Those responsible for the management of legal staff need to understand something of the psyche of this new generation

Social media and digital natives

Friday, 03 February 2012 For many lawyers, particularly senior partners of big legal practices, social media is still uncharted territory. Defined as a means by which people d...
Who we are affects what we do

Considering the role of personality profiling in managing legal careers

Thursday, 02 February 2012 Is there such a thing as a typical lawyer - and does it matter? The answer to both these questions is ‘yes’. What follows is an explanation of tha...

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There is a role for legal advisers in the exports market

At its HQ in London’s Victoria Street, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has a shiny, fairly new reception area, where images of its ministers alternate on a large screen before the eyes of visitors awaiting collection. But if you are sitting patiently watching these faces on a loop before meeting one of them, you might be in the wrong place. Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint (pictured), minister of state for trade and investment, is based at the Italianate Foreign and Commonwealth Office on King Charles Street.

Outward bound



Final resolutions for a big year

We can no longer refer to the ‘impending arrival’ of alternative business structures in the legal services marketplace - they’re here. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has announced that it is about to issue the first ABS licences, and new entrants will now begin to enter the market. Existing businesses will change shape and some may look to take advantage of the ability to raise external capital.



How best to go about a merger

Law firm mergers picked up pace last year and 2012 promises to be a record year for legal marriages of convenience. Threats from new entrants, a flat UK market, fee pressure and difficult credit conditions are all factors driving lawyers to merge with rivals and peers.

Among some of the names that have taken the plunge recently are City firm Sprecher Grier Halberstam, which has merged with national firm Martineau to create SGH Martineau; insurance specialists Beachcroft and Davies Arnold Cooper (DAC); and Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) with Clyde & Co.



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Unlocking lock-up days
Louis Baker and Steve Gale
Thursday, 09 February 2012

Lock-up is not something firms can afford (literally) to stick their heads in the sand about, yet the number of firms struggling with lock-up (unbilled work in progress plus debtors excluding VAT) is staggering.

Crowe Clark Whitehill surveyed over 60 law firms recently, asking them to input data based on their recent annual results (normally to March or April 2011). The survey contained a good spread of firms in terms of size, with small firms to firms with a turnover of over £100m all well represented.

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Witnessing financial documents
David Pickup
Tuesday, 07 February 2012

A lady comes to the office clutching a mortgage and says it needs witnessing by a solicitor. She explains she is raising money to pay off the victims of her husband’s fraud. The solicitor advises her not to sign it and she goes off. The solicitor is later sued (probably successfully) for negligence.

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The business of immigration 2012
Henry Oliver
Monday, 30 January 2012

Contrary to expectations this is going to be a good year for immigration practitioners.

When considering immigration lawyers’ prospects for 2012 we need to remember a lesson from Frederick Bastiat’s Parable of the Broken Window. Bastiat was a 19th century French economist, who taught us to look at what is seen, and at what is not seen.

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