For decades, Hong Kong has been at the centre of Western law firms’ strategies, with its long history as one of the world’s key financial centres. However, times have changed since the first firms set foot in the region.
There’s no doubt that firms are using non-UK growth to power their global figures. Of the 35 Top 50 firms for which The Lawyer has historical global revenue data, all but four saw higher growth outside the UK in the five years since 2019. Included in this group is Herbert Smith Freehillls (HSF), where London remains […]
Which law firms are private equity houses looking to invest in? The answer, if the conversations we’re having with managing partners are anything to go by, is ‘pretty much all of them’. Most regional firms of note have had speculative approaches at some time in the last five years or so, as private equity gradually […]
Barclays’ legal team was once among the most influential in the UK. That power has diminished over the last decade, yet the banking giant still packs a punch when it comes to talent management. Some 40 lawyers are understood to have left Barclays in the UK last year. There are cost-cutting measures at play here, […]
Keystone Law, the poster child for the platform firm, is likely to break the psychologically important £100m revenue barrier in 2025. The success of this firm has spawned a new market, which is challenging traditional firms on the talent front. More than 3,500 lawyers now work across a variety of fee-sharing outfits, research from Atlas […]
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Gowling WLG and Norton Rose Fulbright’s London offices will all be under water in a few decades. This trio shares idyllic views overlooking the Thames, but they will all be submerged in the river by the year 2100 as climate change-induced sea level rises occur. And this is based on the […]
CMS senior partner Penelope Warne has revealed her next steps ahead of her departure from the firm at the end of the month. After 10 years at the helm, Warne is spearheading a project that she founded at the World Bank, via her own company, which promotes the rule of law and access to justice, […]
Slaughter and May is to add another senior lawyer to its pensions team in the City, this time from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Charles Magoffin, a partner at Freshfields since 2010, is joining Slaughters as a senior counsel from September. Slaughters has still only ever made one lateral hire in the City, also into its pensions […]
Litigation funders will be keeping a close eye on an upcoming review into third-party funding regulation, proposed caps on returns, as well as litigation costs. The Civil Justice Council is looking to produce a full report by the summer of 2025. The review follows an increased focus on litigation funders and their role in disputes, […]
In its largest promotions round ever, Ashurst has elevated eight London lawyers to partner out of 30 worldwide. The firm has made up eight lawyers in London, as well as seven in Sydney. In total, 17 promotions were made in Ashurst’s Australian offices, meaning just five were made outside of either London or Australia. Loans […]
Frustrated Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) candidates are calling on the SRA to increase accessibility to the appeals process after a results error saw 175 candidates mistakenly told they had failed their exams. On Monday last week, the SRA announced that 175 candidates who sat SQE1 in January and were told they had failed on 14 […]
