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.
Kickstarting a legal career is an arduous journey that is likely to leave you saddled with debt. Firms and their clients are acutely aware of this, which is why buzz about solicitor apprenticeship programmes has amplified in recent years. City Century, established by the City of London Law Society, is the manifestation of that momentum. […]
Big-ticket disputes are fuelling headcount growth among the UK’s largest litigation firms. According to The Lawyer’s UK Litigation 50 report, five firms are now home to more than 150 disputes partners in the UK – four of which (DAC Beachcroft, Clyde & Co, Kennedys and Keoghs) have strong insurance roots. These firms are hunting for […]
The magic circle has an aversion to first-time partner hires
Shares in listed firm, RBG Holdings, plummeted to an all-time low of 1.55p this week (share price listed on November 7). RBG Holdings, which encompasses Rosenblatt and Memery Crystal, posted a loss before tax of £5.7m at its September half-year announcement, with revenue down from £19.8m to £18.4m over the year. The firm said it […]
What do you mean you don’t remember our Horizon email of two years ago about the Shropshire legal market? It had plenty of rambling whimsy, some irrelevant historical facts and the advice at the end that two distantly-related firms, FBC Manby Bowdler and Lanyon Bowdler, should come together to create a West Midlands superpower. That prediction […]
With budgets under pressure as investment costs rise, firms are focused on the bottom line. Evidence of this can be found in The Lawyer UK 200, where the Top 50 firms raised revenue by 8.7 per cent to £33.47bn in 2024 but delivered a higher rate of growth for net profit – up 11.9 per […]
Market frustration with the SRA reached a new high this week after the Legal Services Board finally published its independent review of the handling of Axiom Ince’s collapse. The headlines made tough reading for the SRA. Enforcement action was promised with the LSB accusing the SRA of not acting “adequately, effectively, and efficiently” to prevent […]
As the Legal Services Board gears up to launch enforcement action over the handling of Axiom Ince’s collapse, The Lawyer zeroes in on the key takeaways from its long-awaited review. As announced this morning, the LSB has accused the SRA of not acting “adequately, effectively and efficiently” in relation to Axiom Ince. Axiom Ince, created […]
The internationalisation of Eversheds Sutherland, Pinsent Masons and Addleshaw Goddard is reshaping the regional landscape. This group, along with DLA Piper, are an influential force across the UK’s major legal cities in terms of clients, fees and hiring trends. And yet, with all experiencing faster growth outside the UK, investment pipelines into the regions are […]
When MI5 director-general Ken McCallum warned of Russian spies on a “mission to generate mayhem on British streets” this week, it was a timely reminder of Russia’s pariah status here in the UK. After the Ukraine invasion in February 2022, UK law firms withdrew from Russia in haste, mandates were cancelled and clients put under […]
Major firms are redefining what it means to be a full equity partner
Welcome to The Passport, your regular round-up of the most important stories to come from the European legal market. In this week’s edition, we explain why hearing the names of a select group of elite firms is piquing our interest; and what can be taken away from Hogan Lovells’ Warsaw retreat. US firms are dictating […]