Globalisation and its effect on a rapidly changing legal market led to the transformative tie-up between Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling, its leaders have explained today. Talking to The Lawyer, A&O senior partner Wim Dejonghe said: “I’ve been saying for a while there will be consolidation in the market. You need to be of […]
The total fee income generated by the UK’s 50-largest firms hit a new record in 2022/23, despite many firms conceding that the trading conditions during the year were among the most challenging they have ever faced. The top 50 firms ranked by global revenue generated a total of £30.8bn last year, up by 8 per […]
This post has been updated with The Lawyer’s 2021 ranking of the top 100 European law firms by revenue. For many firms in Europe, the difficulties of 2020 turned out to be how to meet capacity when workflows roared back in the second half, and how to keep their staff motivated through waves of lockdowns […]
In July, The Lawyer started its analysis of the third group in its Practice Analysis offering – real estate. The report for July looks at the UK real estate practices of more than 180 firms, ranks them by the size of their real estate team and provides important efficiency measures such as revenue per lawyer […]
Globalisation and its effect on a rapidly changing legal market led to the transformative tie-up between Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling, its leaders have explained today. Talking to The Lawyer, A&O senior partner Wim Dejonghe said: “I’ve been saying for a while there will be consolidation in the market. You need to be of […]
The total fee income generated by the UK’s 50-largest firms hit a new record in 2022/23, despite many firms conceding that the trading conditions during the year were among the most challenging they have ever faced. The top 50 firms ranked by global revenue generated a total of £30.8bn last year, up by 8 per […]
This post has been updated with The Lawyer’s 2021 ranking of the top 100 European law firms by revenue. For many firms in Europe, the difficulties of 2020 turned out to be how to meet capacity when workflows roared back in the second half, and how to keep their staff motivated through waves of lockdowns […]
In July, The Lawyer started its analysis of the third group in its Practice Analysis offering – real estate. The report for July looks at the UK real estate practices of more than 180 firms, ranks them by the size of their real estate team and provides important efficiency measures such as revenue per lawyer […]
The City of London Law Society (CLLS) has appealed to City firms to take on trainees from Ince as fear grows for the future of the troubled firm. On Friday 25 August, CLLS chair Colin Passmore, at the behest of CLLS training committee chair Patrick McCann and Watson Farley & Williams’ director of development and […]
Deloitte Legal likes to make a lot of noise about its dabbling in the legal sphere. The 2020 acquisition of Kemp Little was proclaimed as “ground-breaking” by the auditing giant. More recently, the 2023 hire of a four-partner real estate team from Shoosmiths suggested a significant gearshift in its legal operations. Pre-pandemic, such a move […]
Any firm that has occupied the national scene will know that the multiple office network can be politically charged. Management might talk about ‘one firm, one culture’, but most lawyers are aware of a pecking order with London in lead position. The annual promotions season provides a snapshot of how firms are prioritising those networks, […]
Journalists aren’t natural champions of PRs, but sometimes we sympathise. Cleaning up the mess of lawyers behaving badly. Calming down those who haven’t been ranked in the latest directory release. Trying to pitch tedious not-quite-scholarly articles to uninterested reporters. Getting asked ‘can we just have a leaflet?’ by people who don’t comprehend the breadth of […]
In-house lawyers are contending with major resourcing issues that is preventing them from doing their job effectively. This is the conclusion of major new research from alternative legal provider, Axiom, which found the in-house market stacked with challenges. In the wake of the Post Office Horizon Public Inquiry, which has put the reputation of the […]
The scene: A US firm boardroom, somewhere not in New York*. Big Cheese (furiously): ‘We’re not growing fast enough. What have you got?’ Smaller Cheese (panicking): Private equity! That’s the thing! Kirkland! Paul Weiss!’ Big Cheese: ‘Do whatever it takes. And do it now.’ Smaller Cheese: ‘Leave it with me. We’ll hire big in London. […]
The full judgment in the case over Dr Craig Wright’s claim that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of Bitcoin, has been released today with scathing comments from the judge. The Australian computer scientist has long contended he is the pseudonymous individual who invented Bitcoin and wrote the Bitcoin White Paper, the foundational text of […]
Browne Jacobson has taken a team of five lawyers, including two partners, from EY in London as it looks to grow in the UK capital. Rowan Armstrong and Alex Mason are both commercial tech specialists. They are set to join Browne Jacobson in June, along with a legal director and two associates. Both Armstrong and Mason […]
A team from Cahill Gordon & Reindel’s finance practice are set to move firms to Latham & Watkins. It is understood that Jonathan Brownson, Joydeep Choudhuri and Prue Criddle are switching across, having joined Cahill during a significant period of growth for the firm. Brownson moved with Jake Keaveny in a much touted move from […]
Linklaters has increased its newly-qualified lawyer salary by £25,000, a fortnight after Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer did the same. The firm has increased its NQ pay from £125,000 to £150,000. Alongside this, trainee salaries have risen by £6,000 across both years to £56,000 and £61,000. Solicitor apprentice pay is now £28,000, growing from £25,000. The firm […]
Three firms have won spots on High Speed Two railway’s (HS2) latest panel worth £4m. Burges Salmon, Gowling WLG and Sharpe Pritchard have all won spots on the panel, which is for the provision of procurement, commercial and general legal services. Burges Salmon is the only firm to be re-appointed from the previous panel, having […]
