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Comment: Remembering Mr Disruption – How Clayton Christensen became the legal industry’s North Star

Working in a lightbulb

Barely into 2020 and news came that probably the most influential business thinker of the last 20 years had passed away. Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, who died on 23 January at the age of 67, entered the business world and then popular culture with his concept of ‘disruptive innovation’, which was first outlined in 1995. The model came to wider prominence in the 1997 book The Innovator’s Dilemma and was to grow in stature along with the rise of the US buccaneering technology giants through the 2000s.

As a study of how small upstarts can upend and ultimately crush huge, well-run industry leaders, the book’s ideas spoke to a globalising world economy in which technology and new operating models made it easier for apparently-unrelated industries to collide. Continue reading “Comment: Remembering Mr Disruption – How Clayton Christensen became the legal industry’s North Star”

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Down this road before: State bars fiercely oppose ABA’s US innovation push

The American Bar Association (ABA) suggested yesterday (17 February) that American states consider ‘innovative approaches to the access to justice crisis’ before quickly facing resistance from influential state bars strongly opposed to alternative business structures (ABSs).

The recommendation came through a resolution proposed before a meeting of the ABA’s biannual ruling House of Delegates in Austin, Texas. The original resolution encouraged bars to gather data to assess regulatory innovations to ensure changes that are effective in increasing access to legal services. Continue reading “Down this road before: State bars fiercely oppose ABA’s US innovation push”

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Revolving doors: Goodwin appoints BCLP real estate partner as Mayer Brown hires White & Case City projects pair

Mayer Brown

American players dominated City recruitment last week as Goodwin Procter appointed a real estate partner, Mayer Brown made two hires to its banking & finance practice and Locke Lord recruited to its energy practice.

Goodwin has appointed real estate investment funds partner Justin Cornelius in London. He joined from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner where he was leader of funds and investment management. He focuses on the establishment and operation of unlisted pooled investment funds, private equity funds and joint ventures. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Goodwin appoints BCLP real estate partner as Mayer Brown hires White & Case City projects pair”

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Comment: The 2010s marked an unsung crisis in law firm leadership

Astute readers will note that our cover feature on 2020 forecasts spends as much time casting its eye back on the 2010s as looking ahead. Assessments based on observable trends support conclusions that better stand the test of time, but such introspection has lent a jaded tone to the resulting piece. How could it not? The 2010s was a decade that began with bold claims and expectations for the legal industry, yet from the perspective of the elite UK firms, it consistently disappointed. And it is one aspect that perhaps explains much of the wider malaise: the increasingly stark problems with leadership and governance at large London-born law firms.

Back when I first started covering the legal industry, the authority of senior management at top London firms was absolute, or at least appeared so from the outside. Occasionally an imperious managing partner overreached, but in the main London firms, which had until recently been much smaller firms built with close social bonds, allowed small groups of individuals to push through rapid shifts in strategy in the 1990s and 2000s. Continue reading “Comment: The 2010s marked an unsung crisis in law firm leadership”

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Akin Gump falls short of last year’s City revenue surge amid global growth and lateral push

Kim Koopersmith

The London office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld may have failed to maintain 2018’s pacy revenue growth of 28% on the back of a restructuring bonanza, but globally the firm has reported steady global growth amid a sustained lateral push.

City turnover was broadly flat in 2019, rising only 1% to $125.1m from $123.5m after an exceptional 2018 that saw revenue surge dramatically from $96.2m. The global picture was stronger, with gross revenue increasing 6% from $1.07bn to $1.135bn and profit per equity partner (PEP) rising 8% to $2.6m from $2.4m the previous year. Continue reading “Akin Gump falls short of last year’s City revenue surge amid global growth and lateral push”

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Ropes ups the ante in the City talent war with £130k NQ pay package

Ropes & Gray London office

In a bold play for the Boston-bred firm, Ropes & Gray has increased its London NQ salary by 8% to £130k plus bonus.

