Hearing that Legal Business was gearing up for an in-depth look at the collapse of the European arm of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), a well-informed contact noted that this story could not be told without going back to the Stanley Berwin days. True, the old SJ Berwin had a maverick spirit that mesmerised its own partners but, having twice presided over lengthy pieces about the firm, I had no stomach to dwell once more on its legend.
Instead we get the final chapter of what was, for a lot of good and even more ill, a remarkable institution. And the firm in that final year packed in leadership intrigue, a partnership restructuring, multiple attempts to overhaul its capital, a divisive management election, spiralling debt, a stream of departures and toxic office politics. All this before the old SJ Berwin reached the administration and firesale that concludes the story.
