Allen & Overy (A&O) is attempting to usher in a new era of flexibility among its lawyers in part to prepare for fluctuating market conditions, marking the strongest evidence yet that top UK law firms are having to adapt to the post-credit crunch environment.
The magic circle firm has launched a scheme to move fee earners and staff around the firm more easily and is encouraging lawyers to gain a wider range of experience and build a more general practice.
A&O began a programme at the end of the year that will allow it to move lawyers and staff to different practice areas and offices in preparation for a drop in workload across any of its specialist teams. A&O is placing greater emphasis on monitoring projected workloads and will move staff as appropriate.
Lawyers and employees at the firm have also been told that a willingness to move will enhance career prospects and will be appraised. Lawyers will primarily be moved to areas requiring similar experience and will be given additional training. It is understood the firm hopes the move will help it avoid job cuts. Some partners, senior associates and secretaries have already been moved as part of the process.
Managing partner David Morley told Legal Week: “This drive is not just a reaction to changing market conditions, but being able to adapt and offer a range of skills in different practices and areas is part of a modern law firm. Having said that, we would be daft not to marry the two sides together.”
Meanwhile, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s newly-appointed London head, Tim Jones, is heading an effort to relocate its lawyers, grouping together staff with common interests. The firm is moving its private equity and M&A lawyers closer to acquisition finance, while structured finance will have closer links to debt capital markets. European litigation will also be united with antitrust.
Jones believes the project, dubbed the ‘London re-stack’, will increase communication and help lawyers think outside departmental and practice group lines. The initiatives by the two firms echo a reorganisation of Clifford Chance’s practice, which brought several specialist teams into larger practice groups.
The moves come in the same week as financial markets suffered fresh turmoil, causing the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by three quarters of a percentage point.
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