The strategies that will drive the world’s leading litigation firms
$30bn in total disputes income among the Global Litigation Top 50 shows this is still a rich seam to mine. Here, we dig into the strategies driving the leading firms
UK50’s fastest growing firm isn’t led from London
Over the last decade, the UK’s Top 50 firms have trialled a variety of tactics to satisfy an incessant demand for revenue growth. Consolidation has been a feature of the decade, with ‘critical mass’ becoming a key term used by managing partners as they push forward their growth agendas. Internationalisation too is a hallmark of […]
A&O partner cuts will hit hardest outside the UK
A&O Shearman is looking to cut 10 per cent of its global partnership, but it’s doing so in a year in which its London recruitment team has been at its busiest. The firm has hired eight lateral partners in the City so far this year and last week’s announcement of “planned business changes” does little […]
Don’t worry Ashurst, there’s always next year
Before financials season got fully underway, The Lawyer took a look at the firms most likely to hit the milestones of £2bn, £1bn and £500m. There were not many, highlighting the challenge for firms to grow bigger and profitably. Of the seven likelies, just two definitely managed it – Linklaters and Bird & Bird – […]
London loves a lateral
For years, particularly since 2016 and the vote for Brexit, much has been written about the odds of London’s decline as a world financial hub. Most of it has focused on deal and investment activity. But there’s another metric, one that amply underlines the sheer pulling power of the City and suggests that far from […]
The UK’s law firms have abandoned Elon Musk
“I’ve seen the future, and it’s porn, sharks and Nazis.” Twitter hadn’t even been founded at the time, but the above quote from the niche 2005 sitcom Bromwell High turned out to be unintendedly prophetic when considering the journey of one of the planet’s largest social media companies. Once ‘the world’s town square’, Twitter, latterly […]
Ashurst hires fintech partner from EY
Ashurst has announced the hire of EY’s Fiona Ghosh as the latest recruit to its digital economy team in London. She moves from EY where she has been a partner and UK law leader for fintech and payments. Having held roles as head of fintech for AG and head of payments for Eversheds, she brings […]
Loss for Freshfields-repped Tesco in “fire and re-hire” dispute
In a loss for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer client Tesco, the Supreme Court has today (12 September) favoured the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) in its appeal against the supermarket giant’s “fire and rehire“ practices. The Supreme Court hearing took place in April 2024 and saw Old Square Chambers’ Oliver Segal KC and […]
BD training for the TikTok generation: Boodle Hatfield launches 15-minute courses
Boodle Hatfield has revamped its soft skills training format from traditional hour-long business development sessions to short-burst group calls done over several weeks. The new programme, introduced by business development director Lucy Rao, covers topics including sales, networking, pitching and LinkedIn usage. Each topic is covered over three 15-minute Teams calls spread over two weeks. […]
Trowers mulls trainee headcount ahead of apprenticeship launch
Trowers & Hamlins’s trainee numbers fell slightly last year, while the firm is of one of many considering how to balance out intake numbers with new solicitor apprentices. The firm has 56 trainees in total, but its intake numbers dipped slightly in the last iteration as a result of SQE exam grades and subsequent resits. […]
DLA and Addleshaws dropped as North West public sector panel rings changes
The North West Legal Consortium (NWLC) has revamped its solicitors framework panel, bringing in eight new firms and dropping seven others. In total, 15 firms have been selected for the new panel, which is set to operate for four years between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2028. The eight newcomers are Brodies, Capsticks, Hill […]