The Lawyer Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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The associate recruitment market has tightened up over the past year or two. For trainees looking to qualify, that means finding a home in their preferred practice area is more difficult too.

But qualification and, specifically, which team you qualify into, can be one of the most crucial moments in a solicitor’s career. 

So on the final episode of The Lawyer Podcast before the summer and with editor Catrin Griffiths away, litigation editor Christian Smith is joined by deputy editor (UK) Richard Simmons, senior reporter Lucie Cruz and reporter Charlotte Lear to debate how much a practice area actually matters, and what to do if you don’t get what you want.

Like many of you, The Lawyer Podcast will be taking a summer break for the month of August. Regular service will resume on 5th September. 

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Labour won. Now what?

As Sir Keir Starmer walks into Downing Street, The Lawyer Podcast boils up a vat of coffee and brings you an election results show for lawyers.

With special guests including former Clifford Chance partner and tax celebrity Dan Neidle, we discuss which lawyers are in and out of Parliament after a night of change, look at what will be on the desk of the new Justice Secretary, and run through what a Labour victory means for lawyers working in different practice areas.

 For more, check out The Lawyer's coverage here:

https://www.thelawyer.com/election-2024-live/

https://www.thelawyer.com/dogs-and-their-lawyers-at-polling-stations-in-pictures/

https://www.thelawyer.com/keir-starmer-25-years-of-coverage-in-the-lawyer/

https://www.thelawyer.com/general-election-poll-results-lawyers-turn-to-labour/

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Law firms leaders love saying they don’t want growth for growth’s sake, but the truth is, without any growth at all they soon find themselves floundering.

So as the financial year draws to a close, litigation editor Christian Smith and deputy editor Rich Simmons are joined by head of insight Matt Byrne, Horizon editor Katy Dowell and international editor Alex Taylor to look at what law firms are doing to find good, profitable growth - and whether they need to grow at all costs.

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The new episode of The Lawyer Podcast is out now.

Last week The Lawyer reported that claimant firm Pogust Goodhead could pay its newly qualified associates up to £2m (if it wins its cases), making them by far and away the highest paid in the country.

Yet although Pogust Goodhead is offering more money than anyone else, the move is also a sign of what is an exciting and diverse market.

So on this episode of the podcast, The Lawyer editor Catrin Griffiths and litigation editor Christian Smith are joined by senior litigation reporter Annabel Tinson, deputy editor (UK) Richard Simmons, and reporter Charlotte Lear, to look into Pogust Goodhead’s plan, what associates want out of their careers, what clients they want to act for, and why it’s never been a better time to be a litigation associate.

Click here to sign up to our associate-themed Partnerless email.

If you want to read more, check out the stories below:

• Pogust Goodhead: “We’ll make NQs millionaires”
• Pogust Goodhead to spend millions luring climate quitters from City firm

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London has become the biggest referral market in the world - and the Brits are nowhere

The rise and rise of American firms in London’s private equity market – and the challenge that has presented to UK firms - has been well documented, particularly here at The Lawyer. But their increasing dominance is now also threatening UK firms across Europe, as European relationships in London start migrating to US firms.

On this episode of The Lawyer Podcast, international editor Alex Taylor and director of insight Matt Byrne join Catrin and Christian to explore the changing dynamics of London’s lucrative relationship with Europe, and what UK firms are doing to get their own back in the US.

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Linklaters seemingly started the year strongly with a six partner hire from Shearman & Sterling in New York.

So why then has it come in for so much negative attention?

From an absent US strategy to a stream of senior partner losses, many in the market now believe Linklaters is losing its sparkle.

On this episode, Catrin and Christian are joined by director of insight Matt Byrne and deputy editor (City) Rachel Moloney to discuss what’s going wrong at the magic circle firm, is it justified, or is this a whole fuss over nothing?

 

If you’d like to read any of the articles mentioned in this podcast, you can find their links below:

https://www.thelawyer.com/six-strong-shearman-team-exits-for-linklaters/ 

https://www.thelawyer.com/linklaters-should-be-embarrassed-about-its-us-performance/ 

https://www.thelawyer.com/linklaters-threatens-to-withhold-distributions-from-departing-partners/ 

https://www.thelawyer.com/paul-weiss-hits-linklaters-for-yet-another-partner/ 

https://www.thelawyer.com/the-magic-circle-has-had-enough/ 

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The Lawyer Podcast is back for 2024 and we’re kicking things off by delving into the lessons the legal profession can glean from the Post Office scandal.

The Post Office scandal has already become one of the biggest stories of the year and few groups are so closely tied to it as the legal profession.

With that in mind, editor Catrin Griffiths and litigation editor Christian Smith are joined by senior litigation reporter Annabel Tinson to ask: Are lawyers the baddies in this national scandal? Where is the line between acting in your client’s best interests and acting unethically? Should hyper-aggressive litigation be a thing of the past? And how has litigation funding managed to get caught up in it all?

Plus, we have special guest appearances from the University of Exeter’s professor of law and professional ethics Richard Moorhead, and Harbour Litigation Funding’s founder Susan Dunn.

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Every law firm and his dog seems to be moving into a green office at the moment, but how important is that really when it comes to a law firm's impact on the environment?

Well with COP28 well underway in Dubai, for the last episode of The Lawyer Podcast for 2023, we dive into one of the great challenges for this generation of lawyers: how can firms manage their relationship with the environment?

Catrin and Christian are joined by The Lawyer's sustainability guru Jessica Boak, along with deputy editor (UK) Rich Simmons, to discuss how firms impact the environment, what they are doing about it, what the next generation of lawyers want from their employers, and the thorny issue of acting for big polluter clients.

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The new episode of The Lawyer Podcast is out now!

Across the UK and Europe, new types of litigation are booming – and the money is pumping in.

On this episode of The Lawyer Podcast, Catrin Griffiths, Christian Smith and Alex Taylor sit down to debate what the future holds for the once maligned practice area, and whether litigators are proving themselves more creative than their transactional colleagues.

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Salary wars are so 2022. Or are they?

On Tuesday this week, The Lawyer’s deputy editor (UK) Rich Simmons revealed the largest firm pay gaps between London and the regions.

Did you know that Hogan Lovells’ Birmingham newly qualifieds (NQs) are paid £45,000 less than their London colleagues? And Eversheds Sutherland’s regional NQs are all paid £33,000 less than those in the City? 

A London-regional pay gap has always existed, but lawyers are starting to question whether it has ever been so big, and if it is still fair.

Suffice to say, the question led to a particularly robust debate in The Lawyer’s newsroom, so on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast, the London-based Catrin and Christian are joined by Rich Simmons from Brighton, deputy news editor Jessica Boak from Leeds, and Horizon editor, Devonshire’s own, Katy Dowell to sort out the divide once and for all.