Editors' views
If they are to retain their best talent, law firms must remember their duty of care, writes John van der Luit-Drummond
A few weeks ago, I met up with an old friend from law school. It had been a couple of months since last we met, but the change in them was striking and somewhat frightening. Dark circles around bloodshot eyes contrasted against drawn, ashen skin. Their now furrowed brow was topped by unwashed hair, while …
Interview with: Séverine Hotellier
What works in New York does not necessarily work in Baku, and we understand that, explains Dentons’ Paris managing partner
How would you define your firm’s culture? Dentons is a challenger brand and we are trying to build the law firm of the future together, so it is a very exciting place to work. Our culture is extremely important to us, so we have built a unique culture around five core values: passion, foresight, collaboration, …
Editors' views
Deutschland editor Anna Bauböck speaks to a selection of partners about the meaning of legal technology, innovation, and a changing profession
With such a buzz around ‘legal tech’ these last few years, I’ve found myself questioning what people actually mean by the term. Today every firm I meet wants to talk about it, but the definition and understanding of legal tech appears to vary widely and not surprisingly so, as it can encompass a whole host …
Continue reading “Beyond the buzz? Getting to the crux of legal tech”
Interview with: Georg Frowein and Rainer Krause
Hengeler Mueller’s co-managing partners provide advice to the next generation of partners and explain why they shun the ‘straitjacket’ of branch networks
How would you define your firm’s culture? How important is firm culture to you? Throughout the existence of Hengeler Mueller, we have preserved a close and cooperative culture within our partnership. We regard this as a very precious element of our firm and key to our success. Most Hengeler Mueller partners spend their whole career …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …