Expert Analysis

• Bar AI Guidance Shifts Verification Duty Focus To Law Firms

  

  The Bar Standards Board’s new guidance on the use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, following two recent cases highlighting risks of misuse, sends a clear message to law firm leadership that firms’ operational processes and the conduct of those who supervise now sit within the regulatory frame, says Marcella Rich at Williams Lea.

• Nonequity Partner Tier Presents Lawyers With Pros And Cons

  

  While the nonequity partner model may offer law firms' management flexibility and be a genuine stepping stone for lawyers in some organizations, at others the tier functions more as an extended holding pattern whose uncertainty can cause frustration for ambitious lawyers, say Filippo Falchi and Portia White at Major Lindsey.

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  Practice Leader Insights From Covington's David Berman

  

  David Berman, Covington's head of EMEA financial services, discusses how he perceived a gap in the market for practical financial regulatory advice, the challenges of advising Egypt on its new banking law, and how firms that neglect artificial intelligence governance do so at their peril.

• Internal Investigation Strategy After Glencore Privilege Ruling

  

  The recent High Court ruling in Aabar Holdings v. Glencore PLC confirms that legal privilege can extend to intraclient communications, materially improving the position of companies that design investigations carefully, define legal channels properly and maintain discipline in their internal communications, says Nicolas Groffman at Harligan.

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  Studying Foreign Languages Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Studying Italian and Japanese has shown me that learning a new language can benefit a legal career in several ways, including by demonstrating the importance of approaching problems from a fresh perspective and the value of practicing patience with colleagues and clients, says Anna King at Genworth Financial.

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  Practice Leader Insights From Macfarlanes' Andrew Barton

  

  Andrew Barton, head of the insurance team at Macfarlanes, discusses the challenges of conducting a transaction under Indian foreign direct investment rules, why the Draft Insurable Interest Bill should be followed through, and how the defined benefit pensions risk transfer space has become the fastest growing insurance market in the world.

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  Practice Leader Insights From CRS' Sarah Wigington

  

  Sarah Wigington, head of CRS' U.K. corporate team, discusses the challenges of conducting a joint venture with numerous moving parts that had to land at precisely the same moment, how simplification of corporate reporting and disclosure obligations would help midmarket businesses, and why ESG factors are now a threshold issue.

• PE's Path In UK Legal Market Offers Playbook For US Firms

  

  The U.K. offers 14 years' worth of data on private equity's involvement in the legal market, demonstrating for U.S. firms what worked, what didn’t and why, and illustrating several lessons about operational readiness, cultural fit and timing, says Tom Lenfestey at The Law Practice Exchange.

• Lack Of Associate Pay Progression May Leave Firms Exposed

  

  Willkie’s recent salary increases for newly qualified lawyers in London made headline news, but the more important issue is how firms pay midlevel associates, since allowing pay progression to lag materially risks undermining the cohort firms rely on to sustain client relationships and train the next generation, says Adam Stocker at Major Lindsey.

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  Practice Leader Insights From Wedlake Bell's Adam Grant

  

  Adam Grant, head of employment at Wedlake Bell, discusses the challenges of persuading a business to offer employees greater support when it makes large-scale redundancies, the need for new guidance on returning data subject access requests to their intended purpose, and how economic uncertainty with less job security may lead to more office presence.

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  Practice Leader Insights From Willkie's Gavin Gordon

  

  Willkie's chair of European private equity, Gavin Gordon, discusses the challenges of conducting a merger across differing time zones and in a complex regulatory environment, how clients are frustrated by the growing impact of antitrust filings, and why there is a mismatch on valuation expectation between buyers and sellers.

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  Practice Leader Insights From CRS' Dewdney Drew

  

  Dewdney Drew, head of brand protection at Charles Russell Speechlys, discusses the challenges of working on a firm's rebrand under time pressure, how the process to simplify U.K. design protection is under way, and why lawyers need to harness the power of artificial intelligence.

• What UK, EU Law Firms Can Do To Rectify Gender Inequality

  

  The latest figures show that elite international law firms remain among the weakest performers on gender equality in the legal industry, demonstrating that equity is no longer external to the practice of law, and sits within the core responsibilities of those who steward trust in courts and governments, says Govindi Deerasinghe at Global 50/50.

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  Practice Leader Insights From Jones Day's Vica Irani

  

  Vica Irani, co-leader of Jones Day's corporate practice, discusses the challenges of assisting a multinational client with divesting its Russian operations at the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, why greater harmonization across borders would be beneficial, and the increase in regulatory scrutiny for deals in terms of antitrust and foreign direct investment screening.

• Why SRA Is Cracking Down On 'No Win, No Fee' Law Firms

  

  Harriet Gamper at the Solicitors Regulation Authority discusses the regulator’s recent warning notice concerning "no win, no fee" arrangements in high-volume consumer claims, aimed at offering lawyers clarity in understanding their obligations following findings that many law firms were failing in their duty to protect clients' best interests.