Benjamin White

Legal teams are losing credibility fast. And it has nothing to do with your legal expertise. A General Counsel confided in me recently: "The board trusts my legal judgement completely. They just don't trust me to run an efficient operation." We've perfected the art of legal analysis whilst completely neglecting the basics of business operations. The evidence is everywhere. Finance directors demanding justification for every legal pound spent. Chief executives bypassing legal because "it takes too long." Board papers questioning whether legal adds value or just adds delay. Here's the brutal reality - exceptional legal advice delivered through dysfunctional operations equals irrelevance. You might draft the perfect contract, but if it takes three weeks to turn around, that's what gets remembered in the boardroom. The legal functions that command real respect have cracked something the rest haven't - they run like businesses, not academic departments. They measure what matters. They eliminate waste ruthlessly. They deliver predictably and professionally. They've recognised a fundamental truth: credibility comes from operational excellence as much as legal excellence. Their stakeholders don't just trust their legal judgement - they trust their ability to deliver results efficiently and cost-effectively. The transformation isn't complicated. Start treating your legal function like the business operation it actually is. Track performance metrics that matter to the business. Optimise processes that create value. Manage resources like every pound counts. Because in today's environment, legal competence without operational competence equals professional suicide. The question isn't whether you're a good lawyer - it's whether you're running a credible business function. #legalops #generalcounsel #legalleadership

106

4 Comments

How successful is Lawfront? Reading through The Legal 500 UK 2026 rankings, I found myself asking: what impact have we had on the market for regional legal services in England? The answer surprised me. The Data Across our six member firms—Brachers, Farleys, Fisher Jones Greenwood, Nelsons, Slater Heelis, and Trethowans—we've secured 81 Legal 500 rankings in regional England (excluding London). Based on my reading, that's greater breadth than any legal services business in England for regional law! For context: - 14 Tier 1 rankings - 29 Tier 2 rankings - 53% of all rankings in the top two tiers Coverage spans South East (35 rankings), North West (20), East Midlands (19), and South West (14) What Legal 500 Rankings Don't Tell You Here's what matters as much as the numbers: these rankings reflect six firms that still operate as Brachers, Farleys, Fisher Jones Greenwood, Nelsons, Slater Heelis, and Trethowans. Local partnerships intact. Regional identities preserved. Client relationships maintained. What changed: shared technology infrastructure (Project Drive, Katchr, ShareDo), operational standards, knowledge management, and the ability to recruit at platform scale rather than as individual 150-200 lawyer regional firms. Rankings measure recognition. They don't measure client satisfaction, profitability, lawyer retention, or operational efficiency. They're one signal among many. A Challenge to the Market I'm genuinely curious: has anyone achieved higher combined Legal 500 recognition in regional England outside London? If you're operating a similar model and you've scored higher, I'd like to know about it. What Constitutes Success? This is the real question. Is success measured by: - Total rankings breadth? - Tier 1 concentration? - Revenue growth? - Lawyer satisfaction scores? - Client retention rates? - Something else entirely? I'd argue it's all of these. For Lawfront, success means proving that regional firms can perform at national level without sacrificing local identity or client relationships. The Legal 500 results suggest we're moving in the right direction. Your Perspective? If you're operating in regional legal services—as a firm leader, managing partner, or platform operator—what metrics matter most to you? And if you've achieved stronger Legal 500 performance than our 81 combined rankings in regional England, I'm genuinely interested in hearing about it. The market needs more transparency on what works, not just who ranks where. https://lnkd.in/emzNXEp9

90

4 Comments

Delighted to see that Edwards Gibson's research on female partner hires in law firms was featured in the weekend Financial Times, and it was a pleasure to share my thoughts with Suzi Ring for this important piece. The article highlights that, despite genuine efforts by commercial firms to address the gender imbalance — which, to be fair, is evident in the raw data at the junior partner level — women still account for only a fifth of hires in the most lucrative practice areas: corporate and finance. Drawing on various sources, the article explores the reasons behind this disparity, focusing on the challenges of balancing primary carer responsibilities with the long and unpredictable hours required for deal-focused roles. It also touches on another factor that we, as headhunters, know well: the methodology law firms use to assess a partner’s value, while ostensibly objective, tends to favour men over women. This is because — contrary to what some firms claim — external partner hires are rarely about “filling skill-set gaps” and almost always about “buying books of business.” A partner’s value is therefore largely determined by their personal business case. And the reality is that women, who are often more risk-averse (or less inclined toward hyperbole!), tend to understate the size of their portable practice compared to men. As I mention in the article: “Men tend to be far more optimistic about the size of their client followings — this is both an emollient for the hire itself, and it often results in them achieving higher compensation … as a general rule, we multiply a man’s business case by 0.8 and a woman’s by 1.2.” For the full Financial Times article: “Corporate law firms hire mostly men for highest-paid roles” click here: https://on.ft.com/4mDtiTb #biglaw #womeninlaw #recruitment #lawfirm #partnership #london #lawyers #privateequity #genderpaygap 

99

14 Comments

This morning, I had the pleasure of chairing a breakfast roundtable hosted by OpenText (thank you Tony Armstrong to you and your team), where we explored the evolving role of Generative AI in disputes and investigations. The conversation was rich, insightful, and—unsurprisingly—energised by both curiosity and caution. One thing was clear: GenAI is not here to replace lawyers (phew). But it is reshaping how we work. 🔍 Key takeaways: GenAI is streamlining time-consuming administrative tasks—think document review, summarisation, and early case assessment. This efficiency frees up lawyers to focus on what truly matters: strategy, tactical decision-making, and client advocacy. Adoption is growing, but trust and transparency remain critical. The human layer of judgment is irreplaceable. The future of legal practice will be defined not by tech alone, but by how we integrate it with expertise, ethics, and empathy. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion and shared their experiences. The legal profession is at an inflection point—and it’s conversations like these that help us navigate it with clarity. Let’s keep the dialogue going. How is GenAI impacting your practice? #LegalTech #GenAI #Litigation #DisputeResolution #OpenText #FutureOfLaw #AIandLaw

