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Gowling WLG: The Client’s View

Gowling WLG

Lawyers and
Team Quality

80.33

Quality of partners 83.52

Quality of associates 73.42

Partner availability and engagement 84.12

All scores are global and /100.

What do clients really think about the service they receive from law firms? At Legal 500, we hear from hundreds of thousands of clients every year, rating firms on key metrics such as lawyer quality and availability, billing, and levels of communication and expertise.

The answers we receive allow us to evaluate firms using a set of client service data scores, covering Lawyers and Team Quality, Value: Billing and Efficiency, and Sector and Industry Knowledge – all of which combine to produce an overall Client Service Score.

This article focuses on Lawyers and Team Quality, for which Gowling WLG scores 80.33. (The rest of this article is available to logged-in users only. If you are unable to log in above right, please click ‘Forgot your password?’ below to gain access to the full article). Continue reading “Gowling WLG: The Client’s View”

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Eversheds Sutherland: The Client’s View

Eversheds Sutherland

Lawyers and
Team Quality

79.57

Quality of partners 82.97

Quality of associates 76.67

Partner availability and engagement 83.19

All scores are global and /100.

What do clients really think about the service they receive from law firms? At Legal 500, we hear from hundreds of thousands of clients every year, rating firms on key metrics such as lawyer quality and availability, billing, and levels of communication and expertise.

The answers we receive allow us to evaluate firms using a set of client service data scores, covering Lawyers and Team Quality, Value: Billing and Efficiency, and Sector and Industry Knowledge – all of which combine to produce an overall Client Service Score.

This article focuses on Lawyers and Team Quality, for which Eversheds scores 79.57. (The rest of this article is available to logged-in users only. If you are unable to log in above right, please click ‘Forgot your password?’ below to gain access to the full article). Continue reading “Eversheds Sutherland: The Client’s View”

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Smaller footprint, bigger ambition: A&O and Hogan Lovells office cuts underline global pressure on profits

As firms grapple with what it means to be global, while also managing intense pressure on costs, the question of whether less profitable international offices are still a justifiable expense is rising up the agenda for many.

This issue has been underlined by the recent news that both A&O Shearman and Hogan Lovells are making cuts to their international presence, with Johannesburg identified by both as a location which is no longer a necessity.

News broke at the start of September that A&O Shearman would be closing its 32-lawyer Johannesburg office, as part of a broader post-merger play that will include a 10% reduction in its global partnership, and the wind-down of its consulting business.

This was followed swiftly by the announcement that Hogan Lovells was to close three offices in Johannesburg, Warsaw and Sydney, marking a complete withdrawal from the Australian market, where it launched in 2015.

‘It’s very competitive at the top end of the top 20 law firms, and the pressure from US firms is getting increasingly intense. Many of the markets these firms traditionally operated in are no longer a priority.’
Duncan Weston, CMS

Hogan Lovells chief executive Miguel Zaldivar said the decision to close the offices had been driven by ‘a strategic review of our geographic footprint to focus on markets with the strongest client demand’, while emphasising key markets like London, New York, California and Texas. He also pointed to a move by the firm to focus on ‘the most complex, high-value work in major markets’, a strategy which helped drive a record-setting 20% hike in profits per equity partner in 2023.

A&O Shearman managing partner Hervé Ekué’s statement struck similar notes, describing the firm’s exit from Johannesburg, where it opened in late 2014, as ‘a difficult but necessary step’.

While the 2010s saw a stream of international firms move into South Africa, including Herbert Smith Freehills, Clyde & Co and Pinsent Masons, firms on the ground now acknowledge that competition for work is tough in what is a ‘saturated’ market.

Sally Hutton, managing partner at leading South African firm Webber Wentzel, which since 2013 has had an alliance with Linklaters, summed up the challenges firms face. ‘The South African legal market is a fairly saturated domestic environment dominated by well-established, full-service corporate law firms, making it challenging for smaller offices of international firms to compete here without a full suite of specialist services.’

The challenge is exacerbated by the pan-African service offered by many local firms, either via alliances or local offices, which enables them to handle work at much lower rates than international entrants – something which ‘further increases the difficulty for firms to compete’, as Hutton explained.

Reflecting on the historical strategies employed by international firms, Hutton noted that many entered the South African market by offering above-market salaries and undercutting prices to capture market share – tactics that have adversely affected profitability: ‘In 2015-16, many international firms entered the South African market with local offices. Now, nearly a decade later, it seems that the inherent challenges they faced are now being highlighted.’

‘There are two possibilities for such firms: either an office, albeit unprofitable, is so small by global standards that it flies under the radar; or alternatively, even a small office that is not sufficiently profitable is regarded as a diversion of management’s attention,’ she explained.

At CMS, which has had a presence in South Africa since 2019, executive partner Duncan Weston placed the withdrawals by A&O and Hogan Lovells in the context of the war for talent. ‘These cutbacks are driven by intense high-level competition. Firms are up against very tough competitors.

