header-logo header-logo

Out with the old… in with the new

12 January 2024 / Nigel Clark
Issue: 8054 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail
Nigel Clark looks forward to some radical change in 2024
  • Proposes lawyers adopt a different approach to client fees, billing targets, the partnership model and the long-hours culture.

Now 2024 has arrived, I have been reflecting on my 25-year career in the legal sector during which I’ve worked in ‘Big Law’ across four countries and three continents, and with alternative, consultancy platforms including my own which merged with Nexa back in 2017.

While I am passionate about the UK legal sector, it would be fair to say that, in my opinion, many aspects of it need to modernise or, at least, require a new approach, starting with….

The billable hour, machismo firm culture & the gender pay gap

From the moment we qualify as lawyers we know how much billable time we must do each day, week, month, year to prosper in our law firms and progress in our careers.

Philip Larkin asked, ‘Why should I let the toad work/ Squat on my life?’ as he railed

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Ruth Clare

Freeths—Ruth Clare

National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Partner appointed head of family team

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

Firm strengthens agriculture and rural affairs team with partner return

NEWS
Conveyancing lawyers have enjoyed a rapid win after campaigning against UK Finance’s decision to charge for access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a recruitment drive for talented early career and more senior barristers and solicitors
Regulators differed in the clarity and consistency of their post-Mazur advice and guidance, according to an interim report by the Legal Services Board (LSB)
The dangers of uncritical artificial intelligence (AI) use in legal practice are no longer hypothetical. In this week's NLJ, Dr Charanjit Singh of Holborn Chambers examines cases where lawyers relied on ‘hallucinated’ citations — entirely fictitious authorities generated by AI tools
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
back-to-top-scroll