The Lawyer Podcast

Send us a textLaw firms leaders love saying they don’t want growth for growth’s sake, but the truth is, without any growth at all they soon find themselves floundering.So as the financial year draws to a close, litigation editor Christian Smith and deputy editor Rich Simmons are joined by head of insight Matt Byrne, Horizon editor Katy Dowell and international editor Alex Taylor to look at what law firms are doing to find good, profitable growth - and whether they need to grow at all costs.

Explore the high salaries offered to associates at Pogust Goodhead, the changing landscape of litigation, the impact on junior lawyers' career decisions, and the evolving opportunities in the litigation market. Delve into the innovative partnership deal at Pogust Goodhead, the selective hiring approach of law firms, and the shift in career paths from law firms to funders.

Send us a textLondon has become the biggest referral market in the world - and the Brits are nowhereThe rise and rise of American firms in London’s private equity market – and the challenge that has presented to UK firms - has been well documented, particularly here at The Lawyer. But their increasing dominance is now also threatening UK firms across Europe, as European relationships in London start migrating to US firms.On this episode of The Lawyer Podcast, international editor Alex Taylor and director of insight Matt Byrne join Catrin and Christian to explore the changing dynamics of London’s lucrative relationship with Europe, and what UK firms are doing to get their own back in the US.

Send us a textLinklaters seemingly started the year strongly with a six partner hire from Shearman & Sterling in New York.So why then has it come in for so much negative attention?From an absent US strategy to a stream of senior partner losses, many in the market now believe Linklaters is losing its sparkle.On this episode, Catrin and Christian are joined by director of insight Matt Byrne and deputy editor (City) Rachel Moloney to discuss what’s going wrong at the magic circle firm, is it justified, or is this a whole fuss over nothing? If you’d like to read any of the articles mentioned in this podcast, you can find their links below:https://www.thelawyer.com/six-strong-shearman-team-exits-for-linklaters/  https://www.thelawyer.com/linklaters-should-be-embarrassed-about-its-us-performance/  https://www.thelawyer.com/linklaters-threatens-to-withhold-distributions-from-departing-partners/  https://www.thelawyer.com/paul-weiss-hits-linklaters-for-yet-another-partner/  https://www.thelawyer.com/the-magic-circle-has-had-enough/ 

Send us a textThe Lawyer Podcast is back for 2024 and we’re kicking things off by delving into the lessons the legal profession can glean from the Post Office scandal.The Post Office scandal has already become one of the biggest stories of the year and few groups are so closely tied to it as the legal profession.With that in mind, editor Catrin Griffiths and litigation editor Christian Smith are joined by senior litigation reporter Annabel Tinson to ask: Are lawyers the baddies in this national scandal? Where is the line between acting in your client’s best interests and acting unethically? Should hyper-aggressive litigation be a thing of the past? And how has litigation funding managed to get caught up in it all?Plus, we have special guest appearances from the University of Exeter’s professor of law and professional ethics Richard Moorhead, and Harbour Litigation Funding’s founder Susan Dunn.

Send us a textEvery law firm and his dog seems to be moving into a green office at the moment, but how important is that really when it comes to a law firm's impact on the environment?Well with COP28 well underway in Dubai, for the last episode of The Lawyer Podcast for 2023, we dive into one of the great challenges for this generation of lawyers: how can firms manage their relationship with the environment? Catrin and Christian are joined by The Lawyer's sustainability guru Jessica Boak, along with deputy editor (UK) Rich Simmons, to discuss how firms impact the environment, what they are doing about it, what the next generation of lawyers want from their employers, and the thorny issue of acting for big polluter clients.

Send us a textThe new episode of The Lawyer Podcast is out now!Across the UK and Europe, new types of litigation are booming – and the money is pumping in.On this episode of The Lawyer Podcast, Catrin Griffiths, Christian Smith and Alex Taylor sit down to debate what the future holds for the once maligned practice area, and whether litigators are proving themselves more creative than their transactional colleagues.

Send us a textSalary wars are so 2022. Or are they?On Tuesday this week, The Lawyer’s deputy editor (UK) Rich Simmons revealed the largest firm pay gaps between London and the regions.Did you know that Hogan Lovells’ Birmingham newly qualifieds (NQs) are paid £45,000 less than their London colleagues? And Eversheds Sutherland’s regional NQs are all paid £33,000 less than those in the City? A London-regional pay gap has always existed, but lawyers are starting to question whether it has ever been so big, and if it is still fair.Suffice to say, the question led to a particularly robust debate in The Lawyer’s newsroom, so on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast, the London-based Catrin and Christian are joined by Rich Simmons from Brighton, deputy news editor Jessica Boak from Leeds, and Horizon editor, Devonshire’s own, Katy Dowell to sort out the divide once and for all.

Send us a textThe Lawyer’s Horizon Live is due to kick off next month. We are launching a series of webinars, dinners and roundtables featuring some of the biggest names in law discussing the most prominent issues affecting the profession.To celebrate, on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast, four of The Lawyer’s editors present some of their favourite Horizons in recent times.The Lawyer editor Catrin Griffiths presents Horizon editor Katy Dowell’s piece Just let more women in the equity, Rich Simmons brings us his Horizon Oxford is the New Cambridge, deputy news editor Jessica Boak argues that firms need to be bolder in their net zero plans in Don’t backtrack like Sunak, and international editor Alex Taylor argues why Freshfields is still a staunch Europhile.You can subscribe to Horizon Live here.

Send us a textProfits are falling and costs are rising. On the latest episode of The Lawyer Podcast, the team chat about why profit isn't a dirty word:Love it or hate it, PEP is part of a firm's branding and the status of its lawyers;Profit matters for firms' long-term health and investment;Would-be partners should use PEP in tandem with intel on capital requirements to know what they're letting themselves in for;Freshfields is deluded if it thinks it can ignore PEP as a metric.For all this and more, the annual UK200 on the UK Signal Channel, sponsored by Thomson Reuters, is out now. Read it here.