Welcome to the inaugural edition of Byfield Bytes! This monthly newsletter will keep you in the loop on the biggest stories and issues impacting the business of law. I’m coming to you (virtually) live from a sunny New York City, fresh off a flight from Chicago. I’ve spent the week visiting law firms and discussing key market developments and collaboration across the pond.
March has been a wild ride in legal news.
The Hogan Lovells-Shearman & Sterling merger was abruptly called off, leaving Shearman without a Munich office and announcing a 10% drop in revenue just three weeks later. Meanwhile, the Bar Council of India announced that foreign lawyers and firms could enter the Indian legal sector, a major shift in the industry. While firms are excited about the opportunity, high registration fees and the continued ban on foreign lawyers appearing in court raise uncertainties – which will prompt cautiousness amongst those firms with such an inclination.
SVB and Credit Suisse’s collapses are also making headlines, creating a heap of work for litigators. Credit Suisse bondholders are preparing to sue the Swiss government over its decision to write down $17bn of the bank’s bonds. Meanwhile, a class action lawsuit has been filed against SVB for failing to disclose risks.
In the UK, white shoe firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore is making its English Law debut, hiring partners from Shearman to launch its British operations.
M&A activity in London is starting to pick up, but firms say that clients are still asking for discounts and payment postponements due to financial pressures.
It has also been a pivotal month for law firms grappling with new technology. Allen & Overy has embraced AI by using the chatbot Harvey, scoring a number of headlines – while Mishcon de Reya banned staff from uploading client information to Chat GPT over data security fears. As firms try to cut costs, we can expect more developments in this area. Rumour has it that the new GPT-4 chatbot can even pass the US bar exam with a top 10% score.
Finally, in a textbook example of a bad situation handled badly – well, see this
Big Questions for April
- How will gender pay gap reports shed light on women’s progress in the legal industry?
- What will UK firm financials tell us about the health of the sector –and how will it impact promotions, hires, and pay rises in light of economic uncertainty?
- Will concerns from regulators and industry leaders slow down the adoption of AI/ML in the legal sector?
- What strategies will law firms employ to cover the partner tax shortfall during HMRC’s transitional year?
- Will other law firms will look to adopt a “lock-up” approach to client billing?
Post of the Month
Paul Stothard of Norton Rose Fulbright compares Boris Johnson’s Partygate committee hearing questioning to a rather disastrous day he had in court some 25 years ago…
Lawyer Quote of the Month
Sally Davies, Senior Partner at Mayer Brown (Legal Cheek, 8 March 2023)
“As women lawyers it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking you have to be something you are not. Why do some practitioners think arrogance, a sense of entitlement and being generally condescending are essential qualities of being an effective lawyer? My advice is be yourself in any interview, as well as at work, have fun, show your personality, but don’t write anything in an email that you wouldn’t want to be read by a grandparent, or your old head teacher, and maintain your dignity.”
Byfield Spotlight
Byfield proudly sponsored the Women & Diversity in Law Awards, a ceremony recognising the leading individuals and organisations championing equality, diversity and inclusion and driving positive change in the UK legal sector.
To mark International Women’s Day, members of our team had a discussion about allyship in the workplace, and our Senior Account Executive Meg Tillay talked to Rose Walker, News Editor at Law.com, about the challenges for women in the legal sector on our podcast Counsel Culture.
In another special episode of our podcast, Byfield founder Gus Sellitto talked to the Times’ Legal Editor Jonathan Ames about mediation in divorce cases, junior lawyers’ mental health, and the Jeffrey Epstein-related litigation targeting Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan.
In our latest episode released earlier today, Korn Ferry Partner Funke Abimbola joins Meg to discuss issues currently facing firms including, whether the high salaries for junior lawyers are justified and what firms and in-house teams can do to better embrace diversity, equity and inclusion at all career levels across the industry.
Things you might have missed…
- Gus teamed up with Aman Abbas, founder of Delhi-based litigation communications specialists Commwiser, to analyse the implications of the India move for marketing and PR professionals in Bar and Bench.
- Our series of introductions to the Byfield team, 5 Minutes With…, continued with Associate Director Beth Durkin, Account Manager Kath Walkling and Account Executive Hattie Lunt.
There are new episodes of our podcast hosted by Meg and featuring Account Manager Jess, Account Exec Tom and me.
