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Linklaters ushers in lockstep shake-up to attract and promote top talent

The latest strategic move in the war for junior talent, Linklaters has introduced a significant overhaul of its lockstep pay model in order to attract and fast-track high performers.

The firm’s partners last week backed a wave of measures that bring Linklaters’ remuneration policy in line with the majority of the Magic Circle. The three key changes are: an extension at the top of its lockstep for partners who make ‘an exceptional contribution’, the ability to accelerate partners up the ladder who also make outstanding contributions, and more flexibility to elect ‘top talent’ to the partnership earlier. Continue reading “Linklaters ushers in lockstep shake-up to attract and promote top talent”

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Global 100: Hogan Lovells – Winning Hartson minds

The champagne corks had long-since popped when the great and the good of legacy British firm Lovells and Washington DC powerhouse Hogan & Hartson met at a practice area retreat in Barcelona in 2013. While there was cause for cheer at the bedding in of their union, there was also business to attend to.

Adrian Walker, now a global board member and head of Hogan Lovells’ ESG practice, was then a couple of years into his role as global co-head of infrastructure, energy, resources and projects, a role he shared with Hogan Lovells’ current chief executive, Miguel Zaldivar. He recalls the odd mix of levity and gravity: ‘I interviewed a load of people at the firm for a video we did at the retreat for a bit of fun. I spoke to Miguel about values, and how the world will look in 50 years. He mentioned green energy and autonomous cars but noted that core values will always remain the same. We learn them from our predecessors and pass them on to the next generation. Continue reading “Global 100: Hogan Lovells – Winning Hartson minds”

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Global 100: Goodwin – No guts, no glory

The Zoom call with Gemma Roberts, private equity partner and recently-appointed co-chair of Goodwin’s London office, has not got off to the most auspicious of starts. First Roberts has a tech malfunction and then the interview is disrupted by the world’s loudest weekly fire alarm test. ‘Learning points for our next call will be to make a computer work and to not have it at 11am on a Wednesday,’ Roberts quips. The irony of the situation is not lost, given the firm’s reputation for advising on matters with a strong technology bent.

Looking at Goodwin both internationally and in London, there appears little cause for alarm. Globally, the firm has increased revenue 12% since 2020 to $1.49bn and a striking 72% over the last five years, making it the third-fastest growing global firm by revenue after Kirkland & Ellis and Covington, which have bolstered turnover 110% and 78% respectively since 2016. In that context, the London office comfortably eclipses the firm at large, bringing in $99.1m, marking a 33% surge since 2020. The London office now generates nearly 7% of firm-wide revenue, no mean feat given this office is just 11 years old. Continue reading “Global 100: Goodwin – No guts, no glory”

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Switzerland focus: Bouncing back

When the world went into lockdown in March/ April 2020, everyone expected the worst for the economy: market crashes, sky-rocketing unemployment numbers and a wave of insolvencies. While it is safe to say that some countries struggled more than others, Switzerland weathered the crisis well, even exceeding pre-Covid-19 activity in some areas.

One of the wealthiest countries in the world, Switzerland’s GDP has been on a steady increase and almost tripled in the last 20 years. Projections also show tangible growth from 2020 to 2021, underlining the fact that the pandemic had little to no impact on the Swiss economy. This was also witnessed by Thierry Calame, who in January 2022 becomes the new managing partner of one of the leading Swiss powerhouses, Lenz & Staehelin: ‘The pandemic continued to be the largest challenge. However, thanks to the robust Swiss economy there has not been any economic downturn in 2021, but rather a significant recovery.’

Continue reading “Switzerland focus: Bouncing back”

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Life During Law: Tihir Sarkar

Tihir Sarkar

I grew up in the Midlands in the ̒80s. It was hard hit by the recession. My dad lost his job as an engineer, working for Smiths Industries, which supplied the car industry. It was the deindustrialisation of large parts of the UK. My father was a businessman and entrepreneurial. He became self-employed, started his own printing business, but it was certainly not stable.

I became a lawyer because I wanted a regular job. There were no lawyers in our family. It wasn’t a profession that was accessible or easy to understand from my background. Growing up in the ethnic community in Birmingham, second generation, the only other options on the table were being a doctor, a dentist or a pharmacist and I definitely didn’t want to be any of those! Continue reading “Life During Law: Tihir Sarkar”

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Take a good long look in the mirror before espousing change seriously

The words of BT Legal’s Leeanne Whaley, in ‘Held to account’, particularly stand out in this issue: ‘We spend a lot of money with external law firms. It historically suited law firms to not be transparent, but outside of big-ticket M&A and litigation, the job of a commercial lawyer is more replicable than ever.’