‘South Africa is a fairly saturated legal market dominated by well-established, full-service firms, making it challenging for smaller offices of international firms to compete.’
Sally Hutton, Webber Wentzel

‘It’s very competitive at the top end of the top 20 law firms, and the pressure from US firms is getting increasingly intense. Many of the markets these firms traditionally operated in are no longer a priority. Instead, they’re focusing on regions where they can maintain higher profitability,’ he expanded. ‘In markets like Johannesburg, there are strong local law firms, and the global firms likely feel they can rely on these local players when the occasional deal arises, allowing them to narrow their focus.’

While firms like A&O Shearman and Hogan Lovells are pulling back, other international entrants – including Norton Rose Fulbright, DLA Piper, Clydes, and White & Case – remain committed to South Africa. Peter Scott, co-global managing partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, points to the flexibility of their global structure compared to the more rigid models of firms like A&O and Hogan Lovells, which ‘puts certain parts of the business under stress to meet global metrics – one size essentially has to fit all’.

Similarly, Weston described CMS’s approach as more adaptable, allowing the firm to avoid profitability dilution. ‘Our structure allows us to operate in multiple jurisdictions across Latin America and Africa without impacting profitability in places like London.’

While the future for Hogan Lovells’ lawyers in South Africa is still uncertain, A&O’s Johannesburg team has quickly found a new home, with leading African firm Bowmans confirming that the entire group will be joining them in early January 2025, including eight partners and a further six lawyers who are set to join as partners.

In a statement welcoming the hires, Bowmans chair and senior partner Ezra Davids said that the move ‘aligns with our strategic objective of being the go-to African law firm for advising clients on their most complex legal challenges and opportunities across the continent’.

The question of how Bowmans will integrate the former A&O team is one that will be closely watched in the market, with pay alignment a key consideration. ‘The key question now is what internal disruption will occur for firms that absorb their salaried employees without adjusting their remuneration,’ said Hutton. ‘We know that some of them are earning above-market salaries, so it will be interesting to see how firms manage that,’ she explained.

While law firms leaving a market rarely looks like a positive development, for the law firms that remain in the South African market, there will now be opportunities to absorb talent and gain market share. As Weston summed up: ‘I believe we’re in a good position. With two of the biggest international law firms now out of the market, we’ve solidified our standing, and that’s a great place to be.’

In Hutton’s view, one closure is clearly more significant than the other. ‘The closure of the Hogan Lovells office will have little impact on our local legal market. However, the A&O Shearman office was larger, and its closure will have a more significant impact as they were a disruptive competitor – particularly in relation to paying above-market salaries to attract talent. This may help stabilise the market to some extent in terms of remuneration levels.’

And as to whether there will be more closures, Weston is circumspect. ‘We’re seeing more and more firms pulling out of certain markets – US firms have withdrawn from China, and now we’re seeing firms exit Africa, Central Europe, and Australia – regions where, frankly, they’re not seeing significant returns. But I don’t foresee a mass exodus from Johannesburg, at least not from the firms that are already established here.’

Ultimately, in an ideal scenario, the closures create a win-win situation for all firms, as the top-of-the-market firms boost profitability and the firms in the tier below pick up market share.

However, as major players narrow their focus, the question is whether they can sustain their success in an increasingly competitive landscape. As DLA Piper’s Simon Levine noted, while streamlining geographic footprints may improve profitability, ‘the narrower you go, the more you’re fighting over the same small piece of pie.’

[email protected]

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Late bloomer: how Paul Weiss made up for lost time on the global stage

For years, while rivals like Kirkland & Ellis, Skadden and Latham & Watkins disrupted the London legal market, Paul Weiss had bucked the global trend, practising only US law from small offices outside of its domestic heartlands.

Its much-lauded English law launch last year marked a dramatic u-turn, with the firm following up with a new European office in Brussels earlier this year, as well as the launch of a fifth US office in Los Angeles on home ground.

It may still be a long way off truly global but there’s no denying the shift in Paul Weiss’s position. Its office count now stands at 11 worldwide, with its work focused around five core practices: private equity (PE); public M&A; litigation; white-collar regulatory defence; and restructuring.

Since August 2023 the firm has added more than 60 new partners, taking its total partnership to 250 and its lawyer count to more than 1,000.

Domestically, its recent hires include Joseph Glatt, former general counsel for Apollo’s credit arm, who joined as a corporate partner in New York; private equity M&A partner Bianca Levin-Soler, who joined from Ropes & Gray in Los Angeles; and fund finance partner Flora Go, who joined the New York office as head of fund finance from Fried Frank.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the firm most recently added financial regulatory specialist Revathi Raghavan as a partner from Kirkland.

‘We want to continue to attract the most consequential matters from the most important clients in the world in each of the areas in which we practice,’ says Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp of the firm’s expansion plans. ‘The depth of talent in our partnership has never been greater and, as a result, our firm’s market position has never been stronger.’

Cracking Europe

Paul Weiss’s commitment to expanding in the US has been dwarfed by its efforts on this side of the Atlantic in recent months, with the firm building up a sizeable presence at lightning speed. Since making headlines with its English law launch in November 2023 via the eye-catching hire of a Kirkland team led by debt finance star Neel Sachdev and PE partner Roger Johnson in summer 2023, the office has expanded to around 170 lawyers – nearly doubling in size in just over a year. Thirty two of these are partners.

