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The Lawyer Podcast

The Lawyer

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.

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Monday · 27 min
Freshfields’ leaked AI plans: Genius? Greed? Or both?
Send us Fan Mail Freshfields created a storm last week when leaked emails revealed it was considering spinning off its AI venture potentially “worth billions”. According to the Financial Times, managing partner Alan Mason thinks that Freshfields Lab could get external investment, or even IPO. So on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast, the team ask how such plans might work, what’s behind them, and why – as this year’s The Lawyer UK200 reports – they are part of a wider trend of law firms siphoning off non-law businesses.
October 5 · 31 min
Manchester City: The lawyers' feeding frenzy has only just begun
Send us Fan Mail The Manchester City judgment is an enormous moment for both law and football. 114/115 charges were proven against the club in a case with ramifications far beyond sport. So on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast, we discuss the parts of the decision that may be of interest to lawyers, and its consequences, which might keep lawyers busy for years to come. And we are also joined by special guest Amar Mehta, a former litigation reporter at The Lawyer and now a news editor at Sky Sports News, as he tells us what it’s been like at the heart of the action, and how a mainstream broadcaster reacts to a legal story like this.
September 21 · 27 min
Where will Weil’s wobbles end?
Send us Fan Mail Losing big teams of senior lawyers has been something of a trend in 2026. New York firm Weil Gotshal & Manges is the latest to suffer a series of top tier exits. Mike Aiello, a member of the firm’s management committee and chair of its corporate group, is leaving with a team of partners for Cravath Swaine & Moore in New York. A few days later, in London, Weil’s City co-head David Avery-Gee and fellow corporate partner Sarah Flaherty were confirmed to be joining Sullivan & Cromwell. So on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast, the teams asks: as Weil wobbles, will this be the end of the exits, or do the problems run deeper?
September 7 · 30 min
Why Wachtell, football and private equity dominated the summer
Send us Fan Mail The Lawyer Podcast is back from the summer break on its new Monday publication date. 2026 was a summer to remember, and not just because of Britain's heatwaves. Legal news was far from dry in July and August, so for its first episode back, The Lawyer Podcast brings you what you missed over the summer. Football law news accounted for no fewer than eight different stories over the summer, emphasising sport’s growing importance to the legal sector. The New York market entered a new phase when Gibson Dunn shocked law firms by hiring a team of six partners from the previously unshakeable Wachtell. Private equity investment in law firms took a twist, with PE-backed Lawfront sued the partners from one of the firms it owns – is it a sign of things to come? And The Lawyer did a deep dive into listed firm Gateley, in an attempt to understand why it is struggling. Tune in to the new podcast, as the team discuss these stories and what they mean for the market.
July 16 · 38 min
It’s not just Cravath under threat in New York
Send us Fan Mail New York’s legal market is changing. For those long established firms, pressure is coming from multiple directions. The city is now home to more than just the traditional New York headquartered firms or even the likes of Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins — global giants that are now considered Manhattan incumbents. So as The Lawyer prepares to launch an office in New York later this year, we discuss the future of the legal market in the Big Apple, and why the home of capitalism is becoming more ruthless than ever.
July 2 · 24 min
Is AI about to get too expensive for lawyers?
Send us Fan Mail Just as the world of law was getting carried away with the excitement of AI, legal tech firm Legora has brought us all thudding back down to earth. Legora has told its clients that it plans to move to consumption based pricing - a decision that could fundamentally change how law firms use AI, right as its role is being normalised. So on this episode of the podcast, we return again to the question of legal AI as we are joined by our tech editor Ben Lucas - who broke the Legora story - and our tech reporter Clementine Doyle, to ask just how big of a deal this is, what it means for the market, and what it might mean for lawyers' day to day.
June 11 · 33 min
AI and lawyer job cuts: the annoying truth
Send us Fan Mail It is an uncertain time for those wanting a career in the law. Doom-mongers would have you think that AI is about to lead to a mass cull in junior lawyer roles around the world. But at the same time, associate salaries keep going up – and some big firms are even increasing their junior hiring. So what is the truth behind the future of junior talent? The Lawyer Podcast tries to find out.
