Alex Novarese

February 11, 2011 | International Edition

Feeling light on inspiration, I'm indebted to The Wall Street Journal and Adam Smith, Esq for giving me something to get my teeth into with a prominent piece this week from The Journal. The article charts the dramatic increase in the size of pay packages being offered to star US partners and the related widening of the gap between for partners, citing top-end packages in the $10m (£6.3m) region against $640,000 (£405,000) for the water-carriers. Interesting nuggets in the article include the fact that Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom last year widened the range between top and bottom-earners, while the wide pay range is also highlighted at firms as disparate at Hogan Lovells, K&L Gates and DLA Piper. Packages for top partners cited include deals of $6m (£4m) at DLA Piper in the US and $8m (£5m) at Kirkland & Ellis. The Journal's claim is that the most sought-after rainmakers now often earn eight to 10 times that of the lowest-paid equity earners within the same firm.

By Alex Novarese

5 minute read

February 08, 2011 | International Edition

What, if anything, unites the large law firms operating outside the top 50? They have no catchy group name, operate from disparate areas of the UK and deploy a wide range of management styles and practice models. And, as this week's in depth feature finds, there is no easy answer as to what separates - often with brutal force - the winners from the losers.

By Alex Novarese

3 minute read

February 03, 2011 | International Edition

On one hand so bold, on the other, so familiar. Here we are two years on, with Allen & Overy (A&O) announcing another restructuring that borrows ideas from rivals - with booster rockets attached. Consider the history. In February 2009, A&O unveils a comprehensive restructuring of its business pulling together measures that rivals were deploying piecemeal, including partner exits, firmwide job cuts, a capital injection and a freeze in billing rates. Then in February 2011 A&O unveils a comprehensive initiative to offshore swathes of its back-office and legal support work to become an outpost in Belfast set to grow to 300 members of staff by 2014.

By Alex Novarese

4 minute read

February 01, 2011 | International Edition

The first point to make regarding CMS Cameron McKenna's plans for a hugely ambitious outsourcing project with Integreon is that it deserves the benefit of the doubt. It will be a complex project and has understandably been touted as a landmark deal for the legal services market. While I have some reservations, the firm, which spent months conducting due diligence on the deal and appointed a 10-partner panel chaired by Ed Benzecry to stress-test the proposed model, cannot be accused of rushing in. The firm argues that the ultimate prize of better quality systems and a lower cost back-office operation is considerable, despite short-term disruption. In this regard, I'll reserve judgement.

By Alex Novarese

3 minute read

January 25, 2011 | International Edition

Usually, I have a pretty good sense of which articles on legalweek.com will garner attention, but I confess I didn't foresee a low-key article about Ashurst articulating an expectation that partners should be doing at least 50 hours of work a week gaining the audience it did. In many ways the stance, outlined in a 15-second burst at the firm's partnership conference last November, would seem an entirely innocuous statement of fact for those taking on a gig currently paying £362,000 to £940,000 a year.

By Alex Novarese

3 minute read

January 21, 2011 | International Edition

In a recent blog about five delusions commonly shared by law firms, I was greeted by the unusual experience of readers agreeing with the points I made... with one exception. This was my claim that law firms shouldn't kid themselves that clients ignore directories - hence this follow-up. Well, the bad news for those hoping for me to put the boot into the large directories like Chambers and Legal 500 is that I stand by it. I certainly accept that clients routinely downplay the extent to which they use them. Of course they do - you already have panel reviews run by bank procurement teams in which they are embedding directories into the pitch process.

By Alex Novarese

5 minute read

January 18, 2011 | International Edition

The level of attention that greets news of the supposed over-supply of lawyers is surely a sign of the times. This was clearly demonstrated last week with the publication of figures showing the number of practising solicitors in England and Wales was up 7% in 2010 to break through the 120,000 mark. Admittedly, that's a startling figure; the number of working solicitors grew only 2% in the preceding two years and last year's rise was well ahead of the rough 4% annual growth the profession has managed since the 1970s.

By Alex Novarese

3 minute read

January 14, 2011 | International Edition

Given the level of debate generated by law firms' treatment of gays, ethnic minorities and women, a neutral observer wandering into the Square Mile might wonder why there is so little comment on the deal dished out to older lawyers. After all, many City firms have hardly any partners over 55, law firms are notoriously lax at implementing the employment laws they lecture clients about and the long-hours culture of commercial practice is hardly conducive to career longevity.

By Alex Novarese

5 minute read

January 12, 2011 | International Edition

I think I'm a pretty representative case when I look at what promises to be a year dominated by the Legal Services Act (LSA) and conclude that the profession has now well and truly reached a point of regulatory overload. Take one prominent example: the recently-launched, horribly-complicated and wide-reaching review of legal education. On the launch of the initiative many said it was long overdue. Well, start digging into the process as we do for this week's analysis, and another view starts to emerge.

By Alex Novarese

3 minute read

January 05, 2011 | International Edition

What better way of shaking off the holiday funk as you emerge blinking and overindulged (or flu-ridden in my case) into 2011 than a good old-fashioned list piece? It's a timeless standby for those moments when you're not yet back into the swing of things and very little interesting has yet happened to write about. But since I can't face the dreaded 'predictions for the year' format, instead I'm throwing down with five things law firms like to believe that are usually total cobblers:

By Alex Novarese

4 minute read