House in order
The Bribery Act 2010 and associated white-collar crime legislation may have caused a headache for the c-suite but in-house teams have much to be thankful for.
Systems v talent – clients will have to choose
From the perspective of a GC at a major multinational, which will be the key external adviser over the next ten years, the legal firm that is top decile at attracting, motivating and retaining the best talent throughout its business? Or the institution that excels at building market-leading systems, processes and technology? Put another way: …
Continue reading “Systems v talent – clients will have to choose”
Significant matters – Autumn 2017
Unsettled Lloyds legal team reports to finance The legal team at Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) now reports to the bank’s finance team after the group’s latest reorganisation, which also saw the departure of chief people, legal and strategy officer and ex-Linklaters managing partner Simon Davies, after less than two years. The move has shifted responsibility …
GC 2.0
Do you know your cash-burn phase from your TLDNR? Welcome to the buccaneering, hierarchy-lite world of the fast-growth, tech-driven ‘disruptors’, the kind of business that a growing number of lawyers aspire to work in or advise.
Education, education, education
Speaking at the Westminster Legal Policy Forum recently, renowned industry futurologist Richard Susskind accused the UK’s law schools of being stuck in the 1970s, preparing graduates to undertake work that will become increasingly uncommon while failing to train aspiring solicitors in the new technologies that will replace much of the work lawyers now do.
Over to you: assessing your training need in the age of ‘continuing competence’
In October 2017, solicitors will make their first declaration that they have ‘reflected on and addressed any identified learning and development needs’. Continuing professional development (CPD) is the latest aspect of solicitors’ lives to convert to an outcomes-focused approach, under the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)’s continuing competence regime.
Beware the Black Swan
Imagine the worst: within the last 72 hours, your company has been hit by a major crisis. There may have been serious damage to the community in which you operate. Your customers may have suffered, people’s livelihoods may have been destroyed, the environment may be irretrievably damaged. Some of your employees and contractors may be …
Whose dime?
Even for City lawyers used to increasingly heavy-handed tactics in panel reviews from banking groups, it proved something of a shock. News earlier this year that Deutsche Bank had notified pitching firms of its unwillingness to pay for trainees and newly-qualified lawyers during its last adviser review sent a jolt through the UK legal market. …
The long, long game
On 19 May, Iran went to the polls for what many believed would be a tightly-fought election. By the next morning it was clear that the analysts’ predictions had been wide of the mark. Incumbent president Hassan Rouhani, leader of the Moderation and Development Party, secured a landslide victory over his nearest rival, Ebrahim Raisi, …
Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Four?
‘It has happened to me where you serve a client, have a great book of business, and then Ernst & Young [EY] is lucky enough to win the audit work for that client,’ says EY global legal head Cornelius Grossmann, reflecting on the vagaries and rewards of providing legal services in a Big Four giant.