For context, according to LB’s Global London rankings, this puts the firm already at the size of long-term London players like Squire Patton Boggs and Ropes & Gray.

‘London is one of the world’s great financial centres and a gateway to Europe,’ Karp tells LB as he discusses how the London office fits in with the firm’s global strategy, which has been driven in large part by the firm’s PE clients demanding a credible and effective London solution.

Sachdev adds: ‘The growth of our London office and English law practice enables us to offer elite teams to corporate and private equity clients in London and New York.’

According to Sachdev, on the transactional side the London office has already been involved in multiple major European deals, including advising funds managed by Apollo on its £2.7bn acquisition of UK delivery company Evri from Advent International, the largest UK logistics sector private equity buyout in the past five years. A London team is also advising KPS Capital Partners on its €3.5bn acquisition of Innomotics from Siemens.

The hires and the mandates have undoubtedly shaken up the market. ‘The London market will never be the same,’ comments one head at a rival US firm, somewhat dramatically. ‘Paul Weiss seems to be taking a page out of the playbook Kirkland used so successfully in the early 2000s when it captured amazing talent by offering eye-popping deals to move people,’ they add, alluding to the fact Sachdev, who joined Kirkland in 2003, played a large part in driving Kirkland’s phenomenal growth in London.

‘The depth of talent in our partnership has never been greater and, as a result, our firm’s market position has never been stronger.’
Brad Karp, Paul Weiss

After kickstarting its European competition practice with the hire of Nicole Kar from Linklaters, the firm has also made its first move into continental Europe by launching a competition-focused office in Brussels ,with the hires of antitrust partners Ross Ferguson from Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett and Richard Pepper from Macfarlanes. Karp explains that clients had ‘long asked’ for the firm to scale London as well as develop a competition practice based in Brussels.

‘Our goal is to be the leading competition law firm in the world. To achieve that, a firm needs preeminent practice in Brussels,’ he says.

While the firm is continuing to grow in London and now has ten lawyers in Brussels, there are no current plans to extend in Europe beyond this, with the focus only on the most profitable locations that fit in with key client strategies.

It’s a strategy that some rivals believe makes sense. As a US private equity head comments: ‘It’s perfectly viable for Paul Weiss to operate from London and Brussels. You don’t need a presence in every city anymore. For international M&A, banking, and private equity, having London and New York is essential and anywhere else in Europe tends to be a bonus.’

Domestic expansion

At the same time as attempting to crack London, Paul Weiss has also been expanding its presence in key domestic markets in the US, with high profile moves including New York-based Eric Wedel leaving Kirkland with a team to launch the LA office in August 2023. Wedel, who co-chairs the global finance and capital markets group alongside Sachdev, brought along finance partners Ben Steadman, Caroline Epstein, and Matthew Leist.

Karp says the new LA office, the firm’s second California location after San Francisco opened in 2021, will also enhance the breadth of its private equity and alternative investment practice. It currently has 20 lawyers, with recent mandates for Wedel and co including advising Hg Capital on the financing for its acquisition of AuditBoard, valued at over $3bn.

Given the scale of the firm’s expansion in recent months, the obvious question in the market is where next?

Paul Weiss has been linked to a potential launch in Houston, where multiple firms including Kirkland and Latham have been building offices in order to capture lucrative energy and private equity work.

‘It’s perfectly viable for Paul Weiss to operate from London and Brussels. You don’t need a presence in every city anymore.’
US private equity head

With multiple US firms rethinking their approach to Asia, where Paul Weiss currently has small US law offerings in Beijing, Tokyo and Hong Kong, the firm’s name has also been linked with a potential launch in Singapore. Should it open in Singapore it would be following in the recent footsteps of Quinn Emanuel, which launched there in July this year with a boutique arbitration practice.

Karp is reluctant to go into long-term specifics, saying only that the firm is ‘continuing to monitor Asia closely’. In the shorter term he confirms that there are: ‘no presents plans to open an office in Houston or Singapore (or any other location)’.

Whether Karp’s statement ends speculation about the firm’s plans is another matter, given the scale of the firm’s disruption in the US and London in recent months. The firm now sits at 27th place in the Global 100, with revenues of more than $2bn, even without fee income from its most recent launches.

As one head at a rival firm summarises: ‘Paul Weiss has traditionally concentrated on litigation in New York, taking pride in its status as a prominent New York firm. However, over the years, it realised that the legal market extends beyond New York. To increase its revenue, it began exploring opportunities in other major cities. London is a big move – it forms part of the firm’s view that it must consider a wider variety of locations and client needs.’

For more on Paul Weiss, see LB’s feature ‘Market forces: Paul Weiss, Kirkland and the war for London talent’, LB319.

Paul Weiss’s office expansion

Five US offices

  • Los Angeles (2023)
  • San Francisco (2021)
  • Wilmington (2009)
  • Washington (1947)
  • New York (1875)

Canada

  • Toronto (2011)

Three Asia offices

  • Beijing (1981)
  • Hong Kong (1983)
  • Toyko (1987)

Two Europe offices

  • London (initially 2001, built out 2023)
  • Brussels (2024)

[email protected]

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‘Freeths who?’ no more: LB’s firm of the year on brand revolution, their ‘watershed’ win – and what’s next

Last month, Freeths was named Law Firm of the Year at the Legal Business Awards, capping off a remarkable period for the firm that has seen it post yet more double-digit financial growth, achieve B Corp certification, and receive unprecedented attention for its role representing the postmasters in the Post Office Horizon scandal.

