Breaking down the barriers facing female leaders

The Big Issue: Women in Leadership

Alison Eddy, Irwin Mitchell’s managing partner in London, on creating a female friendly environment which has allowed the firm to attract the best and brightest

When I joined Irwin Mitchell with two other partners in 1995, to set up the London office, I had five children aged between three and 11 years old and juggled bringing in work, looking after clients, and building a team. No one at that time talked about work-life balance or flexible working, something I would …

Exploring new technologies

Technology

Olga V. Mack, experienced tech lawyer and current CEO at Parley Pro, speaks with US editor (content), Helen Donegan, about contract management solutions, how she believes in-house lawyers are leading the way with legal tech, and the best way for lawyers to test new legal technologies

Helen Donegan: In your career to date you’ve had roles in both private practice and in-house; what specifically interested you in a legal career? Olga Mack: I went to law school to be a tech lawyer, so I am a tech lawyer by training and by design. I’ve been fortunate enough to work at the …

Spotlight on: Arnold & Porter rising to the competition

Practice spotlight

The antitrust/competition team from Arnold & Porter have risen from tier 3 to tier 1 in The Legal 500 United States rankings between 2017 and 2019. US editor (content), Helen Donegan, spoke with global head of the practice, Debbie Feinstein, and head of the practice for the US, Jonathan Gleklen, about the team’s rise in the rankings and the efforts they would attribute to this

Helen Donegan: Can you please give me a brief overview of your team? Debbie Feinstein: We have more than 100 people in our antitrust practice across the US and Europe. I lead the global group and focus on merger control, with some work on civil conduct investigations and litigation. Jonathan leads the US group and …

Protecting your assets

The Bar

Keith Plowman, senior clerk at Ten Old Square Chambers, discusses the modern barristers’ clerk’s role in promoting good mental health in chambers

Modern barristers’ clerks are not a ‘new breed’ but the evolutionary result of the shifting forum in which they operate. Their history may hark back to harsher and more subservient times, but their current expertise is recognised by successful sets of chambers who require effective management of individual barristers’ practices and chambers’ business. The poet, …

A day in the life…

The Bar...

5SAH Chambers’ Louisa Collins details her life as a specialist extradition barrister, juggling family commitments with exciting, challenging, and emotive cases

Usually a ‘day in the life story’ starts with the morning, but for this job it usually commences the evening before, readying myself for the following day. The adrenaline of being in court brings with it a rush of activity close to the hearing date. I tend to prepare for examining witnesses the day before …

All you need to know about the UK Bar 2020

The Bar

John van der Luit-Drummond provides an overview of the latest Bar rankings, some general submission feedback, and news on what’s to come in our next research round

Congratulations to every barrister and chambers that appears in The Legal 500’s 2020 UK Bar rankings. The latest rankings are a culmination of all your hard work and expertise as well as the painstaking research carried out by our dedicated and talented research team. This latest guide is our most expansive yet. The 2020 guide …

Selendy & Gay reimagines the modern law firm

Diversity and inclusion

Amidst growing calls from clients, market consultants, and alternative legal service providers for a systematic overhaul of the traditional law firm model, ten of America’s most prominent trial attorneys banded together to re-architect law firm structure, operations, and culture.

The result: Selendy & Gay, a powerhouse litigation firm which opened its doors in February 2018, and today is one of the only elite, majority women-owned firms in the United States. In announcing its launch, the firm vowed to deploy diverse critical thinking to transform ‘the most challenging litigation scenarios into net positives’ for its …

Diversity rules: A closer look at Mansfield Certification

Diversity and inclusion

The Mansfield Rule – increasingly well-known as a national movement to increase diversity in law firm recruitment and promotion practices in the US – was created by the Diversity Lab, a self-described ‘incubator for innovative ideas and solutions that boost diversity and inclusion in law’. The Mansfield Rule originated from a winning idea from the …

In search of Indigenous justice

The Big Issue: Women in Leadership

‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders worked their whole lives without proper pay, and were treated like slaves by the state and their employers. It’s a very dark part of our history’

For nearly a century, between the 1880s and 1970s, Australia’s major industries and domestic roles – including farming, mining, fishing, and cattle ranching, as well as gardeners, kitchen staff, and many more – relied upon tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander labourers. Despite their undoubted contribution to growing the nation’s economy, Indigenous …

“Strength in the US is increasingly important” – what’s driving the London leveraged finance market

Practice spotlight

Leading UK and US partners have their say on changes in the acquisition finance world

The London leveraged finance market is one of the most keenly contested in the City, with a select group of elite law firms jockeying to position themselves as go-to advisers for banks, sponsors, and direct lenders alike. The Legal 500 UK solicitors’ editor Georgina Stanley recently spoke to some of the market’s major players to …