The Lawyer Podcast
Hosted by editor Catrin Griffiths and litigation editor Christian Smith, every second Thursday The Lawyer Podcast brings you our take on the top stories, trends and views moving the legal market.
For more news, analysis and data, go to www.thelawyer.com. The Lawyer Podcast can be contacted at podcast@thelawyer.com.
Episodes
80 episodes
Hogan Lovells Cadwalader: mega deal or damp squib?
The Lawyer Podcast is back for 2026 and it is picking up where we left off: with transatlantic mergers.Just before Christmas, Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader announced what will be, by value, the largest law firm merger ever ag...
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29:58
BONUS episode: Taylor Wessing’s big US gamble
As if 2025 needed just another little dollop of big legal news, Taylor Wessing and Winston & Strawn are set to become the fourth major transatlantic merger in two and a half years.So The Lawyer Podcast is back for an unexpec...
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32:24
Why 2025 marked a turning point for the business of law
As 2025 draws to a close, it feels like 2025 has been an inflection point for the legal sector.While firm financials largely look good, fundamental changes are underway on both sides of the Atlantic.Technology, investment, mergers...
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35:00
The unfiltered take on the Ashurst Perkins Coie merger
Unlike A&O’s tie up with Shearman and Sterling, Ashurst’s announcement that it had agreed a merger did not come as a surprise.The firm had been in the market for a US-merger for more than two decades, yet its new partner, Perkins Coi...
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31:09
Merger mania hits New York
The Lawyer’s editor Catrin Griffiths and director of insight Matt Byrne are back from a fact-finding mission in New York, and merger mania is gripping the city’s lawyers.As firms seek scale, reach and private capital clients, so...
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33:40
Let's tax all the lawyers!
Tax rises for partnerships may be on the way in next month’s Budget – and potentially big ones at that.Many lawyers were left shocked after the news broke last week that the Government is considering adding the equivalent of employer’s n...
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28:40
Private equity: a poisoned chalice?
Private equity investment in law firms has accelerated in the past 12 months. Essentially every UK200 law firm in the country has been approached, and many have already accepted the opportunity. Now the question is whether firms at the top of t...
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34:34
UK 200 special: The most interesting firms in the top 100
The Lawyer's UK200: Top 100 report, sponsored by Legora, is out and it contains 100 stories of firms forging ahead or falling behind. But which are the most interesting of all?In this week's episode of The Lawyer Podc...
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26:20
Calling all gardeners - your firm needs you!
Gardening has transformed from an old-fashioned past-time to a popular trend in the past few years, and now, even law firms are getting in on the action.Firms like Eversheds, Switalskis and CANDEY are leading the charge, but there is so ...
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26:14
Why it was a hot debunching summer - and what else you missed on your holidays
The kids are back in school, the clouds are rolling in, and offices across the land are filling up with lawyers returning from their holidays.And just in time, The Lawyer Podcast is back after the summer break. But just like in ...
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27:10
Are the New York elite finished?
There is a radical reconfiguration taking place in the world of BigLaw that may make terms like magic circle or white shoe firm obsolete.The transatlantic, private capital corridor between New York and London is now the stamping ground f...
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33:38
The runny poop problem is law's next battleground
As the government launches a sweeping review into parental leave, The Lawyer Podcast takes a look at the challenges faced by parents and other carers working in the legal sector. Are firms pulling their weight? Are men? How far have we come and...
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29:29
Freshfields, Lewis Silkin and the C-word
Lewis Silkin and Freshfields are two very different law firms.But they now have one thing in common – they won one of the two big awards at The Lawyer Awards 2025 last week.Now, The Lawyer Podcast is not typicall...
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37:06
Paul Weiss’s growth is just the tip of the iceberg
We have never seen such rapid investment in the London legal market like Paul Weiss’s recruitment spree since 2023.Between 2023 and 2024 alone, the firm's London headcount tripled and its estimated turnover grew by more than 550 per cent...
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33:26
Have litigation funders been chasing a busted flush?
On the surface, litigation funding and class actions are booming in the UK. Over the past five years, dozens of class actions have been filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and just at the start of this month, a new £5bn action was fi...
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27:05
What law firms aren’t telling you about AI
News broke last week that the first ever AI law firm had been given the green light by the SRA. The rush by law firms to adopt Artificial Intelligence has been the standout feature of the past two years.But amongst all the hype, the prom...
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31:19
Trump v BigLaw, part three: Where's your line in the sand?
Trump’s attacks on some of America’s most famous law firms has set in motion a chain of events that has thrown the world of BigLaw into chaos.In episode three of The Lawyer...
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54:50
Trump v BigLaw, part two: Deal or no deal?
Trump’s attacks on some of America’s most famous law firms has set in motion a chain of events that has thrown the world of BigLaw into chaos.On this second episode of our podc...
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50:33
Trump v BigLaw, part one: Crisis
Trump’s attacks on some of America’s most famous law firms has set in motion a chain of events that has thrown the world of BigLaw into chaos.Across the course of three episode...
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1:06:07
Your firm may not be interested in private equity, but private equity is interested in your firm
Law firm listings are out of fashion, but private equity interest in firms has never been higher. With more deals already struck this year, The Lawyer Podcast crew sets out the state of PE investment in firms, debates the benefits a...
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27:21
Could you hack it as a startup GC?
Dynamic. Modern. Exciting. From Revolut to Bloom & Wild, Darktrace to Fever, startups are increasingly the place to be in the UK - and that is the case for lawyers too.So as the potential avenues for a career in law grow and grow, Ca...
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26:30
Does Linklaters’ exit spell the end for the Magic Circle in Eastern Europe?
Poland’s GDP per capita could surpass Japan’s next year and may exceed the UK’s by the end of the decade.Such statistics help explain why the Eastern European nation is seeing an influx of international business - and legal work.A...
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22:00
Absolute scenes: Freshfields, Willkie and how Merricks v Mastercard bankrolled the litigation market
£20m is a number most recently associated with top private equity partners, but that’s the amount a team from Willkie Farr & Gallagher has been paid for its work on the iconic Merricks v Mastercard litigation.Now as the case...
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29:34