The Lawyer Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond were left shocked after news emerged on Wednesday that one of the most prestigious and profitable law firms in the world intended to wind down Weil Gotshal & Manges has been a Wall Street staple for nearly a century. Last year it made more than $2 billion in revenue, and over a billion dollars in profit. And yet, in what feels l...

Send us Fan Mail Freshfields created a storm last week when leaked emails revealed it was considering spinning off its AI venture potentially “worth billions”. According to the Financial Times, managing partner Alan Mason thinks that Freshfields Lab could get external investment, or even IPO. So on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast , the team ask how such plans might work, what’s behind them,...

Send us Fan Mail The Manchester City judgment is an enormous moment for both law and football. 114/115 charges were proven against the club in a case with ramifications far beyond sport. So on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast , we discuss the parts of the decision that may be of interest to lawyers, and its consequences, which might keep lawyers busy for years to come. And we are also joined...

Send us Fan Mail Losing big teams of senior lawyers has been something of a trend in 2026. New York firm Weil Gotshal & Manges is the latest to suffer a series of top tier exits. Mike Aiello, a member of the firm’s management committee and chair of its corporate group, is leaving with a team of partners for Cravath Swaine & Moore in New York. A few days later, in London, Weil’s City co-hea...

Send us Fan Mail The Lawyer Podcast is back from the summer break on its new Monday publication date. 2026 was a summer to remember, and not just because of Britain's heatwaves. Legal news was far from dry in July and August, so for its first episode back, The Lawyer Podcast brings you what you missed over the summer. Football law news accounted for no fewer than eight different stories over...

Send us Fan Mail New York’s legal market is changing. For those long established firms, pressure is coming from multiple directions. The city is now home to more than just the traditional New York headquartered firms or even the likes of Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins — global giants that are now considered Manhattan incumbents. So as The Lawyer prepares to launch an office in New Y...

Send us Fan Mail Just as the world of law was getting carried away with the excitement of AI, legal tech firm Legora has brought us all thudding back down to earth. Legora has told its clients that it plans to move to consumption based pricing - a decision that could fundamentally change how law firms use AI, right as its role is being normalised. So on this episode of the podcast, we return again...

Send us Fan Mail It is an uncertain time for those wanting a career in the law. Doom-mongers would have you think that AI is about to lead to a mass cull in junior lawyer roles around the world. But at the same time, associate salaries keep going up – and some big firms are even increasing their junior hiring. So what is the truth behind the future of junior talent? The Lawyer Podcast tries to fin...

Send us Fan Mail In 2015, The Lawyer  wrote : “eight candidates for two top roles at Allen & Overy, and not one woman. For a law firm committed to that 30 per cent target, it’s not a good look.” Fast-forward to 2026 and, as The Lawyer wrote last week , just one female partner included on A&O Shearman’s refreshed board of six has left many “disappointed” with the outcome. This is not a prob...

Send us Fan Mail We’ve all been seeing a lot more of Jude Law lately. Legal AI firm Legora’s effort to cement itself in our consciousness with expensive ads featuring the actor has certainly been refreshing  In its latest funding round in March, the company hit a valuation of $5.5bn and now has contracts with law firms including White & Case, HSF Kramer, Dentons, and Pérez-Llorca. Meanwhile, i...

Send us Fan Mail Ever since its big German mergers in 2000, the firm has been one of the major international players in Europe and is now the second largest law firm in Germany. And yet… Freshfields has lost some top talent in the country recently, at the same time as making no bones about its intention to prioritise its US practice. As many firms will be aware, the gap between American and German...

Send us Fan Mail The Lawyer Podcast is on holiday this week, but with Taylor Wessing and Winston and Strawn aiming to complete their merger in three weeks’ time, we thought you might like to listen back to our episode from last year when news of the deal broke. The 1st May target date for the merger to go live is not locked in – the two firms are still dotting I’s and crossing T’s. If it goes ahea...

Send us Fan Mail In hindsight, Kirkland & Ellis’s rise to the top of BigLaw may now seem as predictable as death and taxes. There was even a sense of inevitability when its latest financial results were released earlier this month, becoming the first firm to surpass $10bn with PEP at $11m. But it was actually less than a decade ago, in 2017, when the firm first topped the global revenue charts...

