The leadership interview

simon davies linklaters
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Linklaters’ Simon Davies: “We’re already the global elite”

Last year, almost half (45 per cent) of Linklaters’ £1.25bn revenue was generated out of its Silk Street offices in London. It’s a relatively high percentage for a managing partner who can perhaps best sum up his almost eight years at the helm in one word: globalisation. In his two terms as managing partner Simon […]

Ray Berg

Osborne Clarke’s Berg: “It’s all about continuity”

At the beginning of this year, Osborne Clarke welcomed in a new UK managing partner after Simon Beswick stepped down after a 12-year run. Now entering his sixth month in the role, Ray Berg explains how he intends to continue Beswick’s legacy. “One of my main aims in my first year is for a smooth […]

London
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Greenberg Traurig CEO: “Our days of London growth aren’t over”

Some six years after launching in London, Greenberg Traurig’s CEO Richard Rosenbaum is convinced that the City is the key to making the firm the world’s top legal real estate brand. The firm is a big player in the US real estate market and Rosenbaum says it wants to build on this reputation across the […]

Aitman

Freshfields chief Aitman: ‘Manchester is a priority’

It’s all change at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer this year as the firm gears up to open its second UK office in Manchester and managing partner David Aitman prepares to step down at the end of his brief term at the helm. Front running candidates for the top senior partner job are gathering their potential management […]

dublin bridge

A&L Goodbody’s Julian Yarr: betting on the future

A&L Goodbody was the first Irish firm to win The Lawyer’s European Law Firm of the Year award. Managing partner Julian Yarr reveals how the firm’s attitude to innovation has led it to success. A criticism which is sometimes made of firms headquartered outside of the UK or US is that they are slow to […]

John Cleland

Pinsents’ John Cleland: “there’s a new person in charge”

Following a contested election that pitted ultimate victor John Cleland against property head Adrian Barlow and client operations head Richard Masters, Pinsent Masons’ new managing partner stepped into the role today. The erstwhile leader of the firm’s financial institutions practice, who spent the past few weeks preparing for the change that began “on 1 May […]

Jay Sadanandan

Latham’s Sadanandan: London is a bright spot for us

Latham & Watkins has a new London managing partner in Jay Sadanandan, but like the song, the strategic direction remains the same. Next month The Lawyer will unveil the 2015 edition of the International Top 30 firms in London. Spoiler alert: you can bank on the fact that one of the most prominent firms in […]

Singapore

Baker & McKenzie Asia head Hambrett: be global, travel more

The head of Baker & McKenzie’s Asia Pacific practice is very clear on what it was that gave him the skills necessary to fulfil his current role: a spell in-house at telecoms company Optus (now Singtel Optus). Having joined the company from Minter Ellison in 1998, Bruce Hambrett led the Optus legal team during a […]

Moscow

Egorov Puginsky’s Dimitry Afanasiev: making our countries better and stronger

This year’s European Managing Partner of the Year, Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners’ chairman Dimitry Afanasiev, opens up about the challenges affecting Russia and Ukraine. Over the last two decades the Russian legal market has become one of the most competitive in the world, with international firms piling in in the early 1990s following the […]

London
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Quinn Emanuel’s Sue Prevezer QC: driven, dedicated, focused

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan bounced back in London last year guided by co-managing partners Sue Prevezer QC and Richard East. Quinn Emanuel reported a 33 per cent increase in London revenue last month, recovering from a major dip in 2013 (23 February 2015). The firm has also been recruiting, most recently attractiung DLA Piper […]

London
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Axiom’s West on traditional firms: “There’s an expectations mis-match”

Axiom seems to be on a roll, with UK turnover hitting £30m. But will it be enough? Escape the antique-looking, cage-door lift, follow the day-glo orange arrow on the wall and head up the stone stairs to a sixth-floor office in a low-key St John Street block. Inside, the orange branding proliferates. At 10am on […]