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 do Southend-on-Sea and Slough have in common? The answer is that they are the largest urban settlements in Britain without a UK200 law firm. The denizens of these benighted places have to make do without so much as a solitary capital markets lawyer to keep the wheels of commerce turning. Can you imagine? Perhaps […]
North West: As revealed in The Lawyer on Tuesday, Brabners has kicked off a new three-year strategy. The last one certainly paid dividends, and newly-reelected managing partner Nik White was in ebullient spirits when he talked to Beyond the Bubble earlier this week. “It’s the power of 24,” he says cryptically, before explaining that “it […]
How many trainees does it take to build a law firm? We welcome your suggestions for punchlines on that one (winner gets published in a future Horizon). But if one was inclined to think of a serious answer, one would naturally say that the larger the firm, the more graduates you need. After all, big […]
London: As a construction and energy disputes boutique, Fenwick Elliott is naturally one of the more internationally-minded small firms in the UK market and it is entering a new phase of overseas planning. The firm is currently in the process of applying for a licence to practise in Saudi Arabia. That is still underway, but […]
Law firms leaders love saying they don’t want growth for growth’s sake, but the truth is, without any growth at all they soon find themselves floundering. So as the financial year draws to a close, litigation editor Christian Smith and deputy editor Rich Simmons are joined by head of insight Matt Byrne, Horizon editor Katy […]
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 […]