With traditional markets in recession, law firms are looking to emerging ones for new opportunities. Iberian firms have been leading the way in Lusophone Africa, but their global competitors are paying ever greater attention.
Now that times are quieter, will Iberia’s law firms end their obsession with growth? Easier said than done, as many argue that current partnership models require growth. Stress lines are already appearing as law firms try to contemplate the years ahead.
The coming year will see pricing continue to be a key battle ground between law firms, predict some. A reduction in transactions, concern over utilisation rates, particularly of junior lawyers, and an increased sophistication in the way General Counsel manage their external legal needs, means that more than ever firms have to differentiate their services […]
It was clear that the postcrisis terrain for firms will be different – the new “new” – but prospects for 2012 are not looking good. The transactional train has finally been derailed and with it a core driver of law firm revenue and growth. Some very senior lawyers are wondering what they will be doing […]
More than merely offering referral options to their clients as they expand internationally, law firms increasingly need to offer new skills. There are, say General Counsel, still significant opportunities for their domestic advisers to assist them as their businesses grow abroad but in order to seize them they must offer more than mere hand holding. […]
As well as bringing threats, recent years have shown that a crisis can also bring welcome opportunities for change. The challenge for lawyers is, of course, in understanding how best to navigate away from the first while embracing the second.
This summer has seen a major test of Spain’s banking system following the restructuring of the country’s savings banks (cajas) with the listing of two new banks – the first major Spanish IPOs since 2007 – with the risk of failure potentially catastrophic for many within the finance sector.
The prospective bailout of Portugal by the “troika” of the European Union (EU), European Community Bank (ECB) and IMF (International Monetary Fund) may not be cause for celebration but it at least brings certainty to the country’s finances, say lawyers in Lisbon. It requires however the newly elected Social Democratic-led Government of Pedro Passos Coelho […]
The announcement in February that Madrid-based Eversheds Lupicinio was to leave the Eversheds International network and strike out on its own, followed by the decision of competition boutique Martínez Lage to regain its independence, has once again brought into question the relative merits of exclusive ties between national firms and global networks.
Law firms like their clients are looking to new markets to balance declining or at best flat revenues at home. For some this means a greater focus on established markets, forging new alliances or even rethinking the way they approach their international operations. In certain parts of the world there may still be a “land […]
