The re-landscaping of the legal profession: Large law firms and professional re-regulation

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Flood
Keyword(s):  
Self Regulation ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Law Firms ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Legal Market ◽  
The Uk ◽  
City Of London ◽  
Global Law ◽  
The City ◽  
The Eu

The size and scope of global law firms has made them difficult to encompass within a single regulatory jurisdiction. As the UK government sought to take control of the legal profession and market by removing self-regulation and introducing external regulation under the Legal Services Act, the large law firms were able to countermand the new regime. Through a combination of associations like CityUK, the City of London Law Society, as well as through individual firms, large law firms lobbied successfully to reinstate a new form of self-regulation known as AIR. The elites of the legal profession constructed a new logic of professionalism that accorded with the firms’ ideologies and government’s market-oriented objectives. Further attempts to consolidate their position at the EU and at the GATS levels are still in negotiation. Despite the legal market shifting to a more diffuse combination of actors, of which lawyers are only a segment, elite law firms have apparently strengthened their hold.

scholarly journals Euro clearing after Brexit: shifting locations and oversight

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Van Kerckhoven ◽  
Jed Odermatt
Keyword(s):  
The European Union ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Centre ◽  
European Regulatory ◽  
Financial Infrastructure ◽  
The Uk ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City ◽  
The Eu

Purpose This paper investigates the impact of moving Central Counterparty Clearing Houses (CCPs) that clear euro-denominated transactions to the Eurozone after the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. Prior to Brexit, the City of London had a dominant position in euro-clearing, but in the aftermath of Brexit, clearing houses might decide to move to the EU27. This paper aims to investigate the impact of moving euro-clearing to the EU27. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides an economic, political and legal investigation based on desk research. It studies the relevant materials, as they relate to the functioning of Central Counterparty Clearing in the aftermath of Brexit, with specific attention to the potential shift of locations and oversight. Findings The development of a EU27 financial hub and the possibility to increase oversight over euro-denominated financial transactions, which were partly at the roots of the financial and Eurozone crisis, could strengthen the market shaping of European financial markets. However, localizing euro-denominated transactions in Europe could potentially give rise to efficiency losses and a higher risk for companies and investors. Furthermore, the European regulatory framework currently faces certain weaknesses, obstructing the regulatory potential of the EU. Research limitations/implications As the Brexit negotiations are not yet finished, this paper does not intend to set out a definite outcome of the processes currently taking place. Practical implications Shifting locations and oversight of CCPs as a result of Brexit could lead to the establishment of a large financial centre within the EU-27. At the same time, it is to be expected that such a development will have a significant impact on the financial infrastructure of the City of London. Originality/value There exists an important trade-off with regard to shifting locations that need to be at the forefront of the discussions and the negotiations when dealing with Brexit. This seems to be neglected in a lot of the current policy debates. This paper takes stock of the ongoing debate and how it relates to the functioning of CCPs.

scholarly journals From Big Bang to Brexit: The City of London and the Discursive Power of Finance

2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172098571
Author(s):  
Scott James ◽  
Hussein Kassim ◽  
Thomas Warren
Keyword(s):  
Big Bang ◽  
Policy Discourse ◽  
Real Economy ◽  
Financial Centre ◽  
Business Power ◽  
Financial Power ◽  
Discursive Power ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The City ◽  
The Eu

This article aims to generate new insights into the City’s influence during the Brexit negotiations. Integrating theories of discursive institutionalism and business power, we set out to analyse the dynamic ‘discursive power’ of finance. From this perspective, a key source of the City’s influence historically has been a powerful strategic discourse about London’s role as Europe’s leading global financial centre. This was strengthened following the financial crisis to emphasise its contribution to the ‘real’ economy and emerging regulatory threats from the EU. We argue that Brexit challenges the City’s discursive power by removing ‘ideational constraints’ on acceptable policy discourse, and undermining the ‘discursive co-production’ of financial power by government and industry. By encouraging financial actors to re-evaluate their interests, this has contributed to increasing discursive fragmentation and incoherence. Evidence for this comes from the City’s ambiguous policy preferences on Brexit, and the emergence of a rival pro-Brexit ‘discursive coalition’.

Knowledge as a Revenue Driver, Not a Cost Centre: the LexisNexis GLP and How to Use Market Intelligence to Make Knowledge a Vital Growth Engine for Law Firms

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-218
Author(s):  
Christopher O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Measure ◽  
Law Firms ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Market Intelligence ◽  
Link Type ◽  
Marketing Team ◽  
Virtual Conference ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Individual Metrics ◽  
Legal Product

AbstractThis article by the LexisNexis Segment Marketing team explains the approach, methodology and findings of the LexisNexis Gross Legal Product (GLP) report, first presented at the BIALL's Virtual Conference in June 2020. The GLP is a quantitative measure of underlying demand for legal services in the UK, comprised of 250 individual metrics which serve as proxies for legal activity. The article outlines the methodology and sources used to build the GLP; headline findings for Q2 2020 YTD; and provides suggestions for how firm leaders and knowledge professionals could use the information in their work. The GLP Q2 model found that demand for legal activity has declined by 7% since the start of 2020.

