One year on: enjoying it so much I hope I don’t mess it up

‘So, are you enjoying it?’ I’ve lost count of the number of times I have been asked the question since joining Legal Business last February.

The question makes me feel awkward because I’m not a positive person. I try to be but I know I’m not. But the honest answer as I pass the one-year mark is: ‘Yes, I’ve enjoyed it. So much actually that the gloomy part of myself keeps waiting for it to go wrong.’ I know of no better measure than that.

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American without tears – succession planning at the increasingly transatlantic DLA Piper

So the experiment ends as a qualified success. News of the early-timed succession planning at DLA Piper confirmed that well-regarded IP and technology partner Simon Levine is to assume Nigel Knowles’ role as co-chief executive, with Knowles next year taking on the role of co-chair in place of Tony Angel.

Angel, of course, had been recruited two and a half years ago to sharpen up DLA Piper’s governance, financial management and improve links with its US business. Recruiting the former Linklaters managing partner was pretty much unprecedented in the profession in terms of hiring a c-suite executive from one major firm to another, and very different institutions at that. The official message was that Knowles had spontaneously pressed his old mate to join Team DLA. There was a degree of spin in that. While the pair had long been friendly, there was pressure from the US – which had grown weary over a series of missteps in Europe and the Middle East – for Angel’s appointment. Continue reading “American without tears – succession planning at the increasingly transatlantic DLA Piper”

Ambition and culture – the key tests CC’s deal team must pass

First, the case for the defence. Given that private equity partners gossip like fishwives, you can be somewhat sceptical over the received wisdom that the latest in a line of significant departures from Clifford Chance (CC)’s buyout team represents a terminal decline.

The firm retains a sizeable roster of partners, with 11 covering private equity in the City, including seasoned players such as David Pearson and Jonny Myers, not to mention practice head Oliver Felsenstein, one of Germany’s most respected PE men (CC should, however, avoid mentioning Matthew Layton in this camp – good as he is, it’s embarrassing to invoke your new chief executive as a deal runner).

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DISSENT: The road to equity – a difficult journey, an uncertain destination

The Royal Bank of Scotland’s James Tsolakis argues the profession must accept a fundamental challenge to its traditional model

The legal profession is going through a period of dramatic and profound change, and the forces driving these changes are having far-reaching consequences on the industry. The roles and responsibilities of the equity partner are not immune from these forces, and are evolving and expanding in response. For many this is creating great ambiguity, while others are seizing the opportunity.

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The Last Word – English Law

With the popularity of English law a key issue in the global legal market, we ask partners for their take on the exportability of UK law and how it stacks up against New York law.

Early adoption

‘Where parties adopt a law other than their own and look for a law with application for an international contract, English law is popular by quite some margin followed by New York law. It’s particularly increasing in use in South America. One important aspect of that is the role of the Commercial Court in London in continuing to develop and adapt the law to changing circumstances.

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Structural or cyclical change in the law? 2014 should answer the big question

It’s been obvious that something fundamental happened to the world economy during 2008, ushering in the worst relative trading conditions since the 1930s. It is, likewise, demonstrable that this shift has had a material impact on the legal profession in terms of reduced growth prospects, changing corporate buying habits and pressure on the conventional model of law.

The point that has yet to be resolved – and which has huge significance to the western legal industry – is whether that change represents a permanent structural shift underwritten by technology and the rise of non-law firm providers, or a severe cyclical depression from which the profession will in time recover. Continue reading “Structural or cyclical change in the law? 2014 should answer the big question”

So what’s wrong with BigLaw anyway?

The term BigLaw has been around in the US for a while but in recent years this catch-all tag for corporate lawyering in the world’s biggest law market has taken on a decidedly pejorative tone. From the pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to prominent blogs and comments by industry observers, a popular view has taken hold to the effect that the US legal industry – in particular in New York – is a fundamentally broken model in a profession facing terminal decline.

Ultimately, this prognosis of doom remains unsatisfying for two reasons. Firstly, some of this analysis is based on attempts to bolt on the narrative of the supposedly humbled Wall Street banks on to Wall Street law firms. For all the parallels between banks and law firms, as much divides as unites them. Law still doesn’t attract risk-takers; law firms don’t need anything like the capital of modern investment banks and they have little ability to create the short-term illusion of profitability that played havoc in the securities industry post-2007. Continue reading “So what’s wrong with BigLaw anyway?”

The rising stars in-house – bluechip legal teams are bursting with talent

The first Legal Business edition of the year coincides with a major project for us: the second edition of our popular GC Power List, which launched last year. The idea is straightforward: we research in-house and private practice to identify a list of outstanding individuals who demonstrate the influence and rising clout that has come to define the modern in-house profession.

While the first report focused on senior GCs, for the second edition we have taken on the challenge of addressing the best performers coming into their own during their 30s and early 40s – the GCs of tomorrow.

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DISSENT: Where do you want your firm to be in 2020?

Adam Smith, Esq’s Bruce MacEwen argues that short-termism and a lack of stewardship has come to define the modern law firm

To judge from the way law firms behave – it’s helpfully instructive to ignore what they say – the answer to the rhetorical question of the above headline is: ‘Who gives a fig?’

Consider the following facts and ask yourself what philosophy of management underlies and ties all law firms together:

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