Rich is The Lawyer’s deputy editor. He has a particular focus on firms outside the UK top 50.
He was previously editor of The Lawyer’s student publication Lawyer 2B, and as such also has an interest everything to do with legal education, training contracts and pupillage, as well as lawyers’ ongoing career development.
What is to become of one of the UK’s most far-flung and unusual legal hubs? Aberdeen was built on oil and gas. As the energy transition gathers pace, that puts the city in a position that straddles the old and the new. Fossil fuels are out of fashion, yet the undoubted projects expertise that is […]
Two more figures from the world of law have been selected to fight for Labour in the forthcoming general election. Dave Rowntree will stand to become an MP in the seat of Mid Sussex, where the current Conservative incumbent holds a commanding majority of more than 18,000. Rowntree is best known as the drummer from […]
Undeterred by profit losses and a shock CEO exit, Napthens is fiercely defending its reputation and is charting a course for growth.
Trainee recruitment has come a long way from the days when Mishcon partner and Hot 100 2024 member Adam Rose got asked at interview if he “was the sort of chap who would train and then run off to Israel”. Thankfully, it is a long time since being the right sort of chap rather than […]
A new era of investment and growth is underway at Foot Anstey. But the biggest hurdle for the south west firm to overcome is itself.
Slaughter and May has retained 35 of its 37 final-seat trainees, giving it a retention rate of 94.6 per cent. It puts the firm behind only Herbert Smith Freehills in terms of the spring trainee retention round. After Slaughters, Freshfields is the best performing magic circle firm, with 84 per cent retention. Spring 2024 retention […]
This is less a Horizon and more a run-down of Scottish people being rude about each other. But it is also hopefully a reminder of just how much the market north of the border has changed recently. Where to start? Well, Morton Fraser and Macroberts have merged to create ‘MF Mac’. The firm has declared […]
The Lawyer has compiled trainee solicitor salaries and newly-qualified (NQ) solicitor salaries from the UK’s largest law firms. Last full update: 3 November 2023 Last minor update: 1 May 2024 The latest salary figures are a reflection of the influence of American firms on the UK market. When Bingham McCutchen became the first firm to […]
London: Harbottle & Lewis has a new double-act: Last November, Tony Littner joined Charlie Leveque as joint-managing partner for a five-year term. It’s the first time Harbottles has changed its leadership structure in this way, and while it’s not unheard of to have two managing partners (look at Lewis Silkin or Bristows), most go for the […]
If you missed The Lawyer’s feature from last year about the civil war at Child & Child, go and give it a read now. It’s a cracking story of mismanagement, partner rivalries – and a private equity house that couldn’t fix the problems. Child & Child is the poster, er, child, for how private equity […]
Clifford Chance will retain 40 of its 56 final-seat trainees in newly-qualified (NQ) roles this spring, giving it trainee retention of 71 per cent. While 52 trainees applied for roles only 44 were offered positions, with 40 accepting, hinting at a situation where not enough jobs in favoured departments were on offer, although the firm […]
The most eagerly-anticipated list of the year is here: The Lawyer Hot 100 2024. Each year, it is our privilege to talk to the UK’s most adventurous, most innovative and most dynamic lawyers. They encompass barristers, private practice solicitors and in-house lawyers, of all ages, from Brighton to Birmingham and beyond. This year’s crop of […]