There are some topics of conversation that never fail to generate a perennial interest. Lottery jackpot dreams, for or against the war, England to win or go out in the group stage… Fresh-fields’ finance practice. The latter may seem to lack quite the same appeal, but nonetheless it frequently gives the City’s lawyers something to talk about over lunch. And the recent McKinsey review of the state of its finance practice has provided fresh food for thought on why the magic circle giant’s capability in finance is perceived as being less than it could be.
By all accounts, consultants McKinsey’s stock-take of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has served to tell the partners what they already knew about their finance practice, but perhaps feared to openly say for themselves – that the firm still has a way to go to build up elements of its finance department on the back of its stellar reputation for corporate and M&A work and for an equally star-studded client list.