LB checked in with national managing partner Karl Jansen and London senior partner Philippa Dempster to talk about how the firm got to where it is, its ambitious aim to become the leading UK national law firm, and how its brand has changed beyond recognition as a result of the firm’s media moment.

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Continue reading “‘Freeths who?’ no more: LB’s firm of the year on brand revolution, their ‘watershed’ win – and what’s next”

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Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison: The Client’s View

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind,
Wharton & Garrison

Lawyers and
Team Quality

86.64

Quality of partners 90.34

Quality of associates 76.66

Partner availability and engagement 89.36

All scores are global and /100.

What do clients really think about the service they receive from law firms? At Legal 500, we hear from hundreds of thousands of clients every year, rating firms on key metrics such as lawyer quality and availability, billing, and levels of communication and expertise.

The answers we receive allow us to evaluate firms using a set of client service data scores, covering Lawyers and Team Quality, Value: Billing and Efficiency, and Sector and Industry Knowledge – all of which combine to produce an overall Client Service Score.

This article focuses on Lawyers and Team Quality, for which Paul Weiss scores 86.64. (The rest of this article is available to logged-in users only. If you are unable to log in above right, please click ‘Forgot your password?’ below to gain access to the full article). Continue reading “Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison: The Client’s View”

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CMS: The Client’s View

CMS

Lawyers and
Team Quality

80.60

Quality of partners 83.07

Quality of associates 77.37

Partner availability and engagement 82.32

All scores are global and /100.

What do clients really think about the service they receive from law firms? At Legal 500, we hear from hundreds of thousands of clients every year, rating firms on key metrics such as lawyer quality and availability, billing, and levels of communication and expertise.

The answers we receive allow us to evaluate firms using a set of client service data scores, covering Lawyers and Team Quality, Value: Billing and Efficiency, and Sector and Industry Knowledge – all of which combine to produce an overall Client Service Score.

This article focuses on Lawyers and Team Quality, for which CMS scores 80.60. (The rest of this article is available to logged-in users only. If you are unable to log in above right, please click ‘Forgot your password?’ below to gain access to the full article). Continue reading “CMS: The Client’s View”

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Bird & Bird: The Client’s View

Bird & Bird

Lawyers and
Team Quality

79.96

Quality of partners 82.45

Quality of associates 75.52

Partner availability and engagement 82.28

All scores are global and /100.

What do clients really think about the service they receive from law firms? At Legal 500, we hear from hundreds of thousands of clients every year, rating firms on key metrics such as lawyer quality and availability, billing, and levels of communication and expertise.

The answers we receive allow us to evaluate firms using a set of client service data scores, covering Lawyers and Team Quality, Value: Billing and Efficiency, and Sector and Industry Knowledge – all of which combine to produce an overall Client Service Score.

This article focuses on Lawyers and Team Quality, for which Bird & Bird scores 79.96. (The rest of this article is available to logged-in users only. If you are unable to log in above right, please click ‘Forgot your password?’ below to gain access to the full article). Continue reading “Bird & Bird: The Client’s View”

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‘Private credit are the new banks’: Proskauer’s A&O and Cahill hires on the US firm’s ambitious finance push

Speak to almost any major firm active in the finance space and you’ll hear about private credit. The industry matured as banking regulations tightened in the wake of the 2008 crash, and has surged since banks pulled back on lending after the interest rate hikes from early 2022.

According to merchant banking, global advisory, and asset management firm M Capital Group, the overall size of the private credit market has grown from $1trn four years ago to $1.7trn in 2023.

The market is big, and growing – and law firms want a piece of it.

Continue reading “‘Private credit are the new banks’: Proskauer’s A&O and Cahill hires on the US firm’s ambitious finance push”

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Latham rewards more than 20 star performers with new ‘super points’ rank

Latham & Watkins London office

More than 20 of Latham & Watkins’ equity partners have made it into the elite firm’s ‘super points’ band, which is intended to better reward star performers by allowing them to earn nearly double the profit share of those at the top of the firm’s core lockstep.  

Legal Business has learned that 22 Latham partners now sit within the so-called ‘super points’ tier. 

Fourteen partners worldwide are understood to sit on the first additional tier at 1,300 points, with a further eight now on the maximum 1,700 points. Two partners in London – including chair Richard Trobman – are understood to be at the top level. All of the remaining super pointers are based in the US. 

Latham’s core modified lockstep ladder runs from 350 to 900 points, with 900 points equating to more than $5m last year, meaning that 1,700 points would nearly double this figure. 

On top of this, Latham also has a bonus pool of up to 15% of its profits available for discretionary division among partners. Combining this bonus with super points it is understood that total partner comp can now climb above the $15m mark for star performers. 

Latham partners approved the new remuneration structure in July, with equity partners taking part in a weighted vote based on points allocation rather than a one-person, one-vote system. 