May 22 · 28 min
It's raining men at A&O Shearman (and BigLaw)
Send us Fan Mail In 2015, The Lawyer wrote: “eight candidates for two top roles at Allen & Overy, and not one woman. For a law firm committed to that 30 per cent target, it’s not a good look.” Fast-forward to 2026 and, as The Lawyer wrote last week, just one female partner included on A&O Shearman’s refreshed board of six has left many “disappointed” with the outcome. This is not a problem unique to A&O, with female representation low at a number of big firms. And yet, a generation of female leaders are coming to the fore in many law firms. So, on the latest episode of the podcast, we discuss why there is still such an issue at A&O Shearman, and across the law more generally, but also which firms and leaders are making a change.
May 7 · 30 min
Legal AI: Have Harvey and Legora peaked?
Send us Fan Mail We’ve all been seeing a lot more of Jude Law lately. Legal AI firm Legora’s effort to cement itself in our consciousness with expensive ads featuring the actor has certainly been refreshing In its latest funding round in March, the company hit a valuation of $5.5bn and now has contracts with law firms including White & Case, HSF Kramer, Dentons, and Pérez-Llorca. Meanwhile, its competitor Harvey has grown its own valuation from $3bn early last year to $11bn in its latest funding round in March. On its books are firms like A&O Shearman, CMS, Ashurst and, as of last week, Slaughter and May. But despite their rapid rises, is there a risk that the two companies’ dominance is peaking? Some lawyers are becoming concerned at the size of these legal AI vendors, while Freshfields recently turned its nose up at both of them, instead choosing to partner with AI giant Anthropic. It wants more freedom to tinker with the AI model itself. So on this episode of the podcast, we ask what the future is for the two legal tech firms as bigger competitors enter the market, why lawyers like them – and why they don’t – and what’s with the bonkers valuations? Check out The Lawyer’s brand new Innovation Map, exploring how law firms are using AI as the technology moves from experimentation to routine practice.
April 23 · 33 min
Fess up about Germany, Freshfields
Send us Fan Mail Ever since its big German mergers in 2000, the firm has been one of the major international players in Europe and is now the second largest law firm in Germany. And yet… Freshfields has lost some top talent in the country recently, at the same time as making no bones about its intention to prioritise its US practice. As many firms will be aware, the gap between American and German fees – and compensation – can create problems. So what is going on with Freshfields and Germany, and is there really a future for the firm there as it shifts its focus to America?
April 9 · 32 min
REPLAY: Taylor Wessing and Winston & Strawn's transatlantic tie-up
Send us Fan Mail The Lawyer Podcast is on holiday this week, but with Taylor Wessing and Winston and Strawn aiming to complete their merger in three weeks’ time, we thought you might like to listen back to our episode from last year when news of the deal broke. The 1st May target date for the merger to go live is not locked in – the two firms are still dotting I’s and crossing T’s. If it goes ahead then though, it will be the first of the three transatlantic tie-ups agreed late last year to complete. On the episode recorded back in December, the team discusses the firms’ strategies, what it means for Germany and the rest of Europe, and whether it actually makes sense... Hosts Catrin Griffiths and Christian Smith are joined by deputy insight editor Nikhil Raj Aggarwal and international editor Charlie Johnstone, along with special guest Aled Griffiths, the founder of German legal magazine Juve.
March 26 · 35 min
Kirkland's partners make $11m a year – but can it last?
Send us Fan Mail In hindsight, Kirkland & Ellis’s rise to the top of BigLaw may now seem as predictable as death and taxes. There was even a sense of inevitability when its latest financial results were released earlier this month, becoming the first firm to surpass $10bn with PEP at $11m. But it was actually less than a decade ago, in 2017, when the firm first topped the global revenue charts. So how did Kirkland get here, what makes it so successful, and is its place at the top of the tree actually secure? Tune in to the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast to find out!
