Beyond the Bubble – What news from the North West?
It’s a regional special this week, with insight into three firms in the North West.
Richard Simmons
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.
You don’t want to work for the p*rn barons
In the TV programme Life on Mars, Detective Chief Inspector Sam Tyler is hit by a car and is transported back to the 1970s where he finds his modern methods of policing at odds with the boozy, semi-corrupt and sexist culture of that decade. Now imagine you’ve been similarly bopped on the head and wake […]
Beyond the Bubble – Oxford booms as UK200 firm snaps up Gandalf’s lawyers
Oxford: All right, not really Gandalf’s lawyers, this isn’t an Ian McKellen thing. But the lawyers to the estate of JRR Tolkien are on the move. The Oxford-based, two-partner specialist commercial, IP and media firm Maier Blackburn, founded in 2012 by two former Manches partners, Cathleen Blackburn and Steven Maier, has been acquired by Howes […]
Election 24: The Tory MPs likely to be hunting for law firm jobs this year
Unless Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pushes his term right to the last possible date, 2024 is likely to be a General Election year in the UK, and with the Conservative Party currently trailing badly in the polls, seat losses seem inevitable, even if an outright Labour victory is still far from certain. With this in […]
Beyond the Bubble: Open a hub, you won’t regret it
Opening a full-blown office in a new location is a complicated old business. There’s the property hunt, the logistical issues such as IT support and there’s always a risk of cultural dilution, which is why the ‘hub’ is becoming a popular choice. It allows a firm to test the waters before committing. At least three […]
Revealed – The UK200: The Independents 2023
The full list of the UK firms ranked 101-200 by revenue in 2023.
Beyond the Bubble: A merger for Cripps – and monthly bonuses anyone?
Sussex: Back in June Beyond the Bubble talked to Cripps’ new managing partner James Beatton about his plans for the firm and making a go of it in Tunbridge Wells. “The growth in our London office has been fantastic but there are only so many lawyers you can recruit into Tunbridge Wells, lovely though it […]
Get yourself a sustainability head
If you haven’t got a head of sustainability, you’re increasingly in the minority. For the last three years, law firms have been jumping on this trend: since 2021, no fewer than 27 firms have appointed a sustainability or ESG leader. Looking at where all these green gurus have come from is an interesting exercise in […]
WhatsApp-ing clients: fair or foul?
Do you WhatsApp your clients? It’s a more divisive question than you might expect. According to a recent poll of conducted by The Lawyer on LinkedIn, while 66 per cent of fee-earners don’t use the messaging service for this purpose, 34 per cent do. And it’s not split along seniority lines: partners, associates, trainees and […]
Beyond the Bubble: Even managing partners need a side-hustle
West Midlands: Everyone’s all about the wellbeing now, but some aspects of it are harder to crack than others – not least, the increasing prevalence of technology in our lives. Lawyers in particular are often desk-bound or required to constantly check their smartphone, and work long into the night in front of a laptop. But […]
Hogan Lovells’ Birmingham lawyers deserve a massive pay rise
Solicitors at Hogan Lovells in Birmingham probably feel pretty happy with their lot. After all, they’re the best-paid bunch of lawyers in the Midlands, with NQs earning £75,000. That sort of money goes a long way in Brum, and knocks the salaries offered by local competitors like Fieldfisher (£65,000), Gowling WLG (£63,000) and Gateley (£55,000) […]
Revealed: the firms with the biggest City-regional pay gaps
Hogan Lovells and CMS have the biggest salary gaps between London newly-qualified (NQ) solicitors and their counterparts in the regions. As law firms continue to grapple with pay scales across multiple locations in an era when remote working is common, the discrepancies are becoming increasingly obvious. The Lawyer understands regional associates at certain firms are […]