The move came amid intense competition to attract and retain talent at the very top of the US market, where firms like Kirkland and Paul Weiss have been linked with packages above $20m for a handful of partners. 

Sources told LB that no partner joining as a lateral will be granted immediate access to the higher remuneration rungs. Instead, they will have to wait at least two years before being eligible for consideration, suggesting that, for Latham, the changes are focused on retaining, rather than attracting star performers. 

A spokesperson for Latham said: ‘Changes to the firm’s equity compensation structure were made after an in-depth review and extensive discussions and meetings in each office to ensure a transparent and thorough process. This provided the firm’s leadership with the opportunity to receive direct feedback from the partnership before moving forward. The changes to the firm’s compensation structure allows the firm to reward more partners in its year-end bonus process.’ 

Latham has seen a series of departures in London over the last year. This summer a five-partner strong leveraged finance team led by Jayanthi Sadanandan and Sam Hamilton left for Sidley. Around the same time, Milbank announced the hire of a six-strong team of finance lawyers from Latham, headed by collateralised loan obligation (CLO) partner Alex Martin. 

Earlier this year, litigation and trial partners Oliver Browne and Stuart Alford KC left for Paul Hastings. Browne’s exit from Latham came after 18 years at the firm, having most recently served as the London co-chair of the litigation and trial department. This follows the departure of restructuring and special situations partner Simon Baskerville who moved over to Willkie Farr at the end of last year. 

Less than two years ago, Latham also saw the departures of finance partners Mo Nurmohamed, Ross Anderson, Karan Chopra and Rob Davidson who left for Paul Hastings. Nurmohamed joined as co-chair of the firm’s global finance practice. 

The traffic has not gone only one way though, with the firm adding Jonathan Brownson, Joydeep Choudhuri and Prue Criddle from New York banking heavyweight Cahill Gordon & Reindel’s City office, in May this year.

Its partner remuneration overhaul comes amid intense competition at the top of the US market, prompting numerous firms to reconsider how to attract and reward their standout performers. 

Latham posted a 6.9% revenue hike to almost $5.7bn for the 2023 calendar year, with profit per equity partner up 7% to $5.52m.

LB has decided not to name the partners on super points.

[email protected]

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‘A powerful thing’ – how the Mindful Business Charter is reinvigorating efforts to tackle mental health issues in law

It’s not news to anyone that the legal profession is stressful. As Michael Cavers, head of debt capital markets at CMS and chair of trustees at the Mindful Business Charter (MBC) puts it: ‘Lawyers are high achievers and perfectionists. Law firms – and our clients – have high expectations of our lawyers, and they have high expectations of themselves. We acknowledge that this can be a trigger for poor mental health.’

Launched six years ago to the day on World Mental Health Day 2018, the MBC – which takes the form of a commitment that member firms sign up to – aims to tackle the mental health issues prevalent in the industry, by raising awareness, reducing stigmas and supporting those in distress, focusing on factors such as openness, respect and the need to ‘switch off’.

Since inception, it has grown from 12 to over 130 members, with signatories now including firms such as A&O Shearman, Baker McKenzie, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Hogan Lovells, CMS, Travers Smith and Bristows.

But City law firms would not be worth their salt if they signed up without doing their due diligence. So what is it about the MBC that appeals to so many firms?

Morwenna Scholes, head of HR at Bristows, highlights the role that the MBC plays in the firm’s wellbeing efforts: ‘‘It acts as a spotlight on the issues, and anchors the many wellbeing initiatives we had in place at Bristows – I’m delighted to say that it has found its way into our daily language, with people across the firm saying: “That’s not very MBC”.

Cavers believes the independent nature of the MBC and its popularity among law firms is a key part of the appeal. ‘It’s a framework that allows us to have conversations with other law firms, our clients, and internally – conversations that we might otherwise find a little bit awkward,’ he explains.

Signatories are quick to acknowledge the role that the MBC has played in helping to transform attitudes towards mental health. As Moira Slape, chief people officer at Travers Smith and deputy chair of trustees at the MBC puts it: ‘What I’m most proud of is the fact that the vocabulary that we have in the firm around mental health is so much more developed. People in the firm who have had their mental health challenges are braver about sharing them.’

This point is echoed by Cavers: ‘During Mental Health Week, and throughout the year, people across the firm share their stories and experience of mental health quite openly in a way that I’m absolutely convinced they wouldn’t have done not that many years ago.’

A new set of best practice guidelines were released on 24 September, which Cavers believes will give firms a chance to ‘reinvigorate their efforts’ when it comes to mental health in the workplace.

CMS recently put together a new mental health senior steering committee, which has dedicated some time to reviewing the new MBC guidelines. These include: encouraging senior leaders to role-model care for their mental health; introducing regular senior board reporting on mental health; and developing effective mechanisms to understand and identify risks to particular demographic groups and practice areas.

MBC CEO Richard Martin (pictured top) – himself a former City employment lawyer at firms including Speechly Bircham and Jones Day – believes that modern life is creating a more challenging environment for junior lawyers: ‘The working world is much more intense and demanding than when I was coming through the ranks. Some people in my generation will say, “I had to go through that so why shouldn’t you?” My response is, first of all – you didn’t. And secondly, that feels like a fairly sad way to justify difficulty.’

