As befits a year which climaxed with a vote of no confidence in the Law Society, it's been a dramatic 12 months in the legal world. It's time to take a look back (and maybe win a staggeringly brilliant prize in the Christmas Quiz). Plus we've put together a bumper selection of the best stories of the year.
So what happened? It was a year of mergers, although not always as equals. For some firms it was less about choice and more about life rafts. Struggling Dundas & Wilson was swallowed up by CMS Cameron McKenna. Lawrence Graham leapt at the chance to marry into Wragges. Other firms simply went bust before getting snapped up debt-free in pre-pack administrations. Manches went into administration before getting snaffled up by Penningtons, while Cobbetts wound up and flogged itself to DWF.
In 2013 legal aid reforms meant the music also stopped for a lot of PI firms, and over the year many began to resemble one of their own whiplash victims, if they'd been rolled out the back of an ambulance into a sink hole. The template set by Challinors, which collapsed and left rivals to pick over its corpse (and creditors and staff high and dry), became depressingly familiar.
At the whizzier, international end of the merger spectrum, SJ Berwin said goodbye to the stressful business of making decisions by entering the belly of behemoth King Wood & Mallesons, headquartered in Asia. SJB lawyers celebrated in a bizarre sexy video.
Redundancies have continued to make headlines. 80 staff were shed from Lyons Davidson, 100 are at risk at Pannone, and there have been many more, from Shakepseares to the Univeristy of Law.
Yet there were signs of prosperity for some. Many firms released improved financial results (although some didn't). Pay-wise, in a move which may change everything, RPC introduced merit-based NQ salaries. Meanwhile US firms continued to model their lawyers on Croesus. Although that didn't stop one leaving the profession to become a clown.
Of course, lawyers found new ways to embarrass themselves, too. RollOnFriday unravelled the lies of ex-Paul Hastings partner Dennis O'Riordan, who falsified his CV in order to secure a string of high profile jobs. And wannabe sex-god Andrew Iyer, a former Ince & Co partner, was finally banged up for his multiple liegasms. There were plenty of less criminal shameful displays. Stand-outs included the Slaughter and May paralegal who went tweet-happy pretending to be a partner, and the 'too much information' Clifford Chance trainee who told a reporter his job was to "f**k people over".
There was controversial advice: sassy fashion tips from BLP, tips from Clifford Chance on how women should speak, and instructions from a Cleary Gottlieb partner on how to "superplease" clients. Because two kidneys is one kidney your client could be enjoying.
There have been massive blunders, too. The awful advert from BLP. The Reed Smith partner who dropped f-bombs on Twitter. Travers Smith had a reputational nightmare when it was ruled to have discriminated against a trainee for being pregnant. And there was a craze of crapping in weird places that 2014 will find hard to top. And hopefully won't.
But hey, it wasn't all bad. There was also the best ever bumsex-based client testimonial.
If you've paid attention to the year's top stories, take the Christmas Quiz. The winner will be selected at random by the RoF team and be whisked to a boozy lunch at a top restaurant in London. But the RoF team are coming too, so alternative prizes are provided (no offence taken): a Kindle, or £100 in Amazon vouchers. Enter here.
Good luck, and have a merry Christmas. RollOnFriday will see you in the New Year, unless you don't complete the RollOnFriday Firm of the Year 2014 survey (click here), in which case Santa has instructions to deprive you of your toys.
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So what happened? It was a year of mergers, although not always as equals. For some firms it was less about choice and more about life rafts. Struggling Dundas & Wilson was swallowed up by CMS Cameron McKenna. Lawrence Graham leapt at the chance to marry into Wragges. Other firms simply went bust before getting snapped up debt-free in pre-pack administrations. Manches went into administration before getting snaffled up by Penningtons, while Cobbetts wound up and flogged itself to DWF.
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Merging not drowning in 2013 |
In 2013 legal aid reforms meant the music also stopped for a lot of PI firms, and over the year many began to resemble one of their own whiplash victims, if they'd been rolled out the back of an ambulance into a sink hole. The template set by Challinors, which collapsed and left rivals to pick over its corpse (and creditors and staff high and dry), became depressingly familiar.
At the whizzier, international end of the merger spectrum, SJ Berwin said goodbye to the stressful business of making decisions by entering the belly of behemoth King Wood & Mallesons, headquartered in Asia. SJB lawyers celebrated in a bizarre sexy video.
Redundancies have continued to make headlines. 80 staff were shed from Lyons Davidson, 100 are at risk at Pannone, and there have been many more, from Shakepseares to the Univeristy of Law.
Yet there were signs of prosperity for some. Many firms released improved financial results (although some didn't). Pay-wise, in a move which may change everything, RPC introduced merit-based NQ salaries. Meanwhile US firms continued to model their lawyers on Croesus. Although that didn't stop one leaving the profession to become a clown.
Of course, lawyers found new ways to embarrass themselves, too. RollOnFriday unravelled the lies of ex-Paul Hastings partner Dennis O'Riordan, who falsified his CV in order to secure a string of high profile jobs. And wannabe sex-god Andrew Iyer, a former Ince & Co partner, was finally banged up for his multiple liegasms. There were plenty of less criminal shameful displays. Stand-outs included the Slaughter and May paralegal who went tweet-happy pretending to be a partner, and the 'too much information' Clifford Chance trainee who told a reporter his job was to "f**k people over".
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Bad decision of the year |
There was controversial advice: sassy fashion tips from BLP, tips from Clifford Chance on how women should speak, and instructions from a Cleary Gottlieb partner on how to "superplease" clients. Because two kidneys is one kidney your client could be enjoying.
There have been massive blunders, too. The awful advert from BLP. The Reed Smith partner who dropped f-bombs on Twitter. Travers Smith had a reputational nightmare when it was ruled to have discriminated against a trainee for being pregnant. And there was a craze of crapping in weird places that 2014 will find hard to top. And hopefully won't.
But hey, it wasn't all bad. There was also the best ever bumsex-based client testimonial.
If you've paid attention to the year's top stories, take the Christmas Quiz. The winner will be selected at random by the RoF team and be whisked to a boozy lunch at a top restaurant in London. But the RoF team are coming too, so alternative prizes are provided (no offence taken): a Kindle, or £100 in Amazon vouchers. Enter here.
Good luck, and have a merry Christmas. RollOnFriday will see you in the New Year, unless you don't complete the RollOnFriday Firm of the Year 2014 survey (click here), in which case Santa has instructions to deprive you of your toys.
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