Interview with...
Helen Donegan, US editor (content) at The Legal 500 speaks with Baker McKenzie’s US managing partners about their new appointments since July 2019, plans for their offices, and how these fit with client needs and existing managing partner responsibilities
Can you provide a brief overview of the office(s) you manage? Bobby Albaral: I was appointed managing partner of the firm’s Dallas office in 2017, then in July 2019 – as we combined the Dallas and Houston offices into one collaborative Texas team – I was appointed the Texas office managing partner. Baker McKenzie has …
Continue reading “Under new management”
Interview with...
Candey’s managing partner talks about the culture of a disputes-only firm, the challenges and opportunities facing litigation boutiques, robot armies, and why it’s important for a leader to retain their humanity and humour
For readers who don’t know you or Candey well, please provide us with a brief history of you and your firm. Founded in 2009, we have grown into an international litigation boutique of 25 fee earners. We are a mix of solicitors and barristers undertaking large scale multi-million pound global and cross-border litigation with a …
Continue reading “Ashkhan Candey: It’s like being at a zoo but only hanging out with the gorillas”
Paralegals are not going away, so why not make use of them, argues Amanda Hamilton, CEO of the National Association of Licenced Paralegals
For a top legal firm, productivity and profitability are probably the two main concerns for the business. All the more reason to consider the value of paralegals and what they can do for you. Paralegals are emergent as the go-to profession for the assistance they can give to consumers, but the value that the paralegal …
Continue reading “The forgotten legal professionals”
Law firm management
With consistent tier 1 status in The Legal 500 rankings within the areas of finance, REITs, and tax in the US guide, and banking, M&A, and projects in the Latin America guide, Helen Donegan, US editor (content) at The Legal 500, recently sat down with Evan Cohen to take a closer look at the strategy behind the growing success of Clifford Chance’s US team
When you’re asked to lead a region identified as the top strategic priority for one of the world’s largest globally integrated firms, you are faced with two distinct but intertwined challenges: supporting your firm’s global ambitions while also developing a domestic strategy that addresses the challenges unique to your local market. It’s no easy task. …
Continue reading “Competing against the best in the US”
Editor's views
A focus on talent, employee engagement, and innovation are vital for the offshore world in 2020, argues Ogier’s global managing partner, Ed Mackereth
It is easy to talk a good game when it comes to putting people at the heart of what you do but, in a global market where uncertainty is rife and there are more known unknowns causing sleepless nights than ever before, one of the few things we can all be sure of (apart from …
Continue reading “Mitigating the known unknowns”
Diversity and inclusion
The Diversity Lab announcement regarding the Move the Needle Fund (‘MTN’) in September 2019 revealed the most ambitious, public, and collaborative effort by global law firms to achieve measurable diversity goals. The participating law firms have set aggressive five-year diversity goals and will publicly report on their progress and the actions they take to achieve …
Continue reading “Going further to move the needle on diversity and inclusion”
William Farrington looks at the latest legal market developments from the Nordic’s largest nation
Senior partner departures, lateral team hires, boutique firm establishments – these are all gold dust for Legal 500 researchers seeking to determine which are the serious players in any given legal market. I have covered some countries – such as India, Malta, and Nigeria – where these changes are few and far between. On the …
Continue reading “Sweden’s ‘one-stop-shop’ versus the ‘best-of-breed’”
The Legal 500 view
Barnaby Merrill reports on the Baltic nation’s stable legal market which, despite a downturn in M&A transactions, is reaping returns from increased dispute activity across the real estate, tax, and public sectors
Estonia has maintained its strong transactional environment despite concerns over an economic downturn, with the country’s favourable regulatory environment remaining attractive for foreign and domestic businesses. Estonia’s long-standing record of low taxes and favourable regulation, combined with the country’s innovative approaches to attracting investment, such as the nation’s e-residency scheme, has long seen the Baltic …
Continue reading “Estonia’s legal market – serene despite economic uncertainty”
Interview with...
Finnegan’s managing partner speaks with Helen Donegan, US editor (content), about taking on the role in July 2019, his plans and priorities, and what makes Finnegan stand out
Given your experience in having studied mechanical engineering and then working as a space engineer at NASA, why then did you decide to study law and pursue a legal career? Law was not a career track for me when I was an undergrad. I really did see myself working as an engineer and actually continuing …
Continue reading “Anand Sharma: We are distinctly different”
