‘When I initiated discussions on our culture at partners’ meetings, I could see the faces of many of my former partners light up, not for the reasons I hoped, but from the reflected glow of their BlackBerrys. They saw an excellent opportunity to catch up on more pressing issues, while I, to their minds, embarked …
At a recent event for senior in-house counsel in London, two clear messages emerged. Firstly, that there is a rapid professionalisation in the way that major legal departments are managing themselves. Secondly, there was agreement that much of the support for change was being driven from the ‘alternative’ legal market. Despite this, there was a …
For classists, the word ‘disruptive’ still carries negative connotations of damage, chaos and disarray. But these days in corporate circles it has become the phrase of the day – a complimentary shorthand to describe tech-driven innovators remaking all manner of industries. But the cult of disruption – birthed in Clayton Christensen’s hugely influential 1997 book …
In her much-touted new book on bolstering team-working in professional services, Smart Collaboration, Harvard Law School professor Heidi Gardner argues that sophisticated buyers are increasingly expecting an open-house approach from advisers in delivering their wares.
DAC Beachcroft and The In-House Lawyer recently conducted a survey to assess the role and influence of the in-house lawyer in managing risk. Is the role that of ringmaster – right at the heart of the matter – or more a side-line prompt? Essentially does the legal department have the necessary influence, associations, and information …
While fintech has generated a lot of attention in recent years, it is not actually new. From ATMs to contactless payments, technology has been influencing the financial sector and the way we interact with money for decades. So why the recent surge of interest and what has Scotland got to do with it?
‘When fintech became a big thing the narrative was all about the banks being disrupted and the threat to their business model,’ says Martin Cook, UK general counsel at Funding Circle, one of the world’s most successful peer-to-peer lenders. ‘There has since been a shift toward what might be called “fintech 2.0”, with a less …
It is difficult to work in financial services and not hear the word ‘fintech’ on a daily basis. But what is fintech and why the hype? In its purest form fintech is the fusion of financial services and technology. There is also ‘insurtech’ (the use of technology in insurance) and ‘regtech’ (the use of technology …
Continue reading “The fintech primer: what’s driving the revolution?”
It is difficult to work in financial services and not hear the word ‘fintech’ on a daily basis. But what is fintech and why the hype? In its purest form fintech is the fusion of financial services and technology. There is also ‘insurtech’ (the use of technology in insurance) and ‘regtech’ (the use of technology …
Continue reading “Is the blockchain revolution finally beginning to deliver?”
Following the referendum on 23 June 2016, the UK public voted to leave the European Union. The subsequent political and media storm that ensued focused on what shape the exit deal would take including when and how article 50 of the Treaty on European Union 2009 would be triggered. Nine months after the UK voted …
Ah, despite the changing fashions, technology and economic realities of the day, in law you can always rely on that curious mix of mutual hypocrisy, miscommunication, mistrust and conflicting agendas between clients and law firms to endure.
Tesco commits to BLP for real estate Supermarket giant Tesco has gifted Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) with another three-year stint as its lead property adviser. The mandate was last extended in 2014 when Tesco dropped Ashurst from its panel and the extension is a further endorsement of BLP’s key practice area and low-cost Manchester base. …