Alex Novarese

November 23, 2011 | International Edition

I don't pay much attention to pronouncements made by general counsel about cost and value. It's a maxim that has generally stood me in good stead at Legal Week. If you did take those public statements at face value, you would have concluded a lot of things: rates are coming down; clients are instructing mid-tiers for much of their work; sophisticated clients are now experts in managing costs and measuring value. The awkward point is that these trends are either not happening in the field or, at least, their prominence is greatly exaggerated. So the most accurate indicator of clients' priorities – the one that never steers me wrong – is the same as it was years ago: our annual table of financial results of the largest UK law firms. This measures the outcomes of thousands of buying decisions made by clients every year. If demand is flat-lining, it's there. If clients are getting tough on rates in certain areas, that is where you will see the result.

By Alex Novarese

3 minute read

November 16, 2011 | International Edition

"We believe that the profession is going to change structurally over the next three to five years and we want to be at the front end, not the back of that process. That takes strong leadership." So says Francis B Burch, Jr, the US-based co-chairman of DLA Piper, referring to the vote that has just ratified the firm's headline-grabbing appointment of former Linklaters head Tony Angel.

By Alex Novarese

3 minute read

November 11, 2011 | International Edition

Alex Novarese asks whether judges should go beyond their role of applying the law and get involved in politics...

By Alex Novarese

8 minute read

November 09, 2011 | International Edition

Alex Novarese on why A&O's merger talks with Allen & Gledhill marks a key moment for the development of Singapore Inc as a key strategic hub for Asia...

By Alex Novarese

3 minute read

November 09, 2011 | International Edition

A&O's move to tie up with Allen & Gledhill comes during a period in which Singapore has emerged as an increasingly key strategic hub in the wider Asia region. Alex Novarese reports...

By Alex Novarese

6 minute read

November 02, 2011 | International Edition

DLA's appointment of ex-Links head Tony Angel turns on a gamble which no-one in the legal industry knows the answer to: can you bring in an experienced lawyer to lead (which largely means change) another major firm?

By Alex Novarese

3 minute read

October 28, 2011 | International Edition

"Angel's appointment appears a significant milestone for the legal industry in terms of modern management and will test whether this kind of appointment can work in law firm land" - Alex Novarese on what Tony Angel will bring to the table at DLA...

By Alex Novarese

10 minute read

October 26, 2011 | International Edition

Why would you want to triple your equity partnership, as DLA Piper is now on course to do for its non-US business? After all, it flies in the face of a 20-year trend that has seen commercial law firms make up armies of non-equity partners to drive up their profits.

By Alex Novarese

3 minute read

October 19, 2011 | International Edition

Cast your mind back five years ago to what seems like a different era. Clyde & Co was generating not much more than half its current revenues and Holman Fenwick Willan barely scraped into the top 40 while Ince & Co just about made the top 50. Kennedys was nowhere to be seen. Corporate markets were booming, and transaction-driven law firms were really just getting into the swing of the credit boom. Little wonder that insurance-driven law firms were overlooked as the script for global law was written – the sector was associated with nothing more glamourous than brutally executed panel reviews and misconceived cross-selling (Barlow Lyde & Gilbert's lost years and Davies Arnold Cooper's 'pillars of strength' spring to mind). Apart from the startling growth Clydes was already demonstrating, powered by global expansion and a strategy that largely went over the heads of journalists such as, well, me, there was little sign of the breed's future ascendency. Step forward, and it's a very different story, with insurance and transport law firms now having led the pack consistently since the credit crunch hit four years ago.

By Alex Novarese

3 minute read

October 14, 2011 | International Edition

Legal Week remains somewhat arms-length from its own awards ceremony, the British Legal Awards. That's mainly because the awards have an independent judging panel - and a very high quality one at that - with the aim being to avoid the event turning into a prize-fest for our best contacts. That said, we do try to draw on Legal Week's editorial experience to assist the process. That happens in several ways. Firstly, Legal Week - largely meaning me and our deputy editor, Georgina Stanley - help to whittle the award entries down to a shortlist for the judges to consider. Frankly, that was a pain this year, because for reasons I won't try to explain we had a record number of entries, up 20% on last year. So apologies to the considerable number of lawyers, firms and barristers sulking at our news team this week for not getting shortlisted - in most categories you were really up against a lot of competition.

By Alex Novarese

8 minute read