The news that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is to shed some 50 or so partners in the next year may have surprised a few at the firm’s Fleet Street HQ, but at Linklaters the shock was that its arch rival had not acted sooner. Over at Silk Street, they have long shed the softly, softly approach to partnership that used to characterise the profession and managing partner Tony Angel has taken the firm in hand with obvious results.
Freshfields is not the only firm that has woken up to the need for stronger management – US law firms are increasingly moving away from their laissez-faire approach to global domination in favour of a concerted effort to focus on the job in hand. The successes of leaders such as Ralph Baxter at Orrick, Greg Jordan at Reed Smith and our own Nigel Knowles at DLA Piper, have given rise to a new generation of converts to the Harvard Business School approach to law firm leadership.