That this type of comment, made recently but equally has been repeated in many guises since the global financial crisis, needs to be repeated today is alarming. Put simply, in this day and age clients should not need to remind law firms that their existence is on a knife-edge: they should just vote with their feet. Traditional reputations should carry no weight with clients and firms should be judged on what they are doing now, rather than what they used to do. In the feature, Tony Williams of Jomati says firms can no longer rely on getting the lion’s share of the work based on their market reputation alone, adding that traditional law firms need to ‘get sensible’ and innovate on billing or risk being left behind. Continue reading “Take a good long look in the mirror before espousing change seriously”

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Germany focus: Age of independence

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, German law firms found themselves wary of what the future might hold and prepared for the worst. However, 18 months later, most say their fears were unwarranted and several have reported 2021 to be their financially strongest to date. The success of the leading German independents amid a global crisis raises the question of how they have adapted to a pandemic-driven environment, and whether hierarchies in the market have shifted at all as a consequence.

Germany’s economy is currently on the road to recovery. According to the government, the GDP is expected to grow by 2.6% in 2021 after it took a 5% dip the previous year. While private consumption is mostly responsible for this rebound, manufacturers are struggling in light of global supply shortages, with producers unable to adapt to increased demands after 2020 saw a halt in consumer spending. However, this has not yet stopped the upwards trajectory of economic growth.

Continue reading “Germany focus: Age of independence”

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Welcome to the Renaissance

A senior legal headhunter friend, who could easily be described as a Renaissance Man, recently confided that one of the lesser-known challenges of placing lawyers today is that it is no longer sufficient just to be technically brilliant. Employers want candidates to have emotional intelligence and be able to communicate with clients and colleagues – with less of the ego.

Commentators have long banged on about law being a ‘people business’ but truth be told, it hasn’t been until recently – not really. ‘The grey lawyer in the corner,’ as one Magic Circle managing partner hilariously put it, could once have had a long and happy career pencil pushing and never speaking to another soul for 25 years. The same is true of journalists. Being a people person was never really a prerequisite of becoming one, as long as you could bash out a decent story to deadline and not get the paper sued. And I am unfortunately old enough to recall the days when it was de rigueur in the newsroom to scream in the face of a hapless hack over some minor transgression. Continue reading “Welcome to the Renaissance”

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L500 UK: Gender diversity hits new high – time to focus on the elephant in the room

It’s fair to say that legal directories have come in for more than their fair share of flack over the years, particularly when it comes to speed of change. But if proof were needed that The Legal 500 is more than capable of setting the pace, then the latest UK gender diversity stats neatly provide it.

When I joined The Legal 500 three years ago, only 5% of leading individuals ranked for premium M&A in London were women. Today, that figure stands at more than 31%. And, crucially, this progress has been replicated across the wider guide, both in London and the rest of the UK. Continue reading “L500 UK: Gender diversity hits new high – time to focus on the elephant in the room”

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Legalease Research Services: Held to account

The team at BT Legal has spent the past three years changing the way it deals with external lawyers and manages its own lawyers. Most recently, it has brought in a new e-billing platform, MyLegal, which has overhauled how it manages legal spend.

David Griffin, head of legal and governance systems and change at BT, says the company wanted to move away from the smoke-and-mirrors approach to billing from some law firms, introducing more accountability and transparency to how matters are managed. Hopefully, this will mean the team can catch problems early and avoid getting unexpectedly large bills from their external counsel. Continue reading “Legalease Research Services: Held to account”

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Sponsored briefing: ESG, the regulatory battle is coming. Are the legal finance teams truly ready?

As the COP26 continues its doings, one of the talks of town in the legal finance world this autumn is that about sustainability. Newspapers open up with announcements about investment funds gone green, social or sustainable, about private equity firms deciding to raise new funds to exclusively invest into climate-related issues, and about companies and firms setting up new cross-border strategies aimed at complying with ESG – environmental, social and governance – objectives. Consulting firms are issuing longest-ever reports about their ESG compromises and their commitment towards UN sustainable development goals. Legal and services firms are setting up cross-industry teams aimed to cope with the various deeds the market is looking at and will request, it seems, quite immediately. And yet behind all this, how will the legal finance world be affected? Do we need to change and adapt? True to sceptics, we have been doing renewable and green deals for many years, so what is the difference?

We can split this modern ESG thinking in at least two initial settings: looking inwardly towards our firms and institutions, to see what we need to adjust internally to progress towards ESG objectives, for the people in our firms, for the society we live in and for everybody’s future. It is not so much the legal services we can provide to our clients, but rather our commitment towards our own people and the societies we live in, towards the next generations and the planet. And looking outwardly, to see how we can, or need, to adjust our legal advice to the new requirements of private equity houses, banks and other financial institutions. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: ESG, the regulatory battle is coming. Are the legal finance teams truly ready?”

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Iberia focus: Banking on Success

Announced more than a year ago, the largest merger in the Spanish banking sector for some time became a reality in early 2021. The Spanish competition authority cleared CaixaBank’s acquisition of state-owned financial entity Bankia – which was bailed out during the country’s banking crisis in 2012 – at Phase I, subject to conditions. This transaction is a merger between the third and the fourth largest banks in Spain, with €623.8bn in assets.

