2014 by James Brokenshire, Minister of State for Immigration and Security, and in the House of Lords by Lord Bates, outlined a number of changes to the UK Immigration Rules.

Tier 1 (Investor) Category – Investors must now invest more

As of 6 November 2014, the minimum investment threshold has been raised to £2m. However, any successful investor visa applicants that applied before that date are covered by the current £1m investment rules. New investors can no longer allocate 25% of their investment into UK assets. The entire £2m will need to be invested in UK trading companies, or UK government bonds (previously 75%). The loan option has also been removed and topping up of investments accounts are no longer required if the invested amount falls below the required level. However, if investments are sold, they will need to be replaced within the same reporting period. Yet another change is that entry clearance officers are being empowered to refuse investors if they have reasonable grounds to believe the funds were obtained unlawfully, or if they have concerns about the character and conduct of the party ‘providing the funds’ – this could extend to those gifting the funds to the investor.

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The future of knowledge management: out of the library into the front line

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The future of knowledge management: out of the library into the front line

Ian Mason and Rob Martin of Thomson Reuters explore the new KM landscape.

What is knowledge management?

In its early days, some may have viewed knowledge management (KM) as a dry, back-office function. It was often confined to the law library (and predominantly practised there, away from the fee-earning frontline). Lawyers kept their precedents safely locked away in their files or drawers. They might be incentivised to share precedents in an annual precedent hunt with a bottle of champagne or similar prize for the best template produced. But that was as exciting as it got. Continue reading “The future of knowledge management: out of the library into the front line”

Are sanctions affecting workloads in legal services? What are the expectations for 2015?

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Are sanctions affecting workloads in legal services? What are the expectations for 2015?

Andrei Gusev of Borenius looks at the effects of the latest EU/US measures.

There was a lot of speculation, stress and tension among foreign investors in Russia when the EU, the US and several other countries imposed their two latest rounds of sanctions against Russia, leading to Russia responding with its own counter-sanctions, including the so-called ‘food embargo’. A few weeks after the introduction of these measures, certain trends have already surfaced. What are these trends? Continue reading “Are sanctions affecting workloads in legal services? What are the expectations for 2015?”

Interim injunctions for the freezing of assets and disclosure of documents and information

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Interim injunctions for the freezing of assets and disclosure of documents and information

Michael Kyprianou’s Christos Galanos looks at recent caselaw.

The availability of interim relief is often crucial in ensuring satisfaction of any final court judgment or arbitral award. An interim injunction can ensure that property is not alienated while a case is still pending. In other cases it can level the playing field if one party (or even non-party) is restricting access to information material to the case. The ability to apply for interim relief is a vital tool for any legal jurisdiction. Continue reading “Interim injunctions for the freezing of assets and disclosure of documents and information”

Sanctions: an unprecedented moment for doing business in Russia

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Sanctions: an unprecedented moment for doing business in Russia

YUST’s Evgeny Zhilin outlines the benefits.

2014 has brought many challenges to the Russian economy. The already modest growth rates that were demonstrated in the previous year were targeted even more by various sanctions imposed against Russia by the US, EU and some other jurisdictions. As a reaction to these, Russia has installed counter-sanctions in the food sector, hitting some of the European food producers hard. Continue reading “Sanctions: an unprecedented moment for doing business in Russia”

Lateral hiring in the Caribbean and the Channel Islands

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Lateral hiring in the Caribbean and the Channel Islands

Philip Jennings of JLegal discusses these key jurisdictions and the opportunities (and challenges) of moving offshore.

The first thing to state is that the sub-heading above defines the importance of Cayman, Bermuda, BVI, Jersey and Guernsey. These are key jurisdictions in the global legal market and the original locations for the major offshore law firms which now have offices in myriad other locations, including in Asia and the Middle East. They are still where those firms have most of their lawyers and where most of their work originates from. The transactional and contentious work carried out under, and sometimes because of,  the laws and regulations of these countries is always high value and cross-border, involving the Magic  and Silver Circle firms on a regular basis. Sometimes the premier City or US firms will instruct the offshore firms on part of a deal or case but also some of the most prestigious clients directly instruct the offshore firms, including global banks and  financial institutions, ultra high-net worth individuals, trust companies and funds.  

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Achieving financial independence is so much easier if you create a plan

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Achieving financial independence is so much easier if you create a plan

Towry’s Chris Cole explains how they help legal partners achieve lifetime financial goals

Over the many years we have been working with law firms, we have found that partners typically have common aspirations from a financial point of view. Chief among these is usually the desire to become ‘financially independent’ – in other words, working out when enough is really enough to achieve the future they want for themselves and their families. However, legal partners are incredibly busy people and so they invariably do not have the time to personally put together a plan to help them achieve this goal.

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Efficiency as a driver of legal innovation

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Efficiency as a driver of legal innovation

Thomson Reuters looks at the exciting future of legal services in the wake of a rapidly changing legal market.

If the changes that have taken place in the legal market over the past two years are any indication of what lies ahead, the future of legal services is set to be an exciting one. Mergers and acquisitions, new entrants to the market, economic pressures and evolving client demands have combined to create an environment in which innovative organisations can thrive.

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Professional indemnity: PI insurance – dos and don’ts

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Professional indemnity: PI insurance – dos and don’ts

Marsh’s Sandra Neilson-Moore reflects on the process of applying for professional indemnity insurance, with some added thoughts on cyber liability

Professional indemnity (PI) insurance is a crucial component of the business risk management ‘toolkit’ of any law firm. In this country of course it is compulsory that a minimum amount of such insurance is purchased. This minimum amount is quite small (and may yet become smaller still), but the fact of the matter is that any sensible law firm/practising solicitor will want to purchase as much coverage, with as broad a scope of protection, as they can reasonably afford, and which they believe will meet their needs, and the needs and expectations of their clients.

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