77

7 Comments

Following my recent post about wanting to recruit lawyers to join me as consultants, I had a surprising number of trainees and NQs message to ask “Can I get into consultancy?” Or similar words. And I get it. No targets. No timesheets. Freedom. Flexibility. Travel 🏖️ It sounds great - and it is great. But the truth is, consultancy isn’t for everyone. And, frankly, it’s probably not for you - yet. Here are some reasons why: 1️⃣ You need actual experience. Consultancy can be a lonely game, especially when there’s no one to turn to for a second opinion. Google and ChatGPT aren’t substitutes for knowing what you’re doing. 2️⃣ It’s best done with a personal brand, or at least some reputation. There are over 250,000 solicitors in the UK. If you haven’t already started building a reputation - online or offline - then why would someone choose you? 3️⃣ You need a network. Consultants rely on referrals, collaborations and having people they can call. If you’ve not yet built your professional network, consultancy can be a very quiet place. 4️⃣ You need commercial awareness. This isn’t just a buzzword for interviews. You need to understand pricing, scope creep, value, profit, and client expectations. Consultancy is as much business as it is law. 5️⃣ You need self-motivation. No partner is checking in. No trainee supervisor. No Christmas party. You’ve got to keep the wheels turning, even when no one’s watching and it’s raining outside. 6️⃣ You need to be okay with admin. You may escape time recording, sure - but say hello to your new friends: file set up, AML, filing, closures, marketing plans, template drafting, IT setups, and accounting software. You’re running a business as a consultant. 7️⃣ You need to generate work. Just being a solicitor isn’t enough. If you’ve never had to win work before, the reality of business development can come as a shock. Clients don’t appear just because you set up a nice website. 8️⃣ You need to manage cashflow. You might make £10k or £20k one month, then 3 h’penny the next. You’ve got to be able to ride the rollercoaster, mentally and financially. 9️⃣ You carry the risk. As a trainee or NQ, there’s usually someone checking your work before it’s sent. As a consultant, you’re the one signing off - and either some firms, the liability to match. 🔟 There’s no natural career progression. No bonuses, no promotions, no praise from above. You have to design your own journey - which can be freeing, or frankly terrifying. So…. Consultancy is brilliant - for the right person, at the right time. But it’s not for everyone. Its not all holidays and free time either! It’s really hard work and can be stressful. So if you’re just starting out, don’t rush. Get loads of experience. Build your network. Learn your job and the person above you’s job. And when you’re ready, for entrepreneurial types, consultancy will be there. And it’ll be all the better for the timing.

132

77 Comments

There's a huge discrepancy in General Counsel salaries, which often frustrates people. But in reality, there's a reason for this, and I think it's because there are three levels to being a GC. Level one is to provide top quality legal advice. You tell the business what they need to know, providing legal insights. That's good stuff, and necessary for a business, but in reality a significant amount of your time is managing external counsel. Level two adds in strategic input - what's good for the business' goals, offering actionable risk insights, and bridging that gap between legal and the commercial side of the business. But level three is something else entirely, they do two key things: 1) they sense problems early and prevent them from happening. It's not about saying 'we've looked at the facts and here's our solution to this'. It's about saying 'don't worry, we already knew this might happen, we prepared our legal and business tactics to mitigate this 2 years ago, and we've already fixed it'. 2) they're psychologists. They translate complex challenges into clear, manageable information, but the key is that their communication is outstanding. They know how to manage the CEO's ego, how to work with sales to keep their energy high during a collapsing transaction, how to understand the CFO's financial motivations whilst still explaining that something isn't long-term the right move. They guide leadership and colleagues without threatening their autonomy and freedom to make commercial decisions. The CEO still feels in control, the business stays focused on profits, and legal risk is handled long before it becomes a commercial distraction. Want to keep your budgets low? That's ok, you'll get good lawyers and good strategists. But when you pay top-dollar, you get someone who can take bad news and make it a highlight of your day, meaning you continue to be able to focus on the things that matter to you.

36

8 Comments

Sign of the times 🤖 …or just a major law firm doing some restructuring? Roll On Friday reports that Freshfields is making a bunch of paralegals redundant in its Manchester base. > the suggestion is that it’s because of AI, but it’s unclear as yet if that’s the case. > A spokesperson is reported to have said: ‘We’re proposing to continue evolving our business to keep pace with a fast-changing legal market - **investing in technology***, building key skills in-house and adapting our model to meet future client needs.’ > But, that’s not exactly conclusive. Comments below the piece hinted that there is a wider cost cutting project afoot, which is not necessarily about AI. > the bigger question: is this a true signal of AI replacing elements of the base of the legal labour pyramid? And if so, presumably other large firms may soon be doing the same. #legaltech #AiandJobs. #paralegals https://lnkd.in/epwYVShf

27

6 Comments

Introducing Mishcon de Reya's latest guide, providing a concise overview of the key competition law principles under UK law relevant to start-ups and growing companies. Download your copy for practical guidance to help new businesses operate legally and ethically while fostering innovation and growth, from Gwen Ballin-Reeler and Chanelle Cattin: https://lnkd.in/gZQay-35

48

1 Comment