29 March 2017 will be a date that will remain ingrained in the memory, with Prime Minister Theresa May invoking article 50, formally triggering the Brexit process. Later that evening it was inevitable that the real effects of Brexit would dominate the discussion at our annual risk management round table.
‘One evening I found six cans of Red Bull on an associate’s desk. I just sent him home. People get tired, people make mistakes.’
David Trott, Freshfields
To coincide with LB‘s quality of life special, senior lawyers discuss stress, wellbeing and what makes it worth it
‘If there’s a deadline or things are blowing up on a deal, you need to take a deep intake of breath. As you go through these episodes of stress it gets easier. There are peaks and troughs for stress in any job but it gets easier.’
Andrew Ballheimer, managing partner, Allen & Overy
The mood music from Moore’s 2015 election had already signalled a more consultative stance – a welcome shift after a series of bruising post-Lehman restructurings.
Continue reading “New look Linklaters – cuddly inclusiveness proves oddly compelling”
Attempting to make up for lost time this month with a focus on quality of life, the core question is how can the profession help its staff make work more rewarding and achieve some measure of balance in their lives?
Continue reading “The true capitalist case for a new work/life deal”
Legal Business‘ team and contacts have had to put up with me banging on about my intention to do an issue focused on quality of life for quite some time. It is a difficult topic to write about without descending into generality or banality but this remains a people business to the bone.
Law firms obsess about getting bright kids through the door, how to engage and develop (and sometimes exit them) – how to retain and corral partners (and attract new ones) – how to keep the favour of clients (and attract the gaze of new ones). Lawyers can seem curiously stiff to those previously unacquainted with the profession but it does not take long to realise that this is an intensely social industry shaped in the village of modern London.
Continue reading “Quality of life – law can give it… and take it away”
Our quality of life survey, published this month, found all of the UK’s top ten law firms have policies around flexible working. Many of the partners interviewed said their firms also allowed teams to develop their own strategy of flexible working, with partners asked to use their own discretion as to whether members of their team needed time off.
Continue reading “‘Some firms do it very well’: Top City outfits embrace flexible working”
The new system, called Pathways, will assess performance in quick sessions with partners, as opposed to lengthy annual reviews.
Continue reading “Hogan Lovells pilots radical associate assessment programme”
While pitching to general counsel (GCs) is hardly a foreign concept for private practitioners, an elite group of GCs for fast-growth companies has invited a pre-selected list of law firms to bid to host its events.
The bank is looking to fill 400 positions this year globally in anti-financial crime and is recruiting for a new team in Europe to be led by regional head of anti-financial crime, Thomas Altenbach. The team will sit outside of the legal function, with four new recruits: one hire at director level and three other individuals with experience in anti-fraud, bribery and corruption matters. Deutsche Bank anti-fraud teams have historically comprised both legal and compliance professionals.
For observers familiar with the legacy of former Linklaters chief Tony Angel, the rhetoric coming out of Silk Street right now could not be more of a break from the past.
A leadership contest at Simmons & Simmons has ended with senior partner Colin Passmore (pictured) re-elected for a third term, after six years in the role.
Continue reading “‘He always puts the firm first’: Passmore wins Simmons senior partner re-election”
In 2015 CC made amendments to its pay structure to allow leading partners to go up to 130 points, while plateau partners, as well as teams and geographies contributing less may be brought down and capped at 70. The ladder previously ranged from 40-100.
Continue reading “Playing catch-up: CC to push on with remuneration changes”
According to one Scottish partner, Anderson Strathern, which has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and East Lothian, would be the most likely option for a tie-up.
Continue reading “Gateley makes approaches to secure new Scottish tie-up”
The targets include having 20% female partners; at least 30% women in each promotion round; and 30% of women in its partnership in non-elected leadership roles.
Six finance partners left Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer at the end of April, with two more losing equity status as the Magic Circle law firm implemented a restructure of its finance practice.
The charges related to the use of a client bank account as a banking facility, in direct breach of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)’s money laundering regulations. Duffy and Purnell admitted they failed to take on guidance of the Law Society’s rules on fraudulent financial arrangements in acting as an escrow agent on behalf of the client.
The announcement last month came as the polls suggest a clear lead for the Conservative Party, while May said she is seeking a direct mandate for her plan to deliver a smooth British exit from the EU.
Super-exam to be used from September 2020
Despite some considerable hostility, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) announced last month that its planned Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), dubbed ‘the super exam’, will be used from September 2020.
Tom Baker speaks to corporate crime specialists as Freshfields advises supermarket on UK’s fourth-ever DPA and hires top SFO lawyer
Last month the fourth deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in UK history was approved by judge Sir Brian Leveson, enabling Tesco to pay a £129m fine and escape criminal charges relating to the false accounting scandal of 2014.
Senior management discuss closures in non-essential markets
Simon Levine, DLA Piper’s global co-chief executive, has said that the firm’s recent office closures in Berlin, Tbilisi and Canberra are a result of ‘nothing more than a mature business reviewing strategically where it needs to be from time to time’.
Continue reading “DLA Piper resolute as it shuts down three minor offices in a month”
