It’s not going to come as a huge shock to our readership of jaded veterans to hear this but the 2014 promotion rounds from the UK’s top law firms have confirmed that the striking revival in business confidence over the last 12 months has made pretty much no improvement in partnership prospects. Continue reading “Comment: Shock horror – economic revival makes it as impossible as ever to make partner”
Heading to The Ivy: Legal Business and RPC team up for GC Power List Summer Reception
We’ve made it no secret that a major aim for Legal Business and its Legalease stablemates is to better engage with the general counsel (GC) community. As such, we’re taking another step in that direction with the launch of an exclusive debate and networking event in June, building on the success of our acclaimed Power List report.
The GC Power List Summer Reception will be held on the evening of 11 June, with RPC as lead sponsor. The event will comprise a relaxed debate chaired by veteran City columnist Anthony Hilton, followed by an evening of food and drink at the renowned private members’ club at The Ivy. The debate will include senior lawyers sharing their experiences from companies including Land Securities, ITV, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Shire and Vodafone.
Whose money making machine? Not all law firms will be richer in a bank-lite world
Cov-lite, cov-loose and even now cov-lame – in some pockets of the finance market we are back to the boom days. All we need is a couple of headstrong private equity partners to quit Linklaters for a more sponsor-facing platform and we’ll be right back to 2006. On second thoughts…
As our cover feature this month makes clear, the debt markets are going through not only a substantive revival but the non-investment sector is rapidly being dragged towards a US-style dynamic. This means European borrowers increasingly tapping capital markets and the role of banks reducing amid competition from other debt providers. The related vogue for upper mid-market and larger buyouts to be backed by high-yield bonds and US loans has obvious implications for City advisers since it tilts the playing field heavily in favour of New York law and US advisers.
Continue reading “Whose money making machine? Not all law firms will be richer in a bank-lite world”
DISSENT: A precarious professionalism
UCL’s Richard Moorhead argues the integrity and professionalism that City lawyers take for granted is all too easily swayed
The practice of law has flipped from vocation to business. Law firms and individual lawyers are measured explicitly in predominantly economic terms. Profit per equity partner (PEP) and other indicators trickle down firms through targets and bonuses. Hourly rates are the oil that greases this engine. Alongside that is the somewhat servile claim that lawyers are not deal breakers or pettifoggers, but business-focused advisers, and business-focused advisers for whom the client comes first.
The last word – the state of law firm leadership
With a spate of executive elections taking place recently, we ask the c-suite at leading City firms how management has changed over the last five years
CONSENSUS APPROACH
‘The command and control structure doesn’t generally work in law firms. Nonetheless, the last five years have seen a greater acceptance from partners for the need to operate more tightly and collectively. Partnerships will always have mixed feelings about their leadership. Leading a law firm is about managing ambiguity, ambivalence and disparate viewpoints.
Continue reading “The last word – the state of law firm leadership”
Heading to The Ivy: Legal Business and RPC team up for GC Power List Summer Reception
We’ve made it no secret that a major aim for Legal Business and its Legalease stable-mates is to better engage with the general counsel community. As such we’re taking another step in that direction with the launch of an exclusive debate and networking event in June building on the success of our acclaimed Power List Report. Continue reading “Heading to The Ivy: Legal Business and RPC team up for GC Power List Summer Reception”
Comment: A truly global City and the fiercest contest in law
So much for the humbling of the City. Our annual Global London special 2014 finds that the number of lawyers employed at the top 50 foreign firms in the Square Mile has finally and comfortably broken its 2008 high, with over 4,500 lawyers working across the group after a 6% hike in numbers.
Continue reading “Comment: A truly global City and the fiercest contest in law”
A truly global City and the fiercest contest in law
So much for the humbling of the City. Our annual Global London special finds that the number of lawyers employed at the top 50 foreign firms in the Square Mile has finally and comfortably broken its 2008 high, with over 4,500 lawyers working across the group after a 6% hike in numbers.
And in the post-Lehman world, London is now less about grand schemes and expensive investment – these offices are often profitable in their own right. The top ten largest City offices of US-bred parents collectively generated over £1bn in fees last year and have made 34 lateral hires since last February. Continue reading “A truly global City and the fiercest contest in law”
The last word – American hustle
In this month’s Global London special we report on the advances made by US firms in London, particularly in litigation. Senior players in London give their perspective.
GO WEST
‘Although Magic Circle firms have offices in the US, they haven’t penetrated the biggest legal market in the world. Those firms haven’t got past a couple of cities on the East Coast – that doesn’t cut it in the US. There’s a lot of litigation in the US and those firms don’t have the same amount of coverage.’
Craig Shuttleworth, partner, Jones Day
Comment: The road to equity – a difficult journey, an uncertain destination
The legal profession is going through a period of dramatic and profound change, and the forces driving these changes are having far-reaching consequences on the industry. The roles and responsibilities of the equity partner are not immune from these forces, and are evolving and expanding in response. For many this is creating great ambiguity, while others are seizing the opportunity. Continue reading “Comment: The road to equity – a difficult journey, an uncertain destination”