One issue that is frequently brought up as a factor behind rising stress levels is the salary wars currently roiling the London legal market. As Martin puts it: ‘It doesn’t take a genius to recognise that if you’re paying 180 grand, you’re going to expect quite a lot in return for that.’

Travers’ Slape echoes this sentiment: ‘The salary wars do layer on an additional level of expectation for very young people in the profession. It’s a problem that is not going away.’

She adds that the stresses of the sector are leading to a change in aspirations for young people entering the legal profession: ‘Some still want to be partners, but increasingly others don’t want to deal with the added pressures and stress that comes with partnership.’

As Layla Tow, chief marketing officer and head of business development at Bristows, sums up: ‘The MBC has given some structure and commonality of goal across the sector at leadership level. It’s kept workplace wellbeing front and centre – and that’s a powerful thing.’

How firms are supporting their staff and partners

CMS

– The establishment of a mental health and wellbeing committee that provides a safe forum for members to discuss and share ideas and feedback
– The establishment of a responsible business board committee for board-level discussions about mental health and wellbeing.
– Time Out, No Questions Asked’ programme – employees can take one month of unpaid leave per year, in addition to their regular annual leave, no questions asked
– 200+ wellbeing ambassadors, located across all UK offices, trained in mental health awareness and able to offer confidential support.

Travers Smith

– A dedicated menopause policy – including a number of paid-for benefits, to provide support to people who are experiencing symptoms associated with the perimenopause and menopause.
– Free counselling services to all employees and partners, alongside a 24/7 helpline facility
– Free membership of Calm.com, facilitating access to mindfulness and meditation sessions.
– Establishing a group of volunteers across the firm who are members of the mental health first aid aware group.
– Employee-led groups, such as the Menopause Awareness Group, Bereavement Support Group and Cancer Support Network, which provide support to those dealing with the mental impacts of the menopause and loss respectively.

Bristows

– A wellbeing consultation day, with a specialist medical provider providing 1-2-1 sessions that staff can book for a physical and mental health screening
– A massage day – staff can book an ‘above clothes’ 15-minute massage slot
– Free 1-2-1 consultations with a financial wellbeing coach – covering everything from savings, mortgages, budgeting to retirement
– A team of 30 qualified mental health first aiders across the firm – just under 10% of the staff and partners.

[email protected]

Efforts to improve mental health in the legal profession will be among the many law firm initiatives recognised at the upcoming UK ESG Awards 2025 in London next year – for more details and how to submit, click here.

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‘Thoughtful about where and how we grow’ – Latham sets out stall for City litigation push

While its London transactional credentials are undeniable, it is fair to say that Latham & Watkins has not to date boasted a similarly heavy-duty reputation on the contentious front.

However, the firm is doubling down on its efforts to shift this perception, with a series of recent eye-catching hires pointing to a renewed push in the capital, as the US giant continues its efforts to dig into a market still largely dominated by UK heritage firms.

Earlier this year, the disputes practice saw a significant shift with the departures of Oliver Browne and Stuart Alford KC to Paul Hastings.

Browne had spent 18 years at firm, co-leading the London litigation and trial department for the past six, most recently alongside Oliver Middleton, while fellow former co-head Alford had been at the firm since 2016, after joining from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

While the duo had championed ambitious expansion plans for the US firm’s London litigation practice during their time at the helm, those ambitions remain firmly in place.

Now under the leadership of Middleton, the London litigation and trial department is continuing its growth trajectory. The team’s headcount now stands at almost 70, including 19 partners – up from seven partners and 24 associates in 2017.

Speaking to Legal Business, Middleton and white collar specialist Pamela Reddy (pictured top), who joined from Norton Rose Fulbright at the start of the year, are clear that litigation growth is a strategic priority for the firm, which is targeting a mix of lateral hires and organic growth.

As Middleton (pictured) underlines: ‘We are focused on attracting top talent that enhances our firm’s growth, success, and culture.’

Alongside Reddy, other key appointments in recent years have included former Orrick partner James Lloyd, who joined in October 2021 to focus on litigation and investigations relating to cybersecurity and privacy, and last year’s hire of Linklaters partner Simon Pritchard, who has brought substantial credentials on the competition litigation front.

The firm has significantly bolstered its City white-collar credentials with the hire of Reddy, who Middleton notes has ‘hit the ground running.’ Her recent work has included advising a consortium in a multijurisdictional SFO investigation, as well as securing the dismissal of a criminal probe against a prominent shipping company by the Insolvency Service.

Looking ahead, Reddy anticipates a ‘significant uptick’  in corporate crime investigations driven by forthcoming failure-to-prevent fraud offences under legislation such as the Bribery Act and the Criminal Finances Act, given that ‘the failure-to-prevent fraud offence is incredibly broad, covering anything under the Fraud Act.’

Competition litigation is a key growth area for Latham, building on last year’s addition of Pritchard, who joined after 15 years at Linklaters and Allen & Overy, before which he spent five years as senior director at the .

