Practice Analysis – Our Insights

Uncover strategic insights with the new Practice Analysis. Explore the dimensions of your practice,
dissect your efficiency and benchmark against your competitors..

.


.
people in a group

The recipe for corporate success? More junior associates

Corporate teams at Slaughter and May and Travers Smith are relying on larger – and younger – teams of associates to power up their revenues. According to data collected by The Lawyer’s Practice Analysis service, firms housing a larger number of junior lawyers help to grow revenues quicker compared to firms with a more senior […]

Paul Hastings

Paul Hastings swipes Latham’s disputes chief

Paul Hastings has hired two disputes partners from Latham & Watkins, including its London head of litigation. Oliver Browne, who has been co-chair of Latham’s London litigation practice since 2018, and Stuart Alford KC, former head of banking fraud at the Serious Fraud Office, are set to join Paul Hastings. Browne leaves Latham after 18 […]

Partnerless

Partnerless is The Lawyer’s email specifically for associates. Sign up here or in MY ACCOUNT for weekly career intelligence and market chatter.

Bryony Theaker, Clifford Chance

“You suddenly find yourself quite senior”: A Clifford Chance associate reflects on her time in-house

Tallying up two maternity leaves and an 11-month stint in-house, Clifford Chance project finance senior associate Bryony Theaker spent the best part of the pandemic out of private practice. While lawyers may once have associated progression with office visibility, the dial has shifted. Indeed, Theaker explains that she returned from her secondment at interconnector Greenlink […]

Jing Wei Luo: “Do the work and opportunity will find you.”

Many starting lawyers will come into the profession comforted by the promise of a stable, straight-forward career where the next steps are clearly laid ahead towards the golden ticket of partnership. But for KHP Ventures new head of legal and operations, Jing Wei Luo, his career has been spent moving back and forth between private […]

calendar pages

Litigators wait longer to make partnership

Disputes lawyers are back in fashion, yet being a litigator can hinder a lawyer’s partnership prospects. Corporate lawyers are more likely to switch firms than their litigator friends, and they are rewarded for that by being made up to partner at a much faster rate, analysis from The Lawyer Practice Analysis shows. The snapshot view […]

DACB and DWF are piling on debt but gaining market share

Utilising debt to finance growth is an uneasy concept for the legal profession. The booming cash reserves of the last year have done little to assuage this; lawyers would prefer firms use that money to make investments rather than take it from a lender. Bucking the trend here is a Top 30 duo that has […]

Your juniors need you

The physical manifestation of how firms are adapting their approach to learning and development for the hybrid workforce is evident in how firms are reimagining their offices. As well as adding a plethora of mod cons, they are drifting away from the traditional office floor space design. It may not be to everyone’s liking, but […]

You all want to be Slaughter and May’s clients

The last few years have been record-breaking for law firm office moves. In 2021 and 2022, law firms agreed leases on 2.85m sq ft of City space, according to property specialist Knight Frank. Demand hasn’t peaked just yet, however, with a raft of US City firms now looking for fresh digs to call home. Competition […]

City talk: How Shoosmiths wants to be the next challenger brand

The lower mid-market is full of law firms that want to move up the food chain. Shoosmiths is one of them. With a national corporate practice of 30 partners across 14 locations, according to The Lawyer‘s Practice Analysis service, the bedrock of its work has historically been chunky regional deals. It is now gunning for […]

Revealed: CMS redundancies included a lawyer on maternity leave

New details have emerged around the cohort of associates made redundant from CMS last autumn. Sources have told The Lawyer that the group of corporate lawyers let go in the September 2023 consultation round included an associate in the early days of her maternity leave. Other accounts reveal that at least one among the discharged […]

Spotlight: Restructuring is a global matter for DLA Piper

In this week’s Spotlight, we delve into the often-confusing world of restructuring disputes, to find out how DLA Piper comes to the rescue when a company goes under. The market: While restructuring disputes used to be the remit of clearing banks and the Big Four accounting firms, the market has undergone a huge diversification in […]

Baker McKenzie

Spotlight: Defending the employers with Bakers

For this week’s Spotlight, we’re highlighting Baker McKenzie’s employment law team to see how rising industrial action, new technologies and regulations are changing the field. The market Unfair dismissal claims and misconduct remain the bread and butter of defendant side employment lawyers. However, whistleblowing claims, involving regulatory angles are taking on a growing role in […]

fertility baby

Spotlight: Resolving fertility disputes with Mills & Reeve

Operating in a small pool of fertility law experts, Mills & Reeve’s team work on international surrogacy matters, disputes over parentage and conflicts with fertility clinics. The market: The legal market in this area of law is small, so trends sweeping the practice hit hard. International surrogacy is an enormous market for Mills & Reeve […]

Spotlight: Eversheds’ sanctions team goes global

This February marked the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the single largest imposition of sanctions by the international community as a result. This week, we focus on Eversheds’ sanctions team, with over 60 lawyers handling matters worldwide. The market: Sanctions compliance is vital for any entity doing business on an international scale, […]