After a rocky 2016 with Brexit and Trump, we ask the City’s leading corporate players how 2017 will play out. Continue reading “The last word: Dealbreakers”
The last word: Dealbreakers
A buzzword, sure, but one with edge
Macfarlanes’ Charles Martin reviews Heidi Gardner’s much-discussed new book on collaboration in professional services
Collaboration within a law firm is as self-evidently a good thing as motherhood and apple pie. But then you might think the case for global warming is pretty clear too. So, despite the wave of professional recognition Harvard Law School professor Heidi Gardner (pictured) has received for her work on teamworking, her new book, Smart Collaboration, has the considerable challenge of getting lawyers past the outskirts of platitudinal praise and towards the town centre of actual working habits. Continue reading “A buzzword, sure, but one with edge”
HSF – At least one Down Under revolution worked
As Barclays sifts through the wreckage of King & Wood Mallesons’ European practice and claims of fresh departures swirl around Ashurst, you have to say that the marriage of Herbert Smith and Australian leader Freehills could have gone worse. A lot worse. Continue reading “HSF – At least one Down Under revolution worked”
There’s value in CMS’ purchase and one big hurdle ahead
In the wake of the eye-catching tie-up of CMS Cameron McKenna, Nabarro and Olswang, Legal Business noted last year that the gnomic messages around the union made it a hard one to judge. And even after a detailed assessment of the largest UK legal merger ever, as we undertake for this month’s cover feature, it’s not easy to put the pieces together. Continue reading “There’s value in CMS’ purchase and one big hurdle ahead”
As KWM cracks, beware re-written history and schadenfreude
Happy New Year, profession. Barely have we gotten into 2017 and the inevitable has happened: the legacy SJ Berwin business has entered administration, becoming the largest collapse in European legal history.
From the point last spring that a high-billing Paris private equity team quit for Goodwin Procter, it was hard to see King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) European business avoiding a bad outcome. But this comment is not really about KWM’s fate, more about how we try to interpret events and re-write history after the fact. Continue reading “As KWM cracks, beware re-written history and schadenfreude”
Client profile: Margaret Cole, PwC UK
Once the chief enforcer for the City, the PwC UK general counsel discusses breaking balls and finding a silver lining to the financial crisis
‘I would never have taken a role where I wasn’t sitting at the top table. I make sure I have influence in how a firm goes about things,’ notes veteran litigator Margaret Cole, PwC’s UK general counsel (GC) and chief risk officer. Continue reading “Client profile: Margaret Cole, PwC UK”
The new black – the spin and substance behind collaboration
Collaboration has become the new innovation – the quality clients are supposed to want and progressive law firms strive to deliver. Does the reality match the hype?
‘Why are so many restaurants now featuring windows that let you peek into their kitchens, or seating you as close as possible to the chefs? Because customers have decided they want to be “in the kitchen”. They want to see how the sausage is made.’
Heidi Gardner, Harvard Law School
Continue reading “The new black – the spin and substance behind collaboration”
One man band: Can Ropes & Gray maintain the momentum without Allen?
Madeleine Farman and Victoria Young ask the firm’s leaders about growth in the City.
Ropes & Gray’s rapid growth in London is an ascent which any newcomer would aspire to. Although the Boston firm was late to the party when it officially opened in 2010, its sole European base has enjoyed an impressive upward trajectory. Revenue was up by almost a third in 2015 to $83m, a successful result on the back of a 30% increase in 2014 when City turnover was $64m. Continue reading “One man band: Can Ropes & Gray maintain the momentum without Allen?”
Sponsored briefing: Offshore but not off limits
Navigant’s David Lawler on recent developments in asset-tracing claims
Given the multiplicity of channels available to money launderers and the increasingly sophisticated methods they use to cover their tracks when routing dirty money, claimants in asset-tracing cases face many barriers to recovering funds. Indeed, electronic banking means that funds transfers across borders and through multiple accounts allow fraudsters to quickly and repeatedly splinter assets into sub-accounts, almost instantaneously. They have many ways to hide money, involving webs of credits and debits between banks and intermediaries. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Offshore but not off limits”
Al-Sweady inquiry: Shiner struck off for dishonesty with £250,000 costs over Iraq war claims
Human rights lawyer Professor Phil Shiner has been struck off and ordered to pay costs of £250,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal over the pursuit of false allegations against British soldiers in Iraq. Continue reading “Al-Sweady inquiry: Shiner struck off for dishonesty with £250,000 costs over Iraq war claims”
Quinn prepares to mount shareholder claim against BT following accounting scandal
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is investigating a potential class action against BT on behalf of its shareholders following an accounting scandal which saw almost £8bn, or more than a fifth, wiped off the telco’s stock value. Continue reading “Quinn prepares to mount shareholder claim against BT following accounting scandal”
Freshfields LLPs reveal revenue £40m short of previously stated turnover
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer‘s Companies House filings state turnover as £40m lower than its previously reported revenue figures for 2015/16, with the firm claiming exchange rates are the reason for the discrepancy. Continue reading “Freshfields LLPs reveal revenue £40m short of previously stated turnover”
Lawyers on Demand records double-digit revenue growth as top-end salaries soar
Lawyers on Demand (LOD) has recorded an 18% upsurge in turnover for the 2015/16 financial year, according to its latest filings with Companies House. Revenues rose from £12.3m to £14.6m in the last financial year. Continue reading “Lawyers on Demand records double-digit revenue growth as top-end salaries soar”
Quinn, Freshfields and HSF in drivers’ seat for firms defending truck cartel claims
Partners at a raft of firms including Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are gearing up for potential damages claims against Europe’s biggest truck makers after they admitted to operating a 14 year price cartel. Continue reading “Quinn, Freshfields and HSF in drivers’ seat for firms defending truck cartel claims”
Norton Rose Fulbright eyes greater US depth through late-stage merger talks with Chadbourne
In what would be its second North American merger in two years, Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) is understood to be close to sealing a deal with $250m New York firm Chadbourne & Parke.
The emerging GC – shrouded in the vague
Do you ever get the feeling you’re flying blind as a general counsel? Not in the context of your own business, which will generate reams of numbers and facts to indicate how the legal function is performing within that one company. But in the context of how GCs and legal teams are developing at a wider level, profession-wide and within industry sectors, the question stands.
Simmons, BLP and Reed Smith win places on Lloyds’ specialist roster as bank gears up for commercial panel review
Simmons & Simmons, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), Bond Dickinson and Reed Smith are among 24 firms to win a place on Lloyds Banking Group’s (LBG) specialist sub panel, which sits below the bank’s main core roster of eight firms. Continue reading “Simmons, BLP and Reed Smith win places on Lloyds’ specialist roster as bank gears up for commercial panel review”
Legal tech landscape remains ‘highly fragmented’, Law Society report claims
Awareness of cutting edge legal tech remains limited among senior managers at law firms with a quarter unaware of most emerging technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning, according to a report from the Law Society. Continue reading “Legal tech landscape remains ‘highly fragmented’, Law Society report claims”
Eversheds Sutherland unveils leadership team as combination goes live
Eversheds Sutherland has unveiled its joint leadership team as the combination between Eversheds and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan goes live today (1 February) following a partner vote in December. Continue reading “Eversheds Sutherland unveils leadership team as combination goes live”
The emerging GC – shrouded in the vague
Do you ever get the feeling you’re flying blind as a general counsel? Not in the context of your own business, which will generate reams of numbers and facts to indicate how the legal function is performing within that one company. But in the context of how GCs and legal teams are developing at a wider level, profession-wide and within industry sectors, the question stands.