As Middleton highlights, the growing complexity of competition litigation plays to Latham’s strengths in managing large-scale litigation. ‘Handling large-scale litigation is just as crucial as having specific competition experience,’ he explains. ‘We excel in this area with our extensive team of litigators who are adept at managing enormous class action cases and other large-scale litigations.’

On the defence side, Middleton and London deputy managing partner Andrea Monks are leading teams from the firm representing Barclays in two high-profile cases: one involving allegations of misleading statements about its trading system and another related to foreign exchange market manipulation.

The firm is also aiming to push into other key areas such as shareholder claims, as well as disputes relating to data privacy, AI, ESG, and crypto.

On the data front, Ian Felstead, vice chair of the firm ‘s complex commercial litigation practice, has advised Meta on contentious matters concerning data transfers from the EU, while in the ESG realm, London disputes partner Samuel Pape was recently part of a team which secured victory for the Republic of Colombia at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, defending the Colombian government’s ban on mining in the sensitive páramos ecosystem in the Andes.

While expansion of the broader disputes offering is a clear strategic priority for Latham, Middleton argues the firm does not want to ‘pursue growth for growth’s sake’.

‘As the firm continues to expand, we will grow organically, focusing on key areas such as data privacy, ESG, and complex commercial disputes,’ he explains. ‘We want to be thoughtful about where and how we grow.’

Alongside these external hires, the firm’s contentious bench in London has also seen a healthy degree of organic growth, with four partner promotions in the past two years – an increase on previous years, after none from 2016 to 2019, and just one in both 2020 and 2021 – Middleton and litigator and arbitrator Robert Price.

New names joining the partnership since 2021 include Pape, white collar specialist Clare Nida, competition partner Gregory Bonné, and Nell Perks, who focuses on disputes and contentious regulatory investigations.

Looking ahead, Middleton says the growth strategy will have an emphasis on the scale of Latham’s international platform: ‘There is a lot to be gained from having breadth of experience. It’s important for us that our people have specific expertise that we can effectively market. However, our primary strength lies in our flexible litigators who excel at handling large-scale litigation and effectively collaborate across the global platform. Our approach sets Latham apart from competitors.’

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‘A huge emotional release’ – DLA’s Adam Ibrahim on the longest trial of his career and winning Lawyer of the Year

Adam Ibrahim, UK co-head of litigation and arbitration at DLA Piper, was last month named Private Practice Lawyer of the Year at the Legal Business Awards, following a standout year in which he led a large DLA team to victory in a complex mass claimant action over break fees on loans to small businesses, dubbed “the biggest banking case out there” by top-tier silk Bankim Thanki KC.

This March, Mr Justice Zacaroli handed down a 185-page judgment in the case, Farol v Clydesdale Bank and National Australia Bank, comprehensively dismissing all claims against both banks, as well as allegations of deceit against 15 current and former employees of the banks, including four senior executives.

Here, Adam talks to LB’s Anna Huntley about what it was like to be involved in such a huge and long-running case, the rise of class actions, his approach to leadership and management, and what it was like to win the Lawyer of the Year award.

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‘We have a remit to build’ – ex-Latham team open up on Sidley’s bold City lev-fin play

In their first interview since leaving Latham & Watkins, Jayanthi Sadanandan and Sam Hamilton discuss their new roles as global co-heads of Sidley Austin’s leveraged finance practice

‘Sidley wants to provide a best-in-class financial sponsor legal service – Sam and I have built out a practice before and we know how to do this,’ says Sadanandan as she and Hamilton sit down to talk to LB on their first day at Sidley. 

‘This is  an exciting opportunity for us – we have a remit to build and Sidley has been very clear in its commitment to this area.’  

Legal 500 Hall of Famer Hamilton and leading partner Sadanandan, who have worked together for 20 years, joined Sidley this week (1 October) having quit Latham in August after nearly 15 years at the firm.

The pair have joined alongside fellow Latham alumni Fergus O’Domhnaill, Joseph Kimberling and Ben Wright – with all five partners now sitting within Sidley’s global finance practice, and Sadanandan and Hamilton taking up newly created roles leading the leveraged finance offering worldwide. 

The team will focus primarily on building a borrower-side practice for private equity sponsors, corporates and private credit funds, although it may extend to lender work at clients’ request.

 ‘Our focus is on the private equity finance side to better support the private equity platform,’ confirms Sadanandan. ‘As a transactional lawyer my goal is always just to get the deal done but, particularly in challenging market conditions, I think the interests between borrower side and lender side can diverge so it can be more challenging trying to manage both sides.’

Sadanandan, who featured as a deal star in LB’s ‘Alphas Revisited’ feature last year, has worked with clients including Permira, Blackstone, and CVC, while Hamilton’s key clients include Nordic Capital, Advanz Pharma, and Soho House. 

Sidley’s regular PE clients include Apollo Global Management, KKR and Carlyle.

Hamilton says there were two main reasons for choosing to join Sidley.  ‘We know everyone in the market who does our type of law and we felt that Sidley was a firm that has a lot of momentum and we liked the management mindset of wanting to grow in London, which we can help with. Secondly, when we began talks with Sidley, we enjoyed meeting the people and there was a cultural match in terms of how we all think about the world.’  

