What, if anything, unites the large law firms operating outside the top 50? They have no catchy group name, operate from disparate areas of the UK and deploy a wide range of management styles and practice models. And, as this week’s in depth feature finds, there is no easy answer as to what separates – often with brutal force – the winners from the losers.
But perhaps the one thing they have in common is what they don’t have: they really don’t have it easy. Let’s be realistic – the legal services market, for larger firms, is a cosy place. It went through its period of upheaval in the 1990s and now it’s a remarkably stable pecking order – too stable, probably, for the good of clients.