The move means a notable uptick on the previous City NQ rate of £120k and present a boon for Ropes’ appeal to young lawyers at a time of internal transition and increasing competition in the market. Continue reading “Ropes ups the ante in the City talent war with £130k NQ pay package”

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Cooley’s City base passes $70m revenue mark as global growth slows

City of London

Cooley’s London outpost has outpaced the West Coast firm’s global revenue growth for the third consecutive year, rising 9% to $72.9m five years after its launch.

The results disclosed today (13 February) show a global revenue increase of 8% to $1.33bn while profits per equity partner (PEP) rose 6% to $2.54m in 2019. Continue reading “Cooley’s City base passes $70m revenue mark as global growth slows”

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In-house: Novartis to withhold 15% of fees if new panel firms miss D&I requirements

Novartis

As in-house legal departments continue to push their law firms to be more diverse, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has pledged to withhold 15% of fees if diversity and inclusion (D&I) levels are not met by its 22 panel firms.

The measure introduced as part of the company’s panel review, announced yesterday (12 February), has seen a host of advisers, including Magic Circle firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters, pledge that no fewer than 30% of associate time and 20% of partner time on a legal matter will be provided by ‘females, racially/ethnically diverse professionals, or members of the LGBTQ+ community, with an expectation that such commitments will move to parity over the next several years.’ Continue reading “In-house: Novartis to withhold 15% of fees if new panel firms miss D&I requirements”

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From Silk to Rope: Linklaters signs lease for Ropemaker Street move in 2026

Linklaters London new office

Linklaters is moving its 1,200-lawyer City headquarters out of Silk Street after 30 years to take up 14 floors at 20 Ropemaker in Moorgate from 2026.

The firm’s move to new 300,000sq ft premises in the 27-storey building will reduce its floor space by about 25%, but managing partner Gideon Moore said Linklaters will be able to use the space more efficiently. Continue reading “From Silk to Rope: Linklaters signs lease for Ropemaker Street move in 2026”

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HSF’s accounts show revenue hit £447m amid a 23% profit hike and a sharp fall in debt

Justin D’Agostino

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has increased profit and turnover, its latest LLP accounts reveal, while also bolstering its borrowing capacity and significantly reducing debt.

HSF increased revenue 6% to £447m in 2018/19 as operating profit at the Anglo-Australian giant increased 23% to £127.5m. The firm has also bolstered its borrowing capacity following the implementation of a new Revolving Credit Facility put in place in April 2019. Continue reading “HSF’s accounts show revenue hit £447m amid a 23% profit hike and a sharp fall in debt”

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Scrum time – Can agile project management deliver for GCs?

rugby match

Business is full of buzzwords, and among the buzziest of the last few years is ‘agile’.

The traditional project management approach is ‘waterfall’. But, in contrast to the dynamism of the term, the waterfall process can be rigid. After a long period of requirement gathering and planning, the project is developed in a linear way, journeying through multiple phases and silos. A final product is delivered after an often lengthy process, perhaps measured in months or years, but with little opportunity for adaptation once the project has begun. Continue reading “Scrum time – Can agile project management deliver for GCs?”

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Legal tech focus: Joined-up thinking

Jim Leason

With cash flowing freely into legal tech and start-ups scaling, the market is looking increasingly mature. But while bold claims have been made of the disruption start-ups will supposedly trigger in legal, the response from established providers has been a robust acquisition strategy, which could see fledgling companies struggle to compete.

‘Certainly there’s been consolidation and people buying up platforms,’ says Simmons & Simmons innovation and business change director Ben McGuire. ‘Bigger incumbents like Thomson Reuters and LexisNexis are becoming more acquisitive. We’ll likely see more of that from large, existing platforms and fast growers like UnitedLex.’ Continue reading “Legal tech focus: Joined-up thinking”

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Life During Law: David Pester

David Pester

My family background is in market trading, selling goods and services, so perhaps I would have gone into that if not law. My mother worked as a receptionist and my father started out as a rep, including having a bicycle to go around and see the different stores and promote the products. He ended up in marketing and business development in a bigger corporation but that’s where he started.

