UK’s fintech boom is set to dazzle but advisers are still struggling to respond

Simmons & Simmons’ Angus McLean argues the profession is missing a unique opportunity in the City’s fintech revolution

Unless you have been too busy reconciling your cheque book stubs against your monthly paper bank statements, you may have heard that the financial technology (fintech) sector is white hot right now.

Continue reading “UK’s fintech boom is set to dazzle but advisers are still struggling to respond”

The Last Word: a year in review

Manchester, mergers and management merry-go-rounds – 2015 has been as tumultuous a year as any in recent memory. In our annual review, law firm leaders reflect on what has happened and look ahead to 2016

EXCITING TIMES

‘Understandable client nervousness about China and markets generally meant that the busy autumn period got off to a slow start but recovered. Whether that will be sustained into 2016 is hard to call. There is a lot for our clients and the markets to worry about out there. It is also a time of rapid change in the legal world and that means there are lots of new ideas to work on: exciting times.’

Charles Martin, senior partner, Macfarlanes

Continue reading “The Last Word: a year in review”

In-house counsel: more to do and happy about it

There are familiar themes and a few mixed messages from this year’s in-house lawyer survey but one obvious point to take away: employed counsel like the day job. A lot.

The response to two quality of life questions added into the survey this year is perhaps the clearest indication I have seen of the extent to which working in-house has become an increasingly threatening competitor to private practice. Seventy-six percent of our respondents rated themselves as satisfied with their job, including 25% classing themselves as ‘extremely satisfied’. In contrast only 7% put themselves down in the lowest two marks on a five-point scale, with the remaining 17% in the middle. Furthermore, 74% definitely see themselves having a long-term career as an in-house lawyer, against only 6% ruling it out.

Continue reading “In-house counsel: more to do and happy about it”

AI and law: mostly believe the hype

It’s a rarity for the great pre-occupations of our age to intersect so closely with that of the legal profession but artificial intelligence (AI) and the prospect of increasingly capable machines taking on swathes of work handled by people is a startling exception. While there has been much debate regarding the disorientating march of intelligent machines, the discussion is particularly potent in law, based as it is on the application of large, codified bodies of information that are freely available but very expensively applied via the legal profession.

And, as we address in our report on AI and automation this month, the hype looks largely justified. Advances in recent years in machine learning against a backdrop of increasingly powerful networked computers means automation has already driven considerable change in the legal industry in the last decade. Within five years that process will probably be at the level of reshaping the underlying business model of many industry leaders.

Continue reading “AI and law: mostly believe the hype”

It’s a people game – what PE lawyers can teach global law firms

If a good chunk of the latest issue of Legal Business is focused on technology and machines replacing lawyers, our extended focus this month on private equity is an interesting contrast. After all, what good would a supercomputer be in the clubby, driven and entrepreneurial world of leveraged buyouts?

But then private equity has for years been an outlier in City law. Leading law firms built their businesses around banks and multinational clients, ushering in globalisation, one-stop-shopping and customer relationship management programmes.

Continue reading “It’s a people game – what PE lawyers can teach global law firms”

‘A watershed moment for enforcement’ – sizing up class action competition reforms

Cleary’s Sunil Gadhia and Paul Gilbert on the much-touted reforms of competition disputes

We have begun a journey into the unknown. The new collective action regime for competition litigation, which came into effect on 1 October, has set the market abuzz with speculation. For example, in the wake of the recent benchmark manipulation scandals, what impact will the new regime have for banks?

Continue reading “‘A watershed moment for enforcement’ – sizing up class action competition reforms”

The Last Word: The clients’ view

Interviewed for our annual in-house report, general counsel at leading companies give us their views on diversity, ethics and joining the c-suite

 

LOOKING GOOD

‘When I was a young lawyer, I remember working with an outside counsel and I said to him: “What’s your job versus my job?” He said: “My job is to make you look good.” My thoughts at the time were that there has to be more to it than that, but for firms that have focused on that mission, there’s been an upside for me and them. Those with no clue, who are just looking to build their book of business, have not fared well with me.’

Wanji Walcott, senior vice president, managing counsel, American Express

 

Continue reading “The Last Word: The clients’ view”

Fragmented and naïve: the profession’s failure to penetrate Whitehall

Two pieces this month touch on a common theme: the profession’s failure to influence government. The first touches on the policy issues that have most commonly put the profession into conflict with government: the provision of legal aid, in our coverage of the unprecedented strike by publicly-funded lawyers. In the second, in our Global 100 debate, Slaughter and May’s Nigel Boardman rightly highlights the profession’s glaring lack of influence in shaping business law, while senior figures cite mounting concerns over the future of the judiciary and courts.

The UK profession’s lack of clout has long been bizarre. English law has huge influence globally both in terms of foreign businesses deploying it and choosing English lawyers and courts but also in terms of soft power. The UK is a global leader in legal services, home to the world’s second-largest legal market and a substantial contributor to exports and tax revenues.

Continue reading “Fragmented and naïve: the profession’s failure to penetrate Whitehall”

The fundamental things – SJ Berwin and the problem with legal conglomerates

At the time that SJ Berwin combined with King & Wood Mallesons there were plenty of reasons to be optimistic. The firm had eyed a global merger for years, KWM was a much-fêted Asia-Pacific giant with a commanding position in China’s fast-growing legal market and the deal was in general welcomed by its partnership (in contrast to the smoke and mirrors surrounding the abortive discussions with Proskauer Rose). And yet, as we report this month, the firm has suffered a challenging few years since the deal went live, marked by significant departures.

Part of the problem is the inevitable consequence of the legacy UK firm’s reputation in private equity and funds, areas under siege from US law firms. That is a known quantity and the firm has been proactive in addressing that challenge.

Continue reading “The fundamental things – SJ Berwin and the problem with legal conglomerates”

The Legal 500 view: more choice and competition defines market


The UK legal market now offers more choice than ever, and this is reflected in the 2015 edition of The Legal 500, which has never seen more movement.

Specialist outfits with non-traditional business models are a credible alternative to classic full-service rivals. In dispute resolution, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Stewarts Law and Enyo Law have all moved up the rankings. Employment boutique Brahams Dutt Badrick French moves into tier one for senior executive work; tech and media-focused Cooley enters the rankings after its dramatic launch this year – while arbitration boutique Three Crowns ranks strongly again.

Continue reading “The Legal 500 view: more choice and competition defines market”