#MeToo and law firm reputation – the PR response

The big issue

Working cultures will need to adapt and evolve if reputations are to be preserved, writes Gus Sellitto, managing director of Byfield Consultancy.

In its first year, the #MeToo movement has had a profound impact on almost every industry, including the legal sector, shining a much-needed light on how we deal with sexual harassment in the workplace and in wider society. The days of quietly brushing sexual harassment under the carpet are gone and the media continues to …

A moment to make real change

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Christina Detsch takes a closer look at the omnipresent trend that is #MeToo and the impact it has had on the US workplace environment.

Speaking to employment law specialists in Sweden during the 2019 EMEA research, one thing struck me as particularly interesting: all noted a ‘wave’ or ‘explosion’ of discrimination and harassment lawsuits, as well as numerous large internal investigations, at the beginning of 2018 just as the #MeToo movement was getting into its stride. However, by the …

Remediating, mitigating, and managing a crisis

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US editor Seth Singh Jennings talks to Kirkland & Ellis partners about advising corporate clients about reputational risk in the era of #MeToo.

An issue for businesses that has skyrocketed in importance in recent years is sexual abuse in the workplace, which of course is largely due to the success of the #MeToo movement. The origins of ‘Me Too’ in the context of sexual harassment and assault stretches back to 2006, but the movement, as we now understand …

#MeTooLaw: when firms do the right thing

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Law firms must take prompt and effective steps to ensure
institutional change and eradicate sexual harassment at work, says Clare Murray, managing partner of CM Murray

It is a year since Paul Philip, chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), appeared before the Women & Equalities Select Committee to account for the legal sector’s record on addressing sexual harassment at work. That somewhat testing experience for Mr Philip at the hands of MPs, led to an immediate sharpening of the …

Lawyers learn new tricks

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US editor Seth Singh Jennings talks to fintech specialists on the evolution of their practice and what the future holds for financial institutions and their lawyers .

When The Legal 500 United States 2019 launches in May 2019, it will include, for the first time, a dedicated ranking for fintech practices. Unless you’ve been living on Mars for the past five years, you’ll be very familiar with the term – as well as some examples such as cryptocurrency and peer-to-peer lending – …

Passing the baton

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From Mexico to the Southern Cone, Latin America editor Tim Girven talks to managing partners about generational handover in the legal profession

Beyond the US and UK, many legal markets remain heavily populated by law firms established as family businesses, or which – still in their first generation – remain overseen by a founding partner. More sizeable firms, too, even if they have already experienced the process of generational (and managerial) handover on one-or-more occasions, will not …