Editors' views
Remember that everyone who works with you is a
human being deserving of professional courtesy and respect, writes publishing director David Burgess.
Recently, I have been helping out with the recruitment of staff for the International Arbitration Centre. Making sure that the front of house staff meet up to the highest expectations of client service and discretion are very much the principles on which the interviews were based. So we looked at a range of candidates, from …
Continue reading “Law firms and sets: your front of house teams
deserve better”
Editor’s views
Following his 2018 research trip to Tokyo, senior researcher Arne Dumez reflects on the evolution of Japanese corporate culture
Shinzo Abe’s economic policies and fluctuations in global markets have impacted Japan in a variety of ways. Incoming employment law reforms, recent regulatory scandals and austere financial circumstances are turning Japanese corporate culture away from its established dogmas. Where the corporate titans of Toshiba or Panasonic would have once gritted their teeth through distress, they …
Continue reading “Wading through international waters: Japan and dispute resolution”
Editor’s views
Back from her latest fact-finding tour, China editor Bei Zhao reports on the latest developments in the Czech Republic and why its lawyers are falling out of love with international law firms
The Czech Republic is ‘on top of the economy cycle,’ according to one law firm partner when I recently visited Prague. The unemployment rate is currently the lowest in Europe and the lowest in 22 years; the financial conditions appear to be the best ever and, together with low interest rates, are driving a healthy …
Continue reading “Lawyers, Czech yo self”
Editor’s views
Following her visit to Sydney, new Caribbean editor Amy Ulliott reports on the increasing prevalence of class action lawsuits and third-party litigation funders
The US is commonly seen as the home of class action litigation, with thousands of claims brought every year and new securities class actions averaging one a day in 2017. However, in recent years Australia has well and truly embraced the class action culture and established itself as one of the leading markets globally for …
Continue reading “Funding classes down under”
Editor’s views
The #MeToo moment has shone a light on inappropriate behaviour in the practice of law. Unfortunately, some lawyers still don’t get it, but The Legal 500 will be taking a stand
For months, the legal press has detailed a string of sexual harassment scandals within several of the world’s leading law firms. Baker McKenzie, Dentons, Quinn Emanuel, Linklaters, Herbert Smith Freehills, Latham & Watkins, and, more recently, Clyde & Co and Reed Smith have all found themselves under the glare of the media spotlight after allegations …
Continue reading “The ugly side of law firm research”
Editors' views
Editor Amy Ulliott takes a closer look at the newly
published 2019 rankings to see how the region’s law firms have performed this past year.
Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that The Legal 500’s latest Caribbean rankings have recently been published online. In addition to coverage of Bermuda, the Cayman Islands (Cayman), and the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the 2019 rankings saw the introduction of the Bahamas into the guide. A new practice area was also added with a new …
Continue reading “Lawyers of the Caribbean: A rankings guide”
Editors' views
Following her research trip to Oslo, Amy Ulliott investigates why international law firms have yet to invest in Norway’s legal market, leaving domestic firms to dominate the space.
In many ways, the Norwegian legal market looks like any other; a mixture of large full-service firms and smaller boutiques simultaneously jostling and working together to gain as much work as possible from the national industries they rely upon, while also feeling the impact when those same industries struggle. Upon closer look, however, you begin …
Continue reading “Why Norway lacks a Big Law presence”
Editors' views
Following a recent research trip to Malaysia, The Legal 500 reports on a country excited for political change and a legal market waiting to see what the new regime will bring
Since May 2018 much of Malaysia has been undergoing a spiritual rejuvenation brought about by its first genuine change of government in 60 years. From the Vertigo rooftop bar to the esteemed Malaysian Bar, via bus conductors and Grab drivers and bartenders, everyone you speak to lights up when asked about this year’s election. ‘It …
Continue reading “Malaysia’s spiritual – and possibly legal – rejuvenation”
Editors' views
Australia’s much-needed infrastructure boom is stretching legal teams to the limit, finds The Legal 500 deputy editor Andrea de Palatis
On 7 August 2018, Australia’s population surpassed the 25 million mark, but as the populace increases so does the need for modern infrastructure. Current traffic volumes exceed the capacity of outdated and decades old railways, bridges, tunnels, ports and metro systems. Australians in urban areas agree that on most days, provided everything goes well, ‘it …
Continue reading “Where are all the construction lawyers?”
Editors' views
Like rush hour in Delhi the Supreme Court of India’s ‘fly-in, fly-out’ judgment leaves the move towards liberalisation at a crawling pace, writes Asia Pacific editor John van der Luit-Drummond
The highly anticipated decision on the ‘fly-in, fly-out’ rule certainly had lawyers’ chins wagging when I visited Mumbai and New Delhi in March. Upholding a decision by the Madras High Court, appeal judges ruled that foreign law firms still cannot set up permanent offices in India, but are allowed to fly in and out of …
Continue reading “India liberalisation: a question of when, not if, for law firms”
