Our survey in this issue shows what UK law firms are doing in the recession to deploy their staff and avoid redundancies.Where circumstances allow, they are resorting to four-day weeks, deferring trainees, and even extending sabbaticals and sending staff back to university.
In another recession-related story, "Tendering: a Lifeline for Regional Firms", we look at the effect of tendering. By inviting bids from law firms throughout the country, clients are creating a level playing field and eroding the boundaries between the regions. In particular, this helps regional firms in their competition with the large London firms.
The sudden impact of the recession on the Middle East caught some firms unawares, especially those which had invested heavily in local offices.We tell the story of DLA’s debacle in Dubai, where the collapse of their major client, the construction company, Nakheel, left them with sixty lawyers sitting it out in their vast Dubai office. By contrast, a small firm in Iraq, ILA, which had the foresight (and the guts) to sit out the insurgency, has become the largest player in Iraq’s legal market.
|
CANADA: Mixed fortunes for law firms
Canada’s recession has been shallower than that of the US or UK, meaning that its law firms have suffered less of a downturn in transactional work. Equally, they have seen less of an increase in insolvency work. Projects lawyers, too,
|
|
CLASS CONSCIOUS LAWYERS
:
Comments
(0)
In the wake of the rejection of the Civil Justice Council’s proposals for UK class actions, WILLARD FOXTON speaks to the leading industry figures on the fallout from the government’s decision.
|
DLA’s MID-EAST DEBACLE
by
David Robinson :
Comments
(0)
This article has been deleted.
|
|
IRAQ: A Legal Minefield
:
Comments
(0)
As the security situation in Iraq improves, international business has begun to flood back in, but lawyers have been reluctant to return. WILLARD FOXTON looks at the recent history of Legal business in Iraq to find out why.
|
|
TENDERING: A lifeline for regional firms
The growing use of formal tenders by clients gives regional firms a chance to win better mandates from larger clients. But will it be enough to make up for the ravages of the recession? RAVINDER CASLEY GERA reports.
|
THE CHANGING FACE OF INSOLVENCY
by
David Robinson :
Comments
(0)
The downturn has led to a wave of major bankruptcies, but the cross-border nature of the work, a lack of investor funding, and new laws have presented lawyers with new challenges. By DAVID ROBINSON.
|