Latest Articles

It has been a very significant year for Marsden International in Australia. In November, Greg Plummer a senior manager from a leading Australian legal recruitment agency, became our on the ground representative. His role is to assist lawyers seeking a move within Australia, Australian qualified lawyers wanting to gain international experience, Australian returners and also working with foreign qualified lawyers into Australia. He has many years of experience working across all of these areas. Greg is well connected in Australia and overseas and works closely with our offices in London, Singapore and Canada to ensure candidates and clients are very well looked after through a professional and responsive approach. Plus, as a New Zealander he also works extensively with New Zealand qualified lawyers as well! This all means that Marsden is very well placed in the Australian domestic market than ever before.

Following recent conversations with US law firm partners, the sense of optimism for 2010 continues to grow.  The year that began with significant layoffs for lawyers across the globe appears to be ending with some US law firms treating the down market as an opportunity to expand internationally.  We all know that firms such as Latham laid off over a 150 lawyers across their network but it is less well known that this year saw firms such as Ropes & Gray and Greenberg Traurig open in the City of London.   This is not to say that the hey day of the international markets is back but at least there are signs that US law firms are once again thinking about international options.

Some recruiters would have you believe that the legal world has somehow totally changed; that the recession will have such a lasting impact that lawyers, particularly partners at law firms, need to completely rethink their personal game plan. I personally do not believe this to be the case. Sure there will be some changes, the law and the business of law is constantly evolving. For example, maybe the job security that partners have previously enjoyed may have lessened, but the fundamental principles of operating a law firm remain largely unchanged. Sure, being a lawyer is being part of a profession but being a partner in a law firm is also about being and behaving like a business owner. Law firms know that their clients have suffered and many have taken steps such as lowering billing rates to accommodate. Business owners learn from downturns and as such, law firms across the world have been taught a thing or two from this recession and have taken innovative steps and countermeasures to attract new business and manage cashflow. That, in itself, does not mean that the fundamental premise on which managing partners or executive committees run a firm will change all that much. Having just returned from meeting with senior partners in firms in Singapore and Hong Kong, I am reminded of the necessity of the need to return to business "as usual". The consolidated message from each and every partner with whom I met was quite simple: 2009 was tough but there is cautious optimism for a return to doing business in 2010.

Kensington Swan, a full service law firm, based in New Zealand has just announced they will be launching an office in Abu Dhabi. As such, they will be first the New Zealand law firm to open in the Middle East. The managing partner of the office will be Quentin Lowcay, whose practice is in the telecom areas. The firm has decided to staff the office with lawyers from New Zealand and will not be hiring lawyers locally at this point. It seems their strategy is going to be to help Australasian companies looking to invest in the Middle East region and seek local advice from local law firms. Once again, this shows that whilst the Middle East market has been down for the past twelve or more months, there is still room for key strategic growth in the region.

Rodge Cohen, Chairman of Wall Street law firm Sullivan & Cromwell was recently interviewed on his thoughts on the current signs of recovery and the recent numbers being posted by the banks.  Cohen argues that the public is often confused between two quite separate issues; that of the high level of compensation being paid to bankers, which he believes is not wrong per se and the issue of linking bankers’ compensation to ever greater risk-taking, something he feels may need to be controlled.  The Street is indeed showing signs of life and many associates are reporting utilization rates greater than a 100%.  Admittedly, some of this is due to the cuts made by the firms throughout this year but much of it is increased deal flow.  We will continue to speak to our clients on the ground, all of whom are really looking to put 2009 behind them.

It’s that time of year again, crisp chill in the air, Halloween decorations are out and new law students are meeting, greeting and impressing associates and partners on Bay street vying for spots for summer of 2010. There have been many discussions over the past number of years on laws latest and greatest generation, conferences focused on managing their expectations, retaining them, endless management and executive meetings focused on engaging, embracing their young talent and believe it or not re-training senior partners on how to dialogue with them.

In Falls past, firms were faced with questions from their potential suitors about lifestyle and work life balance, this year the discussions seem to be quite different. In canvassing a few Bay street firms, I’ve been told that applicants are interviewing as hungrier and questions regarding lifestyle have not come up as yet, rather students are asking about issues surrounding process and technical matters like potential practice areas, the nature of work they can expect and training. I’ve been told that the firms themselves have changed their pitches as well speaking candidly about what one can really expect from a Bay street firm, communicating that the work is challenging and cerebral and offers tremendous financial reward but in return you can expect to work long and demanding hours. One of my contacts said that this is the trade off for the profession and it’s crucial for firms to approach this honestly.

More positive news is that firms are not losing ‘star’ candidates to New York, applications are up and students are well prepared, better educated on the process and following up professionally. The firms I spoke to also shared that they will likely hire the same number of students from last year, some will increase their numbers due to optimism on Q1 of next year.

Marsden Group is a recruitment firm whose focus is to partner with our clients and assist them on sophisticated hires for growth, development and succession within their firms.  As an extension of our clients we approach our candidates with a strategic plan that compliments our clients needs effectively communicating their message to the market place. 

We decided to embark upon our first external social media initiative to speak to trends and issues facing our clients throughout the legal community and participate in industry discussions in a meaningful way.  With offices in London, Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore, New York and Toronto we are live and present in these markets with local intelligence on the ground.  We believe that a blog would be a great way for Marsden to share our presence, connections and knowledge.

With this blog we hope to introduce you to key voices within the legal community that are leaders and trend setters within the industry from across the global legal marketplace; we will highlight many of the bright minds behind technology, innovation, content and trends shaping the legal industry worldwide. We’ll share the unique perspectives of our authors and insiders, and provide new channels for you to network.

We look forward to having you join in on these conversations and hope that you will participate in the discussion.