Drax is on the brink of appointing its first head of legal for two years in a move which could spark an in-house restructure. When former legal head Kavita Singh left the company for MRC Global in 2012 former general counsel and company secretary Philip Hudson decided not to replace the role, instead promoting two […]
The world’s leading litigation and investigations practices are responding to the challenge set by globally co-ordinated and ultra-aggressive regulators. There is no busier area for the world’s top international disputes practices, and none that is making firms think about how best to align themselves with their clients, than cross-border investigations. This is the focus of […]
The second The Lawyer and BLP roundtable event allows GCs to identify what advice would have been particularly useful during the first few years of their in-house career GC2B is an initiative from The Lawyer and Berwin Leighton Paisner When you took on the decision to move, either from a law firm or from another in-house sector, what […]
We finish 2014 with our analysis of the global litigation and investigations market – the Global Litigation Top 50. It is The Lawyer’s annual ranking of the biggest firms in the world by litigation turnover and is now in its sixth year. As always, the list is dominated by US firms, for which litigation is […]
Female lawyers take the lead in demonstrating the benefits of flexible working Working fewer hours does not mean being less productive, according to this year’s Part Time Power List. If the nine lawyers named in this year’s 50-strong compilation are anything to go by it is possible to achieve a perfect work-life balance without sacrificing […]
Early results show chunky revenue increases at the half-year With six months of the present financial year down and nine of the UK’s biggest firms having reported their half-year financial results, the signs are that the legal sector is in line for a solid 2014/15. All the firms to have reported have seen sizeable increases […]
Gavin Millar QC has joined Move of the week Gavin Millar QC has joined Matrix Chambers from Doughty Street Chambers. Known for his media expertise, Millar also undertakes public and employment law work. He recently acted for The Sun in its defamation case with former Conservative chief whip Andrew Mitchell. UK London Covington & Burling […]
Let your most awful clients go and bug someone else – they cost you far more than they’re worth. Last week I got a call from a client I had not spoken to for some time. I’d done a small piece of work for the firm but it ended up in the long grass and […]
A lot of things unite in-house lawyers. Overwork is one; lack of resources is another. But there’s a more positive point of community as well: the feeling that they’re flexing their business muscles more than they ever did when they were in private practice. This came home to me last week when I was at […]
Firm responds to demand for parallel jurisdiction capability in investment funds work The days when an offshore firm had offices in just one jurisdiction, or even just one region, seem well and truly over. Last week another of the larger Channel Islands firms – Collas Crill – announced its move into the Caribbean through a […]
Document management technology is upping lawyers’ efficiency, but it presents challenges of its own in terms of data security Q What are the biggest challenges facing in-house lawyers when it comes to document management, production and storage, and how is technology helping? Chris Holder, partner, Bristows: The biggest challenge is and always will be resources. Most […]
Technological innovations and clients’ collaborative business practices are infiltrating law, giving independent local outfits a boost Even (or perhaps especially) in a jurisdiction as small as Scotland, a law firm must think globally. We have an import market – servicing clients from abroad who want to do business here – and an export market – […]