Board Assessments 2025: Best Practices from Corporate Governance Experts
Source: Governance intelligence A recent panel at Governance Intelligence’s Corporate Governance Forum in New York provided valuable insights into board assessment planning for 2025’s proxy season. The discussion revealed key considerations for corporate secretaries and governance professionals. Timing and Preparation Jessica Olich, Equitable’s head of governance and associate general counsel, recommends starting preparations in fall. […]
Law Firm Giants: The Growing Concentration of Legal Power
Source: Adam Smith Esq. A recent analysis of AmLaw 100 data reveals a striking trend in the legal industry: big law firms are capturing an increasingly larger share of the market. The announcement of Herbert Smith Freehills’s (HSF) merger with Kramer Levin brings this trend into sharp focus. The Numbers Tell the Story The concentration […]
Transforming Corporate Integrity: Beyond Compliance to Culture
Source: Above the Law, Harvard Business Review In today’s business landscape, where corporate decisions face unprecedented scrutiny, legal leaders are emerging as architects of ethical transformation. Leading this charge is Robert Chesnut, former General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer at Airbnb, who offers a fresh perspective on turning integrity from a compliance requirement into a […]
Bridging Academia and Practice: Inside King’s College London and Linklaters’ Groundbreaking GenAI Training
Source: KCL In a significant move that signals the growing importance of AI literacy in legal practice, Linklaters has partnered with The Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London to launch an innovative GenAI Expert Training Programme. This collaboration comes at a crucial time, as LexisNexis research reveals that 40% of lawyers are […]
AI in LegalTech: The New Growth Engine
Source: Global Corporate Venture The legal technology landscape is experiencing an unprecedented transformation, driven by artificial intelligence. As revealed in recent market analysis, 2024 has witnessed record-breaking investment in legal tech startups, with AI capabilities at the forefront of this surge. From Back Office to Front Lines The evolution of AI in legal tech is […]
Law Society Charts New Course in AI Governance with Triple-Pillar Strategy
Source: Legal Cheek The Law Society has unveiled an ambitious artificial intelligence strategy that could reshape how the legal profession adopts and implements AI technologies. The framework, structured around three fundamental pillars – innovation, impact, and integrity – arrives at a crucial moment when over 40% of lawyers are already incorporating AI into their daily […]
Building a Culture of Integrity: Lessons from Airbnb’s Former Chief Ethics Officer
Source: Above the Law In an era where corporate missteps can instantly become viral headlines, Robert Chesnut, former general counsel and chief ethics officer at Airbnb, offers a fresh perspective on transforming corporate integrity from a compliance checkbox into a strategic advantage. Breaking Away from Traditional Compliance Chesnut’s approach at Airbnb demonstrates how companies can […]
The Last Domino Falls: How Cleary’s Two-Tier Switch Signals the Death of Traditional Law Firm Structure
Source: Adam Smith Esq. The legal industry’s landscape is witnessing a historic transformation as Cleary Gottlieb, one of the last bastions of single-tier partnership, embraces the two-tier model. This shift marks more than just an organizational change—it signals the definitive end of an era in Big Law. The Numbers Tell the Story The statistics are […]
Biglaw’s 2025 Rate Hikes: The Great Pricing Puzzle
Source: Above the Law As 2025 approaches, general counsel are facing what can only be described as pricing whiplash from major law firms. Some elite firms are pushing for eye-watering rate increases exceeding 30%, while their equally prestigious peers are holding steady with no increases at all. “The market and variation is utterly bewildering,” says […]
The $2000/hr Paralegal Myth: A Wake-up Call for Legal Billing in the AI Era
Source: Above the Law When an AI executive claimed their technology could replace paralegals billing at $2,000 per hour, the legal industry collectively raised an eyebrow. The claim, while immediately dismissed by insiders, accidentally unveiled a deeper truth about the future of legal billing. Let’s address the obvious first: no paralegal bills at $2,000 per […]