Sarah Davis, group commercial legal director of Guardian Media Group (GMG) , is set to leave the company after seven years in the role, Legal Business can reveal. Continue reading “In-house: Sarah Davis to leave legal director role at Guardian Media Group”
Emerging markets are by nature volatile, frequently impacted by events such as political instability, civil unrest, corruption and other economic forces. The extremes of growth and decline could hardly be more apparent than in the Middle East, where the collapse in oil prices has prompted a great deal of soul searching.
Saudi Arabia, for example, is going through the most radical social and economic reform programme in its history, and Iran is still subject to ongoing trade sanctions and uncertainty connected to US foreign policy. Added to this, these two nations share deep enmity, which demands high levels of diplomacy on the part of firms that target both jurisdictions. Continue reading “Holding steady – A turbulent Middle East market separates the committed from the faint-hearted”
Every Thursday at 6pm, Yair Geva, co-head of Herzog Fox & Neeman (HFN)’s high-tech department, drinks a beer on the rooftop of a client’s office in central Tel Aviv. The weekly drink, which started seven years ago when he returned to Israel from New York, is a routine that is borne out of professional commitment and friendship. In the start-up and high-tech world, the two often go hand in hand.
‘We share a long journey with our clients and we are often with them from day one,’ Geva says. ‘The only way to keep in touch with this very vibrant dynamic ecosystem is to hang out with friends, clients and hear the news.’ Continue reading “In the game – Israeli law firms embrace risks to secure the tech icons of tomorrow”
In a world where newspapers are branding judges ‘enemies of the people’ and fake news dominates public discourse, these days the media itself is the story.
Continue reading “Fit to print – who’d want the lot of a media and publishing GC?”
The media company’s group legal director discusses how her personal approach took her to the top of her game
At the age of 19, while doing work experience for a duty solicitor, Nilema Bhakta-Jones was called to Nuneaton police station, finding herself in a mostly empty set of cells at 1am. One cell was occupied by the client, a man arrested on suspicion of committing grievous bodily harm against his pregnant girlfriend.
Continue reading “Client profile: Nilema Bhakta-Jones, Ascential”
My father, who sadly died last year, did his articles. Absolutely hated it. Left as soon as he could. He did briefly work in London and then went to Edinburgh, and carried out his career as a fund manager. He was always much more interested in stock markets than the law. He was a very kind, calm and perceptive man.
I joined SJ Berwin in 1991, qualified in 1993, became a partner in 1999, left in 2004. Came back in 2006. Until the bitter end.
Researching our quality of life special, we canvassed the top ten UK firms for details on their HR policies on parental leave and flexible working, as well as other support provided to improve the lives of all staff. Below are the results
‘Management is the most noble of professions… No other occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow. More and more MBA students come to school thinking that a career in business means buying, selling and investing in companies. That’s unfortunate. Doing deals doesn’t yield the deep rewards that come from building up people.’
Clayton Christensen, How Will You Measure Your Life?
Continue reading “Survivors – the battle to improve the working lives of lawyers”
City lawyers have long been prone to burnout. Are changing attitudes seeing law firms finally face up to the challenges of mental health and extreme stress?
‘I decided the sensible thing to do was walk across four lanes of French motorway traffic. Eventually I was accosted by a toll gate assistant asking: “What are you doing?” I had to confess that I really had little idea. I wasn’t aware of the warning signs.’
Continue reading “Fault lines – Can City law face up to the challenges of mental health?”
‘We have a reasonable word-of-mouth reputation as purveyors of miserable music for gut-wrenching films.’
Many City lawyers have outside interests, few combine being at the very top of their profession with another career outlet. But Slaughter and May senior partner Steve Cooke is one such individual. Since 1993 the M&A veteran has worked with cartoonist Russell Taylor – famed for creating the comic strip Alex – to produce soundtracks for over 50 films and documentaries. Among others, they composed the music for Bafta-winning and Bafta-nominated documentaries such as The Lost Girls of South Africa, China’s Stolen Children, Chosen, Orphans of Nkandla, and the recent BBC series about Country Life magazine titled Land of Hope and Glory. Cooke plays and composes on the keyboards and guitar.
Continue reading “The quality of life report: Pursuits – Steve Cooke, Slaughter and May”
‘What makes a photograph is the light – you’ve got to get everything else there, but if the light isn’t right it will never work.’
Freshfields senior partner Edward Braham has taken photographs all his life. The walls of his office are covered with photographs from his trips to South Africa, Paris, Kyoto and Tanzania. For this respected City corporate lawyer, photography is the hobby that ‘clears the brain’ when he takes time out.
‘Being open about my experience has not held back my career. If anything, it’s enhanced my relationship with my colleagues and clients.’
In 2015 Herbert Smith Freehills pension partner Samantha Brown suffered a depressive episode. She returned to work after three months, but found herself off again because she had not fully recovered. Brown eventually returned to practise as a partner at the firm.
‘It’s the stigma that stops people talking and that same stigma prevents anyone else from learning.’
In 2011, then Speechly Bircham partner Richard Martin suffered a major panic attack followed by a breakdown and almost two years of therapy. Having left City law, Martin now works for workplace and HR consultancy Byrne Dean, advising on mental health issues. For him, the stigma around mental health in the City has prevented people speaking out.
Continue reading “The quality of life report: Perspectives – Richard Martin, Byrne Dean”
‘This is a hard career, but everything’s hard. Work hard, be the better you and enjoy yourself.’
In 2012 White & Case’s global private equity co-head Ian Bagshaw lost his younger brother, Dan, then aged just 27. He died suddenly on the finish line of an ITU Olympic distance triathlon in Hong Kong. That same year, while Bagshaw was a partner at Linklaters, his family set up Dan’s Trust to raise money for research and to help the local community.
Continue reading “The quality of life report: Pursuits – Ian Bagshaw, White & Case”
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”