The new entity is expected to dominate the Spanish market, especially in retail banking. As executive chair José Ignacio Goirigolzarri said when the deal was confirmed: ‘The merger between CaixaBank and Bankia marks a milestone in the history of the Spanish financial system. We face this challenge from a position of strength that allows us to be an active part of the solution to the current crisis, as well as to become an important stakeholder for the socio-economic recovery of our country’. Continue reading “Iberia focus: Banking on Success”

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Sponsored briefing: Compliance in Switzerland and abroad: Tackling corruption and white-collar crime

Fabian Teichmann and Marie-Christin Falker on how multinational corporations operating in Switzerland can improve their compliance regimes

Clients from all over the globe appreciate the security and stability of Switzerland as one of central Europe’s economic and financial powerhouses. This makes Switzerland a designated safe haven for multinational corporations, entrepreneurs, and wealthy individuals alike. On top of that, Switzerland offers advantageous taxation regimes and privacy. Unlike most other countries, Switzerland places great value on its longstanding tradition of banking secrecy. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Compliance in Switzerland and abroad: Tackling corruption and white-collar crime”

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Sponsored practice area spotlight: Dispute resolution – Strategic case management with legal acumen

Prager Dreifuss

State court litigation and private arbitration proceedings require practitioners to combine legal thoroughness and the management of evidence with strategic ingenuity. Understanding court processes, legal practice and tactical procedural advantages all add up to sound advice in contentious legal matters.

Dispute resolution in all its appearances enjoys a long standing tradition at PRAGER DREIFUSS. Our attorneys represent parties before local state courts as well as administrative authorities. Debt collection and bankruptcy matters are strong areas of our practice, in particular in disputes involving foreign parties. International arbitration has attained special significance in our firm and a number of our attorneys are regularly appointed as arbitrators in institutional and ad-hoc arbitration tribunals. Continue reading “Sponsored practice area spotlight: Dispute resolution – Strategic case management with legal acumen”

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Sponsored briefing: Data Governance Law. Is Europe getting enough out of data?

Uria Menendez

When trying to coin a definition of today’s economy, many are inclined to refer to one driven by data (the data-driven economy). As a region, the European Union considers data to be an essential resource for its economic growth, competitiveness, innovation, job creation and the general progress of society. This begs the question: is Europe getting enough out of data?

The volume of data – both personal and non-personal – that citizens, private entities and public bodies generate and collect is enormous and continues to grow exponentially as emerging technologies continue to expand. The EU’s diagnosis, however, is that data’s potential – as an asset – is not exploited enough. Data could be used to innovate, research and make new technologies more efficient. To close this gap and boost Europe’s competitiveness and digital transformation, data must be exploited more efficiently and securely in a consistent way across the EU. To this end, data should be available to be exchanged and re-used for lawful purposes, such as research or innovation. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Data Governance Law. Is Europe getting enough out of data?”

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The Client profile: Sarah Holford, Scania UK

Shortly after completing the Legal Practice Course, Sarah Holford was looking for somewhere to kick-start her career. An opportunity presented itself at Games Workshop, the British manufacturer of miniature wargames, with space-themed Warhammer 40,000 among its best-known products.

‘I’m not a hobbyist but I am a big sci-fi and fantasy geek, so I knew of them. When I saw the role, I thought “yeah, I can go for this,”’ Sarah reminisces. ‘I have a lot of friends that are into Warhammer, gaming and Dungeons & Dragons, so seeing the role I knew it would be a cool place to work.’

Continue reading “The Client profile: Sarah Holford, Scania UK”

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Sponsored briefing: Iberia and the Covid-19 aftermath

Portugal and Spain are now in the Covid-19 aftermath. Both countries have an important percentage of their population fully vaccinated and normal life is coming back. Local inhabitants are resuming their day-to-day activities each time with fewer restrictions and tourists are arriving in greater figures. Airports and streets have more people.

As a consequence. economic activity is increasing and many projects that were left aside are being resumed. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Iberia and the Covid-19 aftermath”

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Global 100 overview: Beasts of burden

In Legal Business’ last Global 100 issue, as firms enjoyed financial years almost entirely untainted by the economic chaos wrought by Covid-19, we said the strain would start to show in this year’s report. It meant last year’s results were all the more important, as they would be the platform upon which Global 100 firms would face their worst economic crisis in over a decade.

We added that across key metrics, the global elite had reason to be optimistic – gross revenue was up 5% to $119.72bn – but the dent many saw to their profitability was only anticipated to get worse, as average profit per equity partner (PEP) at a Global 100 firm shrank 4% to $1.8m across 2019/20. Continue reading “Global 100 overview: Beasts of burden”