Decision-making under duress: the treatment of churches in the City of London during and after World War II

Urban History ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER J. LARKHAM ◽  
JOE L. NASR
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
World War ◽  
Post War ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Multiple Experts ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The City ◽  
The Church

ABSTRACT:The process of making decisions about cities during the bombing of World War II, in its immediate aftermath and in the early post-war years remains a phenomenon that is only partly understood. The bombing left many church buildings damaged or destroyed across the UK. The Church of England's churches within the City of London, subject to a complex progression of deliberations, debates and decisions involving several committees and commissions set up by the bishop of London and others, are used to review the process and product of decision-making in the crisis of war. Church authorities are shown to have responded to the immediate problem of what to do with these sites in order most effectively to provide for the needs of the church as an organization, while simultaneously considering other factors including morale, culture and heritage. The beginnings of processes of consulting multiple experts, if not stakeholders, can be seen in this example of an institution making decisions under the pressures of a major crisis.

Land of Hope and Enterprise

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Alex Brummer
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Financial Centre ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
Eu Referendum ◽  
The Uk ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The City

This chapter examines the contribution of recognized activities that make the UK economy, such as the progress in research, pharmaceuticals, technology, software, and innovation that can be traced back to the intellectual powerhouses of UK's institutions of higher learning. It recounts the UK's love–hate relationship with the City of London, wherein the banks are still blamed for the financial crisis of 2007–2009 and the subsequent stagnation and fall in incomes. It also cites finance as the highest UK earner of overseas income and is a magnet for international institutions. The chapter describes London as the biggest financial centre outside New York and has attracted even greater numbers of skilled financial traders since the EU referendum result of 2016. It explains how the UK financial sector accommodated trading, provided credit, and raised new capital for troubled firms and those seeking post-Covid-19 opportunities.

6. Legal services

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Slorach ◽  
Judith Embley ◽  
Peter Goodchild ◽  
Catherine Shephard
Keyword(s):  
Legal Profession ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
The Uk

This chapter examines the development of the legal profession in the UK. It discusses lawyers as professionals; the importance of legal services and their regulation; the legal profession in England and Wales; the role of ethics in lawyers’ work and the changing face of the legal profession within society.

scholarly journals AI-enabled business models in legal services: from traditional law firms to next-generation law companies?

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Armour ◽  
Mari Sako
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Law Firms ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Law Firm ◽  
Corporate Form ◽  
New Business ◽  
Employee Incentives ◽  
New Business Models

Abstract What will happen to law firms and the legal profession when the use of artificial intelligence (AI) becomes prevalent in legal services? We address this question by considering three related levels of analysis: tasks, business models, and organizations. First, we review AI’s technical capabilities in relation to tasks, to identify contexts where it is likely to replace or augment humans. AI is capable of doing some, but not all, legal tasks better than lawyers and is augmented by multidisciplinary human inputs. Second, we identify new business models for creating value in legal services by applying AI. These differ from law firms’ traditional legal advisory business model, because they require technological (non-human) assets and multidisciplinary human inputs. Third, we analyze the organizational structure that complements the old and new business models: the professional partnership (P2) is well-adapted to delivering the legal advisory business model, but the centralized management, access to outside capital, and employee incentives offered by the corporate form appear better to complement the new AI-enabled business models. Some law firms are experimenting with pursuing new and old business models in parallel. However, differences in complements create conflicts when business models are combined. These conflicts are partially externalized via contracting and segregated and realigned via vertical integration. Our analysis suggests that law firm experimentation with aligning different business models to distinct organizational entities, along with ethical concerns, will affect the extent to which the legal profession will become ‘hybrid professionals’.

Part III UK Derivatives, Money, and Debt Markets, 11 UK Derivatives and Commodities Markets

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dwyer Emma
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Growth ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
International Markets ◽  
Over The Counter ◽  
The Past ◽  
Trading Activities ◽  
The Uk ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The City ◽  
Commodities Markets

This chapter considers the markets for the trading of derivatives and commodities in the UK, which form an important part of the financial services industry of the City of London. This chapter describes the precursors of the types of trading activities that were conducted historically in the City of London and have spread to neighbouring areas of west, central, and east London for the past forty years. It also emphasizes the growth of electronic trading platforms and the rapid growth of technology that diffuses trading activities geographically. This chapter addresses the question as to whether it makes sense to continuously speak of “UK” derivatives and commodities markets, as opposed to European or international markets. It talks about over—the—counter (OTC) trades executed in the UK that often involve at least one party operating from a location outside the UK.

16. Law firms as businesses

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Slorach ◽  
Judith Embley ◽  
Peter Goodchild ◽  
Catherine Shephard
Keyword(s):  
Law Firms ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Legal Market ◽  
Set Up

This chapter first discusses the business aspect of law firms. Law firms have the same financial motivations and pressures as any other business. They need money (investment) to set up, and then to survive and grow. Law firms need to make a profit, attract clients, and stay ahead of other law firms. They operate within the legal market, producing a product—legal services—the ‘consumers’ of which are the clients. The chapter considers who those clients are, and why they chose a particular firm.

scholarly journals Private equity in the UK context

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Private Equity ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Political Opposition ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Bank Of England ◽  
Current Financial Crisis ◽  
The Uk ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The City

This article concentrates on private equity (PE) in the UK. It argues that private equity is the latest of a series of ways in which finance and the City of London have dominated the UK economy. In a relatively short period, large PE deals became significant in the UK. They led to organisational restructurings which treated the workforce as expendable costs. The rise of private equity led eventually to political opposition and although this appeared briefly to be very powerful, in the end it achieved little because it was never strong enough to combat the allied forces of the City, the Treasury and the Bank of England. However, private equity has not been triumphant. On the contrary it is fully implicated in the current financial crisis and its structure means that its growth has ceased and its very survival is in question. In some European countries, this may mean that rising financialisation will be halted at least temporarily. However in the UK, where the City is powerfully entrenched, private equity may decline but it is doubtful whether the financial dominance of the UK economy will be fundamentally challenged.

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