Katy is The Lawyer’s Horizon editor. Returning to The Lawyer after a three-year break in 2020, Katy initially covered litigation and the Bar and was the publication’s senior writer between 2014 and 2017.
The profession is entering a slimming down period from which there will be no comeback. If the traditional law firm is to mitigate the rising costs that threaten the bottom line, then a more radical approach is required to manage efficiencies. To understand how this could reshape, look at the changing profile of the firms […]
Shoosmiths’ former Birmingham disputes chief, along with a team of asset and consumer finance lawyers, are joining TLT’s new Birmingham office. Disputes specialist Mark Elder has been brought in to lead the nascent Birmingham base where he has a mandate to rapidly grow the disputes practice, while building a full-service office. He will be joined […]
A toxic combination of rising costs has put working capital levels under pressure. The gauge will rise as firms adjust to a new tax regime that prevents them from holding onto taxable profits generated by equity partners for almost two years. Traditionally that pot of cash yielded high interest rates and it could be put […]
Listed firms once claimed to be pioneering a new style of firm. But the four outfits currently in this misshapen gang (and former members DWF and Ince Group), have had their fair share of shakes and wobbles. They must satisfy two distinct audiences. On one hand there are equity partners, and on the other the […]
Law folklore dictates that any indication of a transactional slowdown will see a growth in contentious business. But despite economic fragility, partner hiring has favoured corporate and finance stars rather than litigators for much of 2023. The US firms are, as always, to blame for this. Indicative data from Atlas by Codex Edge shows that […]
The elite US firms are reshaping the City landscape with their demands for climate-friendly Grade A space. Rents are rising too; a top floor at some of London’s newest buildings commands rents above £100 per sq ft – compare that with Glasgow where occupier adviser DeVono put prime rents at £36 per sq ft earlier […]
The exit door has barely stopped spinning at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP). This may have had the effect of lifting profitability for some of its UK practices, but talent retention is an area the firm can’t ignore. The most recent round of promotions is an opportunity to replenish partner stocks and shore up succession […]
The profit pressures laid bare by the 2022/23 financial year have done little to dampen mid-tier UK growth ambitions. There has been a wealth of new regional office openings in recent years including Browne Jacobson in Cardiff, TLT in Birmingham and Lewis Silkin in Leeds, while Freeths has big plans for Bristol. With a lower […]
“If every solicitor has to stump up £500 because of the Axiom Ince fiasco, then of course the SFO should get involved.” You read that correctly: the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is considering whether to charge a one-off £500 levy to all solicitors to meet the wave of claims expected to arise from the collapse of […]
Remember when former Dragons’ Den entrepreneur James Caan caused a stir by pumping private equity investment into what was then a relatively unknown law firm? The year was 2012, and the unknown firm barely scraped into The Lawyer UK200 with revenues of £9.4m. At the latest year-end, it posted revenues of £142.8m. As a result […]
Even with current efforts to get people into the office, there can be no doubt that the pandemic upended working practice norms within the profession. One of the consequences of this is that for a growing number of associates, becoming a partner is not the career pinnacle it once was. Many simply don’t want to […]
“There are more questions than answers,” says managing partner John Joyce as Addleshaws prepares to spend big on the tech innovation.