Back Issues

COVER FEATURE
New Online Version of European Lawyer Now Available
To view the new online version of Issue 78, simply click here...

Editorial - The art of prediction
In June 2001, for the tenth issue of this magazine, we chose an image of Vermeer’s Astronomer, sat deep in thought over a ce...
Forum - Judgments for all
Internet technology has been the catalyst for an international movement for the provision of free public access to statute and case law...

COVER FEATURE
The third way of alliances
The refrain “alliances between law firms don’t work”, has echoed around Europe’s legal market for a number...

Editorial - Convergence
Law firm alliances operating today differ from their earlier manifestations in the 1990s and early 2000s in many respects, the mos...
Forum - Two tales of enforcement
Competitiveness’ has become the new mantra in capital markets regulation. Worldwide, industry groups are warning regulators ...

COVER FEATURE
Going separate ways
Four independent European law firms – Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners, Bonelli Erede Pappalardo, PLMJ and the former Du...

Editorial - Challenges within and without
Generational tensions continue to blight Europe’s independent law firms. The latest round of partner walkouts, from highly s...
Forum - Born in the USA
European and global companies doing business in Europe take heed: US-style laws and litigation are affecting fundamental aspects o...

COVER FEATURE
Shedding light on the shadowy world of referrals
When a lawyer says the word ‘client’, in most cases people think of a company, a bank or a rich individual. However, f...

Editorial - Akzo Nobel: the worst decision in legal history?
It is said that, once in a generation, a footballer such as Pele or Maradonna comes along, surpassing all that have gone before an...
Forum - Akzo Nobel: the worst decision in legal history?
It is said that, once in a generation, a footballer such as Pele or Maradonna comes along, surpassing all that have gone before an...

COVER FEATURE
Are you listening?
Client care is a buzzword that is thrown around among partners from the smallest firms to the magic circle, encompassing every a...

Editorial - Attention to detail
Law firms have become highly accomplished at telling clients what they need from their external advisers, and spend incredible amo...
Forum - Mapping legal Europe
When you walk into an Italian courtroom you might face many differences in the behaviour of legal actors compared, for instance, w...

COVER FEATURE
Europe’s legal powerhouse back on track
The German legal market has been through a turbulent period like no other in Europe. First there was the invasion of UK law firms ...

Editorial - Rule of law: the reality
The rule of law is now part of the legal profession’s common vernacular to an extent that was unthinkable even ten years ago...
Forum - In-house lawyers break down walls
It’s 1982. Prince William is born in London. Poland’s Lech Walesa is released from prison for leading the Solidarity u...

COVER FEATURE
Niche work if you can get it
Before launching into analysis of the challenges today’s niche firms face, it is important to look at why they exist in the ...

Editorial - Who’s afraid of private equity?
In recent months tax issues related to private equity have been subject to considerable media attention throughout Europe, most no...
Forum - Rallying regulators to blast trade barriers
The US Chamber of Commerce has lately been pleased to launch its Global Regulatory Co-operation Project, designed to engage regula...

COVER FEATURE
US law firms change their stripes
Our 2007 survey of American practices in Europe reveals they are adapting to their environment and morphing away from a ‘US’ identity. Jeremy Fleming  ...

Editorial - Right place, right time
These are revolutionary times in the legal profession. Lawyers of the world unite! Throw off your chains! Be brave. But be careful...
Forum - Right place, right time
These are revolutionary times in the legal profession. Lawyers of the world unite! Throw off your chains! Be brave. But be careful...

COVER FEATURE
The world is not enough: law for a virtual universe
Not all lawyers have heard of the virtual world of Second Life; indeed, even some of those who have believe it is just a video g...

Editorial - ACC Europe conference
Munich’s historic Bayerischer Hof hotel, which fuses tradition and sparkling modernity, was an apt location for June&rsq...
Forum - Educating lawyers for the future
If we go back some decades, an excellent lawyer was a professional with outstanding technical know-ledge in his specific field o...

COVER FEATURE
Google: the legal story
Lawyers may come to look back with nostalgia at a time when the internet was considered a lawless zone. The swift advance of techn...

Editorial - Facing the future
Back in our second issue, June 2000, we asked if the law could catch up with the internet revolution. Seven years on and the answe...
Forum - Up front and personal
As of the beginning of this year, the EU numbers 490 million inhabitants. Not only is our global economic weight enormous, but our...

COVER FEATURE
Challenging the conflict culture: mediation’s struggle for acceptance in Europe
Mediation is credited with delivering what arbitration always promised, but does not consistently provide: fast and cost-effective...

Editorial - Learning the law of the lands
The need for training in European law has not ceased to grow in importance since the 1980s single market initiative. Today, Europe...
Forum - Learning the law of the lands
The need for training in European law has not ceased to grow in importance since the 1980s single market initiative. Today, Europe...

COVER FEATURE
From confessor to informer: lawyers’ lost battle for client confidentiality
After years of campaigning, it now seems the legal profession’s effort to escape from what it sees as the unacceptable requi...

Editorial - A withdrawn privilege
Back in May 2005 we conveyed the hopes of Europe’s lawyers that they might yet avert threats to their profession contained i...
Forum - Tapping into the transatlantic market
When US and EU leaders meet in Washington DC on 30 April for their annual Summit, the economic part of their agenda is likely to f...

COVER FEATURE
Associate life: the new recruitment battleground
Top firms, whether global or local, need top recruits. Their ideal shopping list includes fluent English and a good master’s...

Editorial - Examining associate life
It is ironic at a time when high–calibre associates are in such demand across Europe, with firms of all kinds vying for thei...
Forum - The race to optimality
Much recent debate has focused on the perceived decline in US capital markets. Last November the ‘Paulson Committee’ o...

COVER FEATURE
Upsetting the balance?
European independent firms are chasing their Anglo-Saxon rivals down the path to a highly leveraged business model – employi...

Editorial - Year of the bullishness
Our first issue of 2007 definitely has a large dose of the feel-good factor: firms we talked to in this edition, almost without ex...
Forum - Today’s legal battleground
'Client focus’ and ‘client service’ are phrases frequently used by law firms when describing the way they operat...

COVER FEATURE
Of pitches and panels: the changing face of client relationships
Recently a large Dutch law firm was sent a lengthy and probing questionnaire by a European company that it had to answer in order ...

Editorial - How to win friends
A partner in a single-jurisdiction European firm recently likened his practice’s current situation to the proverbial hamster...
Forum - Jury out on EU competition court
The debate concerning the possibility of a specialist EU competition court is generating significant interest and column inches in...