⭐ Trainee retention 2023: live
All the latest from the 2023 retention rounds. For our 2022 live blog go here
The top 100 European law firms
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 […]
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Dear partner, stop doing that: associates share their biggest bugbears
Partners are (for the most part) brilliant lawyers, but nobody’s perfect and questions can sometimes be raised around their competence in one particular area: communication. We get it. They are under pressure. Extremely busy. And while technically gifted when it comes to all things legal, sometimes when it comes to things like communication style, they […]
Simpson Thacher kills the training contract
While the largest firms still retain their training contracts, alternatives to the traditional route are now commonplace. But one US firm in London has hit upon a way to benefit from the Solicitors Qualification Exam’s new rules.
Spotlight: Addleshaws is one of the City’s go-to litigation finance firms
⭐ Trainee retention 2023: live
All the latest from the 2023 retention rounds. For our 2022 live blog go here
The top 100 European law firms
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 […]
1
Dear partner, stop doing that: associates share their biggest bugbears
Partners are (for the most part) brilliant lawyers, but nobody’s perfect and questions can sometimes be raised around their competence in one particular area: communication. We get it. They are under pressure. Extremely busy. And while technically gifted when it comes to all things legal, sometimes when it comes to things like communication style, they […]
Simpson Thacher kills the training contract
While the largest firms still retain their training contracts, alternatives to the traditional route are now commonplace. But one US firm in London has hit upon a way to benefit from the Solicitors Qualification Exam’s new rules.
Deloitte is getting its cheque book out
Deloitte is targeting growth outside of London, and it’s prepared to pay for it
Pinsent Masons and Mills & Reeve are cornering the university market
The Higher Education sector is in big trouble. As we reported last month, universities are struggling to fill places on their undergraduate courses – not least for law degrees. Many are in financial distress. Tuition fees for home students have been capped at £9,250 since 2017 and are falling well behind what is profitable, but […]
Slaughters and Freshfields share a trainee strategy
Associate retention is one of the biggest bugbears for law firm leaders, as competitive salaries and the promise of greater opportunities lure rising stars away. Added to this, a firm’s biggest cost is its people, but that didn’t stop Freshfields last year pledging to up its trainee intake from 90 to 100 from 2025. Should […]
HSF is leaning on London
Of the UK Top 50 firms, just 16 have no overseas offices, and of the remaining 34, more than half (19) were bigger outside the UK last year. Internationalisation is a hallmark of a Top 50 firm, but for many it is the UK that keeps the investment pipelines pumped. For firms with international offices, […]
Good things happen when partners aren’t in charge
The upcoming UK200 has welcomed its sixth employee ownership trust (EOT) member. Altrincham’s Myerson Solicitors joins Yorkshire’s Ison Harrison and the West Midlands’ Talbots Law in embracing employee ownership, having converted from a limited liability partnership (LLP) to a 100 per cent employee-owned company last week. The EOT model allows all employees to take a […]
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 […]
Paul Hastings innovation pro joins Kennedys in inaugural role
Kennedys has appointed its first chief knowledge officer, who has moved across to the UK insurance firm from US powerhouse Paul Hastings. Having previously developed Paul Hastings knowledge management strategy at a global level, Catherine Goodman will now be in charge of heading Kennedys knowledge strategy. Goodman was director of innovation and knowledge management at […]
Solicitor fined for appearing on antisemitic TV show attacking Mishcon
A solicitor has been fined by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) after appearing on an antisemitic TV show that “took the form of a wide-ranging attack” upon Mishcon de Reya. Mohammed Akunjee, who has over 30,000 followers on X, has been fined £6,500 and ordered to pay £30,000 in costs after appearing in a TV […]
Pannick arrives as Man City showdown kicks off
The long-awaited showdown between the Premier League and Manchester City has kicked off at an arbitration centre in London. Lord Pannick KC of Blackstone Chambers was the first barrister to appear, representing Manchester City, accompanied by Blackstone Chambers senior clerk Gary Oliver. Serle Court’s Philip Marshall KC and James Mather, also acting for City, arrived […]
HSBC in-houser leaves for Citi
A managing director and deputy general counsel at HSBC has left the bank after over 10 years to join Citigroup UK. The new Citi recruit is Philip Jockelson, who was head of corporate and structuring legal for almost five years at HSBC. Prior to that he was interim company secretary for 10 months, and associate […]
Another European loss for Latham as partner joins A&O Shearman
Latham & Watkins has lost another member of its Continental European transactional team, with a leveraged finance partner joining A&O Shearman in Paris. Michel Houdayer has made the move to A&O Shearman today (16 September). He was a Latham lifer, having joined the firm in 2002 and spent almost a decade in the partnership having […]