The Lawyer Podcast
Hosted by editor Catrin Griffiths and litigation editor Christian Smith, every second Thursday The Lawyer Podcast brings you our take on the top stories, trends and views moving the legal market.
For more news, analysis and data, go to www.thelawyer.com. The Lawyer Podcast can be contacted at podcast@thelawyer.com.
Episodes
87 episodes
Fess up about Germany, Freshfields
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...
REPLAY: Taylor Wessing and Winston & Strawn's transatlantic tie-up
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....
Kirkland's partners make $11m a year – but can it last?
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 ...
Scottish lawyers are raging about private equity
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 epi...
Slaughter and May is a Silver Circle firm
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...
Brad Karp, the Epstein files, and the future of Paul Weiss
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
Why Greenland could redraw the law firm map
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 domin...
Hogan Lovells Cadwalader: mega deal or damp squib?
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 ag...
BONUS episode: Taylor Wessing’s big US gamble
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 unexpec...
Why 2025 marked a turning point for the business of law
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...
The unfiltered take on the Ashurst Perkins Coie merger
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 Coi...
Merger mania hits New York
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, so...
Let's tax all the lawyers!
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 n...
Private equity: a poisoned chalice?
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 t...
UK 200 special: The most interesting firms in the top 100
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 Podc...
Calling all gardeners - your firm needs you!
Gardening has transformed from an old-fashioned past-time to a popular trend in the past few years, and now, even law firms are getting in on the action.Firms like Eversheds, Switalskis and CANDEY are leading the charge, but there is so ...
Why it was a hot debunching summer - and what else you missed on your holidays
The kids are back in school, the clouds are rolling in, and offices across the land are filling up with lawyers returning from their holidays.And just in time, The Lawyer Podcast is back after the summer break. But just like in ...
Are the New York elite finished?
There is a radical reconfiguration taking place in the world of BigLaw that may make terms like magic circle or white shoe firm obsolete.The transatlantic, private capital corridor between New York and London is now the stamping ground f...
The runny poop problem is law's next battleground
As the government launches a sweeping review into parental leave, The Lawyer Podcast takes a look at the challenges faced by parents and other carers working in the legal sector. Are firms pulling their weight? Are men? How far have we come and...
Freshfields, Lewis Silkin and the C-word
Lewis Silkin and Freshfields are two very different law firms.But they now have one thing in common – they won one of the two big awards at The Lawyer Awards 2025 last week.Now, The Lawyer Podcast is not typicall...
Paul Weiss’s growth is just the tip of the iceberg
We have never seen such rapid investment in the London legal market like Paul Weiss’s recruitment spree since 2023.Between 2023 and 2024 alone, the firm's London headcount tripled and its estimated turnover grew by more than 550 per cent...
Have litigation funders been chasing a busted flush?
On the surface, litigation funding and class actions are booming in the UK. Over the past five years, dozens of class actions have been filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and just at the start of this month, a new £5bn action was fi...
What law firms aren’t telling you about AI
News broke last week that the first ever AI law firm had been given the green light by the SRA. The rush by law firms to adopt Artificial Intelligence has been the standout feature of the past two years.But amongst all the hype, the prom...