Home is down on the south coast in Christchurch in Dorset but I went up to the University of Manchester, which was a big deal going from a small place to a bigger one. Continue reading “Life During Law: David Pester”

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Chicken run – GCs notes from the middle of a crisis

Sarah Nelson Smith

In an exclusive extract from her new book You Didn’t Mention The Piranhas, Sarah Nelson Smith writes candidly about how it feels to be in the middle of a PR crisis:

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In the second week of the crisis, the snow came. It had toyed with us for several days, threatening a festive dusting, but then changed tack and engulfed the country in a thick white blanket, mocking the efforts to get trucks loaded and onto the roads by rendering many of them impassable. I needed to get to Rugby, but living at the bottom of a hill on a country lane with a rear-wheel-drive car, I had no hope. Continue reading “Chicken run – GCs notes from the middle of a crisis”

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Deal View: After years of missed opportunities Weil flirts with a broader City advance

Mike Francies

Investment in Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ City arm has long come in fits and starts, avoiding broader M&A ambitions to become a well-regarded private equity player, while arguably being outpaced by US rivals Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Questions also linger around who will lead when Mike Francies, its veteran London managing partner, steps down. Is the recent flurry of laterals evidence that Weil is ready to seize the City breakthrough that has long looked frustratingly just out of reach?

For critics, the firm has only itself to blame as Weil has long been held back in London by a lack of cohesion or vision about where to take the practice, even as a group of US rivals have steamed ahead in the last five years. Notes one former partner: ‘Someone senior told me years ago: “We’re not a partnership, we’re a group of individuals who choose to work together.” In the States, it was a restructuring firm and people used to call it “We’ll Get You and Mangle You!”’ Continue reading “Deal View: After years of missed opportunities Weil flirts with a broader City advance”

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The in-house lawyer debate – Fit for purpose

Chris Fowler, BT

Mark McAteer, Legal Business: How has the role of the general counsel [GC] changed over the last five years and how will it be different in five years’ time?

Alessandro Galtieri, Colt Technology Services: It is now absolutely not enough to be just a specialist or a good manager of a team of lawyers. You need to be part of strategic conversation if you are sitting at the board level. Otherwise, you are not really adding value. Continue reading “The in-house lawyer debate – Fit for purpose”

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The Addleshaws Interview – The rebound guy

John Joyce

Legal Business (LB): Looking at the finances of the firm over the past five years, you are one of the LB100’s top performers. What’s the secret?

John Joyce, managing partner, Addleshaw Goddard: We’ve always had a good business. It lost its way, undoubtedly, and all we’ve done is refocus our efforts. We reintroduced focus on what the firm needed to be doing: international growth, quality work, the clients we look after and deliver in a proper way for, a sector approach… it was just bringing them all together. Continue reading “The Addleshaws Interview – The rebound guy”

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Global offshore – Stick or twist for the sector’s leaders

card game

On paper at least, history will show that 2019 was a very good year. Encouraged by sustained low interest rates, declining trade policy uncertainty and diminished fears of an economic slowdown, US stock markets led the way: the S&P 500 ended the year up 28% and the Nasdaq 35%. Meanwhile, the Europe-wide STOXX 600 increased by 23% and the FTSE 100 by a more modest 12%.

But on the ground, things seemed a little different for many offshore law firms. ‘Even by recent standards, 2019 was an extraordinary year in geopolitical and macro-economic terms: US-China trade wars, Brexit uncertainty, volatility in the US dollar/GBP exchange rate, tension in Hong Kong and the growing risk of a global economic downturn,’ says Jonathan Rigby, global managing partner of Mourant. Continue reading “Global offshore – Stick or twist for the sector’s leaders”