Matt is The Lawyer’s deputy editor. He has a particular focus on the US legal market. He also leads many of The Lawyer’s market reports, including the UK 200.
The London office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett added nearly $100m to its top line in 2023, taking City revenue to a record high. Turnover in the London office increased from $378m to $465m. In what London office managing partner Jason Glover described as “a stellar year”, all of the firm’s nine practice groups are […]
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is aiming to significantly expand its City litigation and arbitration practice, kickstarting the initiative with the hire of a commercial disputes partner from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. David Edwards is making the move to Simpson Thacher, having joined Skadden in 2009 along with partner David Kavanagh KC from O’Melveny […]
Scottish independent Burness Paull is accelerating all of its promotions across the board this year by four months as it prepares to shift its financial year-end from 31 July to 30 March. All levels of promotions, including to partner, will now be effective 1 April. The firm is also planning to bring forward all salary […]
With a record number of partner moves last year, the London laterals market has rarely been frothier. Yet, at the top end of the market, moves from US firms to the four magic circle players remain rare. At least, they were until recently. There are glimmers – just glimmers, mind – of a fightback by […]
Hands up anyone who thinks it would be a great idea, in this horribly uncertain and unpredictable world, to have someone to turn to, someone who could lend an independent, professional and experienced ear and offer an alternative view on things? Sounds great, right? But this seems to be a view not shared by almost […]
How do you put a price on a job that is done by a robot? That is the nub of one big issue firms are wrestling with as GenAI handles ever larger parts of a lawyer’s current role. And next year, as the use of GenAI becomes ubiquitous, it’ll only get worse. Publicly, and rather […]
Winston & Strawn is targeting significant growth outside of the US, with its new leadership team – for the first time ever – now including a lawyer tasked specifically with non-US expansion. In September, Winston confirmed that current chair Tom Fitzgerald would be stepping down next year and will be replaced by litigation group co-head […]
Today would have been deadline day for Allen & Overy (A&O). You’ll recall that earlier this month (9 November), the firm was targeted by a cyber-attack. This, it said, was “a data incident impacting a small number of storage servers”. In contrast, the Russian LockBit ransomware group that claimed responsibility, and which is understood to […]
Is now the moment to invest in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI)? Certainly, all of the Big Four accountants – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – have made their intention to invest significant sums in the new technology. All have the financial muscle to do so. And in Big Four world, “significant” is measured in billions. […]
Canadian pension fund investor CDPQ’s location in London’s West End just by Carnaby Street is a deliberate part of the world’s second-largest infrastructure investor’s allure. The firm first launched in London in 2016 but moved to its new, swankily-located, concrete-ceilinged headquarters in January this year as part of a wider image overhaul. “We’ve been present […]
Last week’s artificial intelligence (AI) summit at Bletchley Park perfectly highlighted just how rapidly the landscape around this technology is morphing. The headline from the conference was the first-ever international declaration on AI safety, aimed at heading off the risk of “catastrophic harm” caused by AI. The sub-text is that the world, never mind the […]
Where are you from? Anybody who has ever watched the TV genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are? will be aware that this is not always as straightforward a question to answer as it might first seem. And anyone who has ever worked in a law firm will know that it is not always […]