The Big Question
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Magic circle tag still works its magic
By Mark Goddard | March 25, 2009
The magic circle brand continues to hand a major advantage to the firms in the club despite doubts about whether the five law firms really deserve their celebrated status.According to Legal Week's latest Big Question poll, an overwhelming majority of partners believe the magic circle brand adds value to the firms given the tag. Thirty-one percent believed the magic circle brand added to the firms' value 'very much', while a further 52% said the name added 'a considerable amount'. Only 2% of the poll of 174 respondents believed it added nothing.
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Firms target back office cuts amid cost pressure
By Mark Goddard | March 11, 2009
City firms' support staff will continue to face major job losses, according to a poll of senior lawyers that identifies secretarial and administrative staff as the main targets for cutbacks.Legal Week's latest Big Question poll finds that the vast majority (98%) of senior partners believe support staff should be targeted for job cuts alongside associates as law firms slash costs in the face of the recession.
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Partners predict 30% profits drop-off
By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | February 26, 2009
Almost half of City partners believe partner profits at leading law firms are likely to drop by more than 25% during this recession, according to new research. The latest Legal Week Big Question survey found that almost a third (30%) of partners believe profits will drop by between 25% and 30%, while a further 17% said they will plummet by more than 30% from their recent peak. Only 1% of respondents said profit levels would fall by 10% or less, with the remaining 52% believing that profits will fall by between 10% and 25%. The 2007-08 financial year saw profits per equity partner (PEP) surge to an average of £616,200 across the UK top 50, with that figure hitting £1.33m across the magic circle.
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Pay freezes and reduced hours on the agenda
By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | February 11, 2009
The legal profession is this year set to face full pay freezes, reduced working hours and unpaid leave as the City's leading law firms seek alternatives to widespread redundancies.This is the key finding of the latest Big Question survey of partners, which found widespread support for measures to reduce the level of job cuts. Two-thirds of partners favoured a full freeze of associate pay - which would require a temporary halt to the 'lockstep' system of paying junior lawyers according to seniority - while a further quarter were undecided.
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City lawyers braced for widespread partner cuts
By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | January 29, 2009
City partners are preparing for a gruesome year, with half of all partners believing that firms are carrying too much deadwood at senior level and 97% expecting to see partnerships downsized. In the wake of Addleshaw Goddard announcing that it is to cut around 10% of its partnership (see page 13), the latest Legal Week Big Question survey found that almost three out of five partners (58%) believe most major law firms are carrying too many underperforming partners.With partnership cutbacks also last week emerging at both Ashurst and Linklaters, most of the 166 respondents expect to see similar restructurings at other leading firms. Only 3% believed the Addleshaws cuts were a one-off, with the remaining 97% all predicting similar moves to follow.
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Confidence falls to new low as outlook darkens
By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | January 14, 2009
Business confidence has plunged to a new low as law firms face up to a grim outlook for 2009 with three out of four partners expecting revenue to fall or remain static among the UK top 50.The latest quarterly Legal Week Business Confidence survey found that only 5% of respondents believe revenue at their firm will rise by double digits over the next 12 months. The result, a sharp drop on 2007 when two-thirds of partners were regularly predicting 10%-plus growth, is the fifth quarter in a row in which projected fee growth has dropped in the survey.However, 23% still expect to see growth of 0%-5% and a further 17% are expecting increases of 5%-10% at their own firms. The poll of 120 partner respondents found that 25% believe that revenue at their firm will remain static over 2009 and more than a quarter (26%) expect to see revenue fall.
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City firms still getting support from banks despite credit squeeze
By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | December 10, 2008
Ailing banks may be squeezing swathes of corporate Britain, but leading commercial law firms seem to be escaping the worst of the credit crunch, according to new research.The latest Legal Week Big Question survey underlines the extent to which banks are continuing to cultivate links with large law firms, despite the ongoing credit squeeze. Sixty-two percent of partners said their firm's commercial banks had been 'supportive', including 16% who said the banks had been 'extremely supportive'.A further 29% of respondents said their bank's stance had been 'OK', though 8% said their lender was 'not very supportive'. Only 1% viewed their banks as 'not at all supportive' in light of the current downturn. Likewise, only 13% of partners said banks had put pressure on their firm to improve performance.
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City partners call for genuine split between the Law Society and SRA
By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | November 26, 2008
Leading lawyers have expressed deep unease about the Law Society's continuing role in regulation and perceived attempts to influence the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), according to new research.Thirty-nine percent of City partners responding to Legal Week's Big Question survey said that the two bodies should be "100% separate" to maintain effective regulation. A further 17% believed they should only be linked providing there were "strong barriers between the two".
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Partners say there is no drug problem in law but alcohol abuse widespread
By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | November 12, 2008
More than half of City lawyers claim they have never come across drug use in the profession, although many accept that heavy alcohol consumption is commonplace.Fifty-two percent of City partners responding to Legal Week's Big Question survey said they were unaware of drug use among colleagues, compared with 36% who said serious alcohol consumption was either 'common' or 'endemic'.Although 11% of partners conceded that drug use in law firms is more prevalent than is acknowledged, not one respondent said it was commonplace - despite the high salaries and levels of stress associated with the job.
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Lehman and recession fears batter confidence but half expect growth
By a:1:{i:0;s:1:" ";} | October 30, 2008
Business confidence at top commercial law firms has been further battered by gloomy economic news in the current quarter - but nearly one in two partners still expect their firms to achieve revenue growth this year.Conducted a month after the market-shaking collapse of Lehman Brothers and in the week that senior politicians conceded the UK is now in recession, the Legal Week quarterly Big Question business confidence poll fell to its lowest-ever recorded level.Just 6% of respondents predicted revenue growth of more than 10% over the next 12 months, the fourth quarter that confidence has fallen in the poll. As recently as last year 60% of respondents were regularly predicting double-digit increases in turnover. The findings also indicate firms have revised their growth projections downwards since the last poll in July, when two-thirds of respondents were still expecting revenue growth.
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