Send us Fan Mail Private equity investment in law firms is kicking off in England. But in Scotland, lawyers are at risk of falling behind as regulations restrict Scottish firms from doing the same – and that’s left lawyers there frustrated. So on this episode of the podcast, the team is joined from Glasgow by Horizon editor Margaret Taylor and deputy editor (UK) Richard Simmons, as we unpack the c...

Send us Fan Mail The Silver Circle was a concept coined by The Lawyer more than 20 years ago. Rather than describing a set of “magic circle wannabes”, its purpose was to collate the firms’ strategies and models. Those in the Silver Circle have arguably changed over the years, with the likes of Macfarlanes and Travers Smith remaining constant. But after two decades and enormous changes in the legal...

Send us Fan Mail Brad Karp became a household name - for Big Law at least - during his 17 year tenure at the helm of Paul Weiss. But the long serving chair of the New York firm resigned from his leadership role last week over revelations in the latest batch of the Epstein files. His exit makes him one of the first Americans to resign over the revelations. So on this episode of The Lawyer Podcast,...

Send us Fan Mail The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos usually revolves around talk of business, finance and investment. Indeed, law firms Baker McKenzie and DLA Piper are official partners of the forum. But last week’s meeting was dominated by the unusual topic of Greenland: President Trump’s threat to take the island by force, the Danish government’s rebuff and the seeming frac...

Send us Fan Mail The Lawyer Podcast is back for 2026 and it is picking up where we left off: with  transatlantic mergers. Just before Christmas, Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader announced what will be, by value, the largest law firm merger ever agreed. The headline figures look good, but all may not be as it seems… So on the first podcast of the year, we assess what we really make of the tie-up and as...

Send us Fan Mail As if 2025 needed just another little dollop of big legal news, Taylor Wessing and Winston & Strawn are set to become the fourth major transatlantic merger in two and a half years. So The Lawyer Podcast is back for an unexpected bonus episode as they talk through the announcement. The second transatlantic tie-up in a month, the team discusses what the firms are up to, what it...

Send us Fan Mail As 2025 draws to a close, it feels like 2025 has been an inflection point for the legal sector. While firm financials largely look good, fundamental changes are underway on both sides of the Atlantic. Technology, investment, mergers and even politics all shook the business of law this year. So for the final episode of The Lawyer Podcast in 2025, we take a look back at what has cha...

Send us Fan Mail Unlike A&O’s tie up with Shearman and Sterling, Ashurst’s announcement that it had agreed a merger did not come as a surprise. The firm had been in the market for a US-merger for more than two decades, yet its new partner, Perkins Coie, did still come as a bit of a surprise. The silver circle firm clearly needed to make its move, but was it the right one? Tune in to the new ep...

Send us Fan Mail The Lawyer’s editor Catrin Griffiths and director of insight Matt Byrne are back from a fact-finding mission in New York, and merger mania is gripping the city’s lawyers. As firms seek scale, reach and private capital clients, some of the oldest firms in the Big Apple are pondering how a tie up could help their bottom line. And while private equity investment into firms is all the...

Send us Fan Mail Tax rises for partnerships may be on the way in next month’s Budget – and potentially big ones at that. Many lawyers were left shocked after the news broke last week that the Government is considering adding the equivalent of employer’s national insurance onto partnerships. So on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast , we ask what that might mean for a range of firms, whether it i...

Send us Fan Mail Private equity investment in law firms has accelerated in the past 12 months. Essentially every UK200 law firm in the country has been approached, and many have already accepted the opportunity. Now the question is whether firms at the top of the market might join in. But is it actually a good idea? Can law firms offer the rapid turnaround that private equity demands? Or is it jus...

Send us Fan Mail The Lawyer 's UK200: Top 100 report, sponsored by Legora, is out and it contains 100 stories of firms forging ahead or falling behind. But which are the most interesting of all? In this week's episode of The Lawyer Podcast we dive into the sea of data and analysis that is the UK200 report and come up clutching four firms that are particularly worthy of attention this yea...