In January 2016, The Lawyer embarked on a new project. We found five fresh-faced young newly-qualified solicitors and decided to follow them in their careers. Seven years on, we are revisiting them to find out how they are doing. Five is an admittedly small sample size, but their fates to date make for interesting reading. […]
How much can a barrister realistically expect to earn?
Slaughter and May’s new wellbeing code is intended to help fee-earners as they navigate a competitive legal environment. But the challenge is making it work when being responsive and available is seen as the gold standard.
The Lord Chancellor has announced a total of 95 new King’s Counsel, meaning the number of barristers to receive silk status has fallen for the second year in a row. The latest cohort is 5.9 per cent smaller than the 101 barristers promoted in 2021, which at the time marked a 13 per cent dip […]
Check in with The Lawyer each week as we spot the most important new claims hitting the courts and assess what they say about the litigation landscape.
In January 2016, The Lawyer embarked on a new project. We found five fresh-faced young newly-qualified solicitors and decided to follow them in their careers. Seven years on, we are revisiting them to find out how they are doing. Five is an admittedly small sample size, but their fates to date make for interesting reading. […]
How much can a barrister realistically expect to earn?
Slaughter and May’s new wellbeing code is intended to help fee-earners as they navigate a competitive legal environment. But the challenge is making it work when being responsive and available is seen as the gold standard.
The Lord Chancellor has announced a total of 95 new King’s Counsel, meaning the number of barristers to receive silk status has fallen for the second year in a row. The latest cohort is 5.9 per cent smaller than the 101 barristers promoted in 2021, which at the time marked a 13 per cent dip […]
Meetings between law firm leaders can be casual, just a polite meeting to chew the fat over a cup of coffee, or they can have a serious intent. Last month, when Dickson Minto’s de facto managing partner Jordan Simpson met with a delegation from New York’s Fried Frank, it was the latter. Make no mistake, […]
Talent churn is accelerating among the junior ranks with today’s associates more mobile than the generations before them. The concept of long-term professional loyalty is fading as Gen Z rises. These lawyers ask not what they can do for you, but what your firm can do for them. This generational shift in working attitudes is […]
Hooray, big-ticket M&A is having a mini-revival and so are the firms that make so much of their money out of it. Already in 2024, major European M&A deals to have been announced include International Paper’s £5.8bn planned acquisition of London-listed packaging company DS Smith, which trumped another offer from rival Mondi. Other significant matters […]
On Tuesday last week (9 April), the SRA sought to quell a rising tide of discontent around the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). In its most recent SQE annual report, SRA chief executive Paul Philip said the public and profession could have “confidence” in this “rigorous assessment”. That confidence was short-lived. Yesterday (15 April), Philip was […]
For one firm, the pan-Nordic dream is dead. For another, it’s just begun. Hannes Snellman’s announcement that its Stockholm and Helsinki offices will be going their separate ways later this year represented the end of a strategic gamble that started 16 years ago. Back then, its leadership bet that opening in Stockholm (2008) and Copenhagen […]
It seems that one of the chief attributes of managing partners is wild optimism. You can’t move for law firm leaders committing their firms to hardcore five-year targets – particularly in the upper mid-tier, where we’re hearing of plans to double or even triple revenues by the end of the decade. We’d like some of […]
BT has further shrunk its panel for the third review in a row having appointed a total of 11 firms to its roster. The panel will run for three years and includes 10 firms that have been reappointed from 2020. Those continuing their relationship with BT after the latest review are the likes of Allen […]
Dentons has promoted 12 lawyers to partner in the UK, Ireland and Middle East (UKIME) this year, including nine partners in London. Of the remaining three promotions, two were made in Glasgow and one was made in Abu Dhabi. Most of the promotions have been made in the projects team, with Claudia Thomas and Graham […]
The Lawyer‘s Christian Smith, Catrin Griffiths, Richard Simmons, Katy Dowell and Charlotte Lear are joined by College of Legal Practice CEO Giles Proctor for this emergency episode of The Lawyer Podcast as they discuss the latest Solicitors Qualification Exam debacle: marking errors that led to 175 students being incorrectly told they had failed. What went […]
Fieldfisher is bolstering its German presence with a sizeable team from local firm SKW Schwartz and a handful of other hires, in an effort to expand its media, technology and IP offerings. The firm has hired eight lawyers from SKW Schwarz including partners Martin Diesbach, Elisabeth Noltenius and Julia Schafdecker, all of whom specialise in […]
Debevoise & Plimpton is hiring from Goodwin Procter as it adds a new partner to its London investment funds team. Shawn D’Aguiar is switching to a new US firm in London eight years after joining Goodwin from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM). He was part of a four-partner team move led by then funds head Michael […]
