Interview with...
HFW’s Australia managing partner on what sets his firm apart from the competition, creating a ‘one stop shop’, and ‘unrestricted’ partner access
What’s the main change you’ve made in Australia that will benefit clients? When we established HFW’s first office in Australia in 2006 our principal service areas were shipping and commodities, being the industry sectors for which the firm is widely recognised internationally as having market-leading expertise. Australia generates about 10% of the world’s bulk freight …
Continue reading “Gavin Vallely: A true industry focus”
Interview with: Milton Cheng
Baker McKenzie’s Hong Kong managing partner talks about the firm’s joint operation with FenXun Partners and the challenges facing international firms in a tough China market
How would you define Baker McKenzie’s culture and how important is it to you? We believe firm culture is very important. It sets the tone for how we interact with each other, our clients and our communities at large. We have a collaborative, entrepreneurial, pragmatic, diverse, and inclusive culture. These qualities among our lawyers and …
Continue reading “How to attract Chinese rainmakers”
Leadership
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner co-chair Lisa Mayhew speaks to UK Solicitors editor Georgina Stanley on 2018’s transatlantic merger and the strategy for future growth
‘What have I learned?’ quips Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) co-chair Lisa Mayhew, speaking to The Legal 500 last month on the first anniversary of the firm’s merger, ‘I’ve learned that mergers are hard work and you don’t sleep much.’ The combined firm launched at the start of April last year, when top 20 UK …
Continue reading “Making a merger – the hard yards behind the first year of BCLP”
Career corner
Senior researcher Dr Dana Ferchland explains how US patent litigation practices have adapted to the changing legal landscape and grown their talent pool
The US patent litigation market has evolved significantly over the past few years. Two main drivers are responsible for most of these changes. The first is 2012’s America Invents Act which introduced the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and established inter partes reviews (IPR) as a new tool to challenging the validity of patents. …
Continue reading “Being nimble wins the game”
Technology
Whether making a direct investment or utilising the products of others, there’s plenty of options for robot lawyering, says Dan Carmel, chief marketing officer of iManage
Information is the coin of the realm for any corporate legal department or law firm – and that is probably why the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) has a generated so much excitement across the legal industry. AI, properly applied, can produce dramatic productivity improvements, enabling document reviews and other basic legal tasks to be …
Continue reading “How to become a smart shopper of AI”
Human rights
Australia’s first federal Modern Slavery Act came into effect on 1 January 2019, in a move that has been hailed as a significant step to end forced labour and human trafficking. Law firms have started responding with changes to their teams to advise clients on the act’s implications. Under the new law, companies with an …
Continue reading “Legal advice must include human rights considerations”
Pro bono
Every year, members of The Legal 500 join with thousands of legal professionals pounding the streets of London and the South East of England to raise money for pro bono advice centres. Sarita Guatama and Rosa Coleman of the London Legal Support Trust explain why these funds are so crucial to advice centres and the clients they help.
Access to justice is a basic principle of the rule of law; it is a right, not a privilege. However, the effects of legal aid cuts combined with local authority cuts have had a significant effect on the availability and accessibility of free legal advice, meaning that the most vulnerable people cannot access the help …
Continue reading “Accessing justice in a time of austerity”
Marketing
Technology won’t change the face of law overnight but firms should be prepared to innovate, says Sean Graham, Seddons’ head of marketing and business development
With a younger roster of legal professionals clawing their way up the ranks, we are seeing a workforce which understands the importance of technology, realises the benefits of using it, and adapts to and utilises new tech quicker than before. This also means that they expect much more from their marketing teams. Technology is expanding …
Continue reading “Embracing technology in legal marketing”
The big issue
Big Law does not have a great reputation for promoting good mental health, but Morgan Lewis’ management is looking to change that, writes Krista Logelin
Your wellbeing is not fixed. The extent to which you are thriving is something each of us has the ability to influence, which is why I’ve chosen to focus my career on enabling individuals and organisations to flourish. In my position as director of employee wellbeing, I am tasked with designing and implementing a custom …
Continue reading “How ‘well’ are you? Conceptualising a wellbeing programme”
