Topping the headlines this week was the shock departure of Linklaters managing partner for the newly-created top job of chief people, legal and strategy officer at Lloyds Banking Group. His move, coinciding with the announcement that the firm’s turnover had crept up by just 1 per cent, sent shockwaves through the market, with Davies’ legacy […]
There could hardly be a more appropriate symbol of London’s current sky-high property prices than the tale of Boodle Hatfield. This story about a centuries-old, property-focused firm that until recently was deeply entrenched in the West End highlights how it’s not only potential first-time buyers that are being squeezed out of the capital’s prime locations. Our data-rich cover […]
After years of chasing its rivals, Allen & Overy (A&O) has displaced Linklaters as – for the time being – as the second-largest magic circle firm. The change comes thanks to the firm’s 4 per cent revenue rise, to £1.28bn, set against Linklaters’ 1 per cent real-terms rise to £1.267bn. It is a significant shift […]
Firms need to juggle real estate costs with providing a modern environment. Balancing the economics of growing a City law firm to keep pace with rising global markets against a backdrop of expensive office rents is a conundrum facing many managing partners. Real estate spend is, after all, the biggest cost to law firms after […]
Boodle Hatfield may have set a trend when it vacated its 300-year Mayfair seat, with firms – both in London and nationwide – being forced by soaring property prices to get creative with their real estate. Unless you’ve been living in total isolation for the past decade you’ll know a thing or two about London’s […]
This week’s top briefings writers from TheLawyer.com deal with issues relevant to in-house counsel, including a checklist for oral agreements, changes to the training regime and why digital investment is a priority for businesses. Gwendoline Davies, Walker Morris – ‘ Tips for those who enter oral agreements: a checklist for in-house lawyers’ https://www.thelawyer.com/briefings/tips-for-those-who-enter-oral-agreements-a-checklist-for-in-house-lawyers/3031637.article Totum – ‘ […]
Fees are on the rise in public M&A work, but the gap is widening between the billion-pound transactions and those of under £500m. Last year saw the return of big M&A – even if many of the largest transactions failed. Pfizer sought to take over AstraZeneca for £62bn, a move that was closely followed by […]
Despite the growth economy, it is still a buyer’s market. And while efficiency remains a major concern, client pressure is changing firms for the better. Q: As the new financial year gets under way, and the consensus appears to be that market conditions are more benign, to what extent do you believe the focus of […]
Crisis taxes and regulatory changes have doused foreign investor interest but firms are gaining opportunities elsewhere as a result of the global crash. Q: What impact have the so-called ‘crisis taxes’ imposed in 2010 had on your business and that of your clients? Do you think this has dissuaded foreign investors? Andrea Jádi Németh, managing […]
Finance partner David Eich featured in The Lawyer magazine’s Hot 100 at a pivotal time for Kirkland & Ellis, when the firm enlisted him to lead a local expansion effort in Hong Kong. “There was a lot of discussion at that time about how that investment would endure over time,” Eich says. “It was a […]
At the age of just 31, gas distribution network SGN’s general counsel Nicola Shand has already grown a six-strong legal team and landed herself a place on the company’s executive board. Becoming general counsel of a national gas mains distribution network with more than five million customers in your twenties is a daunting prospect, but […]