March 12 · 27 min
Scottish lawyers are raging about private equity
Send us Fan Mail Private equity investment in law firms is kicking off in England. But in Scotland, lawyers are at risk of falling behind as regulations restrict Scottish firms from doing the same – and that’s left lawyers there frustrated. So on this episode of the podcast, the team is joined from Glasgow by Horizon editor Margaret Taylor and deputy editor (UK) Richard Simmons, as we unpack the challenges facing private equity investment in Scotland, dive into the dramatic changes in Scottish firms' leadership in recent years, and ask what the future has in store for the market.
February 26 · 37 min
Slaughter and May is a Silver Circle firm
Send us Fan Mail The Silver Circle was a concept coined by The Lawyer more than 20 years ago. Rather than describing a set of “magic circle wannabes”, its purpose was to collate the firms’ strategies and models. Those in the Silver Circle have arguably changed over the years, with the likes of Macfarlanes and Travers Smith remaining constant. But after two decades and enormous changes in the legal market, does the term still hold true, and who is actually in the Silver Circle now? Tune in to the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast as we discuss what the future holds for the Silver Circle.
February 12 · 30 min
Brad Karp, the Epstein files, and the future of Paul Weiss
Send us Fan Mail Brad Karp became a household name - for Big Law at least - during his 17 year tenure at the helm of Paul Weiss. But the long serving chair of the New York firm resigned from his leadership role last week over revelations in the latest batch of the Epstein files. His exit makes him one of the first Americans to resign over the revelations. So on this episode of The Lawyer Podcast, we take a look at why he quit, and what next for Paul Weiss under new chair, Scott Barshay.
January 29 · 29 min
Why Greenland could redraw the law firm map
Send us Fan Mail The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos usually revolves around talk of business, finance and investment. Indeed, law firms Baker McKenzie and DLA Piper are official partners of the forum. But last week’s meeting was dominated by the unusual topic of Greenland: President Trump’s threat to take the island by force, the Danish government’s rebuff and the seeming fracturing of the NATO alliance. While the issue may seem like a matter of geopolitics not immediately connected to lawyers and law firms, the ramifications of the crisis have big implications for the increasingly international and, perhaps more importantly, transatlantic nature of Big Law. Not least of all for firms in Denmark, where the market was already flying through some (quite exciting) turbulence. So on this episode of The Lawyer Podcast, we assess the wide ranging implications of the crisis for Danish and global lawyers, along with the rapid developments in the Danish legal market in recent years.
January 15 · 29 min
Hogan Lovells Cadwalader: mega deal or damp squib?
Send us Fan Mail 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 agreed. The headline figures look good, but all may not be as it seems… So on the first podcast of the year, we assess what we really make of the tie-up and ask, is time running out for other firms to find a merger partner?
Dec 16, 2025 · 32 min
BONUS episode: Taylor Wessing’s big US gamble
Send us Fan Mail 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 unexpected bonus episode as they talk through the announcement. The second transatlantic tie-up in a month, the team discusses what the firms are up to, what it means for Germany and the rest of Europe, and whether it is actually a good idea, or a bold mistake… Hosts Catrin Griffiths and Christian Smith are joined by deputy insight editor Nikhil Raj Aggarwal and international editor Charlie Johnstone, along with very special guest Aled Griffiths, the founder of German legal magazine Juve.
Dec 11, 2025 · 35 min
Why 2025 marked a turning point for the business of law
Send us Fan Mail 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 and even politics all shook the business of law this year. So for the final episode of The Lawyer Podcast in 2025, we take a look back at what has changed for the sector this year, and what it means for 2026.
Nov 27, 2025 · 31 min
The unfiltered take on the Ashurst Perkins Coie merger
Send us Fan Mail 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 Coie, did still come as a bit of a surprise. The silver circle firm clearly needed to make its move, but was it the right one? Tune in to the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast as hosts Catrin Griffiths and Christian Smith are joined by Matt Byrne and Nikhil Raj Aggarwal discuss what the move might mean for the two firms, the wider market, and those firms leftover who are still looking for their own merger partner.

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