‘One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. “Which road do I take?” she asked. “Where do you want to go?” was his response. “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”’
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
The above passage from Alice in Wonderland, says Daniel Jowell QC of Brick Court Chambers, is apt when planning for the possibility of the UK leaving the EU. Continue reading “2016 and all that”
Twenty years ago the idea of any person instructing the Bar other than a private practice solicitor was frowned upon. Although as qualified solicitors in-house counsel always had the right to instruct barristers, convention dictated private practice lawyers acted as gatekeepers of the Bar for companies seeking advice on litigation. But, as the rules have changed and in-house lawyers have expanded their remits, corporate legal teams have come to appreciate the benefits of direct interaction with barristers. Continue reading “Straight to the source”
Working long hours, expected to be available at all hours, and labelled a cost-centre. Such are the pressures of life in-house. The days of commerce and industry as a softer option for lawyers than the toil of the law firm associate track are rapidly drawing to a close. Continue reading “Passion plays”
There is a reason that the slogan ‘No taxation without representation’ has echoed through history. The rally cry of the American revolution demonstrates a basic truth that institutions and figures of authority hitting up constituencies for money without broadly representing their interests are in the long run asking for trouble.
Continue reading “Comment: Why it’s time for the Law Society’s levy to go”
Dentons‘ NextLaw Labs, a venture launched last year for financing new legal services technologies, has made its second major investment with legal tech start-up Apperio.
Continue reading “Dentons’ venture NextLaw Labs invests in fee transparency firm Apperio”
Reed Smith has reported global revenues fell 2.5% in 2015 to $1.12bn from $1.15bn, while profits per partner were lower by 8.1%, which the firm has said is due to poor commodity prices and early resolution of some litigation matters.
Continue reading “Reed Smith blames poor energy prices as global revenues dip 2.5%”
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy has become the latest firm to post flat results following the economic slowdown in some of its key markets, including energy and infrastructure, as its London office put in a strong 6% revenue increase to $110.2m.
Continue reading “Milbank posts flat global results as London turnover rises 6% to $110m”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has hired Clifford Chance’s Alastair Mordaunt to become the new competition head of its Hong Kong practice.
Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy (A&O) has taken a lead role acting for Deutsche Börse as it spins off its US options exchange operator International Securities Exchange, in a move which looks to aid the German stock exchange operator’s proposed merger with the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
Continue reading “Allen & Overy and Wachtell take leads on Deutsche Börse spin-off”
Eversheds and Osborne Clarke have been reappointed to Siemens UK’s legal panel, while newcomer Addleshaw Goddard will replace Reed Smith, following a review.
Continue reading “Reed Smith replaced as Addleshaw Goddard joins Siemens UK legal panel”
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has made 17 partner promotions worldwide, in a bumper round more than three times last year’s round of five. Of these 17, 82% were promoted in London and six in the firm’s real estate practice.
In June 2014 the government extended flexible working rights to more than 20 million employees across the UK in a policy shift that recognised the traditional nine-to-five routine no longer dominates British workplaces. But if such attitudes are relatively new to much of the economy, lawyers in in-house roles – traditionally a more progressive environment than private practice – have long put a premium on agile working. Continue reading “Goodbye nine to five”
A tax on City lawyers floated by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to subsidise the criminal court system has been effectively abandoned amid Treasury opposition, according to senior City sources.
Continue reading “Gove’s City levy kicked into long grass amid Treasury opposition”
In the age of the anodyne corporate law firm, you can at least say a marriage of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Greenberg Traurig would be a distinct beast. If the talks are successful, it would be the first major international deal built on the foundation of real estate.
Continue reading “Comment: Merging BLP and Greenberg Traurig – unique, compelling, bloody difficult”
Squire Patton Boggs has promoted seven in the City in its latest global partnership round of 30, where it has made up the same number of partners across the globe as it did last year.
Continue reading “Squire makes up seven in the City in global promotions round”
Tech firm Bird & Bird has reappointed its longstanding leader David Kerr (pictured) as its chief executive for a further three years and elected the founder of its Italian practice as chairman.
Continue reading “Bird & Bird’s Kerr set to hit 23 years in charge following re-election”
Victoria Young speaks to the management duo about the transformed mid-market player
‘We’ll be the first to admit the firm of five years ago wasn’t delivering what the partners wanted,’ says Fieldfisher managing partner Michael Chissick. In 2012, Legal Business took a close look at Field Fisher Waterhouse and at the time the mid-market law firm was desperate for a suitor. Three years, two failed merger talks and several high-profile partner exits later, and Fieldfisher has undergone a reboot far beyond its change of name.
Continue reading “‘We needed to move on’: Why Fieldfisher has turned its back on the dating game”
The energy group’s upstream legal chief discusses general counsel’s role as a risk partner and that £47bn deal
As BG Group general counsel (GC), and now executive vice president and GC for Royal Dutch Shell’s upstream business, Tom Melbye Eide has an enviable addition to his CV, considering his lead role in BG’s £47bn acquisition by Shell, the world’s second-biggest energy deal on record, which completed last month. Continue reading “Client profile: Tom Melbye Eide, Royal Dutch Shell”
I had no intention of doing law. My father was a detective in the Scottish flying squad. I wanted to join the police.
I got a traineeship at Dundas & Wilson where I was the only female trainee. I was also one of the very few that hadn’t been to public school. People were nice but it did feel very odd.
Macfarlanes’ Charles Martin reflects on the paradoxes facing the modern partner
I confess the analogy is not perfect, but reflecting on the bizarre and often contradictory pressures on partners in law firms today brings to mind the world of Alice in Wonderland. Today, many question the appropriateness of the partnership model itself. They certainly question the strange, often opaque feudal master/servant process by which the aspiring lawyer serves their apprenticeship. They then work (following the white rabbit down the hole past many locked doors) until they leave all caution behind and take the option of partnership – a bit like Alice eating the cake with ‘EAT ME’ written on it. Readers of the story will know that the result is Alice growing to such a tremendous size that her head hits the ceiling! The analogy is maybe not so imperfect after all.