‘In terms of size and the number of people, we don’t have a specific target in mind. It’s client-driven – if you do a great job, clients give you more work, and other clients will hear about it, creating a snowball effect. We expect that will happen.’

Sadanandan adds: ‘After we were approached, we realised there were a lot of synergies. Sidley is a longstanding law firm with a heritage that goes back 158 years, and we liked how it is a full-service law firm already in London. It already has the pieces in play and what Sidley is looking to do now is deepen the breadth of the bench and the breadth of the offering for their private equity clients.’  

Sidley has been making a concerted push in the lucrative PE space as part of its broader expansion plans, bringing in Ramy Wahbeh as co-leader of the firm’s global private equity practice and co-head of the London corporate group, along with M&A partner Kaisa Kuusk, both of whom joined from Paul Weiss in June of last year.  

Commenting on the hires Sidley management committee chair Yvette Ostolaza says:  ‘I think if you’ve got the right team, then you will be delivering the type of service clients are expecting. And that’s what we’re going to be focused on, a very team-oriented approach that will deliver results for the client; with clients very much at the front and centre of our practice.’

The latest hires take Sidley to more than 200 lawyers in London, including more than 50 partners – meaning the office has grown by nearly a third over the last seven years.

And the expansion is far from over, with Ostolaza highlighting capital markets, high yield, and disputes and investigations as areas for further expansion in London, as well as additional growth in private equity.

There will also be an emphasis on building cross-border teams that serve clients in APAC, the Middle East, and London. ‘We’re speaking to a number of laterals in these areas,’ she comments.  

The plans come after Sidley reported another strong financial performance, with the firm’s total revenues reaching the $3bn mark in 2023, a 6.1% increase from the previous year.

The firm has enjoyed a long streak of revenue increases after making a strategic decision in the mid-2010s, to increase its focus on the private capital sector and Ostolaza says it is on track for another good year.  

‘Our first half of 2024 is off to a roaring start. Transactional activity has increased, disputes has also risen, so we’re expecting to have surpassed all metrics. We’re excited about this team because it’s part of our growth strategy,’ she adds.

In the US, the firm is aiming to strengthen its offices in San Diego, which launched in August, and South Florida and Miami offices, which opened in 2022. Alongside its emphasis on private equity, Ostolaza pointed out that there will also be a strong focus on key industry sectors, including life sciences, healthcare, energy, transportation, technology, media, sports, and entertainment. 

She concludes: ‘We are still in a growth mindset, although we’re established. There’s disruption going on in the legal industry – we’re seeing more and more mergers, and we want to be one of the beneficiaries of this disruption on behalf of our clients. I think we’re going to have another banner year.’

Sadanandan and Hamilton were part of a four-partner team that moved to Latham from White & Case in 2010 in a move that planted the seeds for the Los Angeles-bred firm’s dominance in Europe’s leveraged finance market. 

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Pinsents, CC and HSF among big winners as new Legal 500 UK rankings are revealed

Almost 1,200 law firms have secured spots in the new Legal 500 UK rankings, which have been revealed today after months of research into the legal markets up and down the country.

The rankings, which are based on extensive analysis of the legal markets across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, have been put together based on the insight gained from rankings submissions, thousands of interviews with firms, and new record levels of feedback from their clients.

The UK guide includes a total of almost 10,000 practice rankings, of which around 50% are in the London section. The rankings feature 1,176 unique law firms and other legal services providers, with 620 ranked in London.

In addition to the practice rankings, there are almost 13,000 rankings for individual lawyers, including around 2,000 deemed worthy of inclusion in the prestigious Hall of Fame.

Referee response rates once again saw double-digit growth this year, soaring to a new high of almost 65,500, 15% up on the equivalent total last year.

In terms of the most well-represented firms, Pinsent Masons has the most practice rankings across the UK as a whole, with Herbert Smith Freehills holding the most rankings in London.

DLA Piper, Eversheds Sutherland, Addleshaw Goddard and Shoosmiths round out the top five most-ranked across the UK, while in London, HSF is followed up by CMS, DLA, Pinsents and Norton Rose Fulbright.

Pinsents has the highest number of top-tier rankings across the UK as a while, while Clifford Chance has maintained its position as the firm with the most tier one rankings in London.

In terms of promotions, lawyers at three firms will be happier than most – Trowers & Hamlins, which achieved 10 promotions, and Eversheds Sutherland and TLT, with nine apiece.

If you have any queries about the new rankings, or would like to request any amendments, please visit legal500.com/faqs.

Click here to view all the rankings on legal500.com

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Life During Law: former A&O chief Wim Dejonghe

Wim Dejonghe

Former Allen & Overy senior partner Wim Dejonghe was named Management Partner of the Year at the Legal Business Awards in September 2024,  at a glittering ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.

Dejonghe signed off from a 23-year career at the magic circle firm in May that year after pushing through the long-awaited, transatlantic merger deal with US firm Shearman & Sterling.

In this Life During Law interview, originally published in the run-up to the transformational deal going live, he looks back on his career at A&O, discussing lessons learned from previous merger talks, his future plans and his views on the ‘unhealthy’ levels of money in law.

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