Welcome back to The Firm Analyst as we dive into a range of stories in this early release episode! Today we discussed: (1) Skype's unfortunate demise and what role lawyers play in reorganising businesses; (2) how UK small cap companies have been perceived by international investors in light of the UK's dampened growth; and (3) how changes to the SDLT thresholds in April are convincing home buyers to move their purchases forward.

Thanks for tuning into this episode of The Firm Analyst. Today we'll be discussing a range of stories affecting the market and how they impact the wider practice of commercial law. I hope you find benefit in the stories discussed and feel free to reach out for more information or a general discussion!

$600bn...that's the estimated value NVIDIA is said to have lost as markets struggled to comprehend a new company's arrival onto the AI scene. Here at The Firm Analyst, we discuss how DeepSeek's AI model is set to affect the wider data infrastructure and legal markets (2:15).

In this week's episode, we also discussed how the US' recently introduced tariffs are set to cause challenges for multinational corporations and investigate how lawyers can help their clients navigate a new era of international trade environment (16:20).

To wrap up, we looked into the recently announced AAM and Dowlais plc merger and its wider implications for transatlantic M&A dealmaking (29:25).

I hope you enjoy this episode!

Link to access on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/thefirmanalyst

Welcome back to The Firm Analyst everyone! Super glad to be kicking this year off to a start with a discussion on what 2025 holds for the UK economy (2:30) and the world at large as the political climate grows ever more uncertain (20:00) .

Listen in as we also break down how the TikTok ban illustrates what sorts of challenges multinational corporations and clients will be expected to face this year after an unprecedented number of leadership changes worldwide following the 50+ elections that took place in 2024 (27:15).

Happy listening!

Link to access on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/thefirmanalyst

Welcome back to The Firm Analyst everyone! In this episode, we reviewed market reactions to one of the most significant events of this year: the US election.

With the dollar rising in strength, the possibility of tariffs looming on the horizon and rate cuts in the US and the UK, there was lots to unpack this episode. Listen in to hear how this will impact global markets and the world of commercial law as a whole.

Link to access: https://linktr.ee/thefirmanalyst

Welcome back to the Firm Analyst! We have a range of stories to cover this week, including:

the Labour government's autumn budget and what this means for SMEs, the PE industry and the economy at large;

Zilch's use of a securitisation facility to fund its Buy Now Pay Later operations and why this funding technique remains popular in the financial markets; and

what BlackRock's approach to HPS - an alternative lending giant - tells us about the growing importance of private credit in the global economy.

I hope you enjoy the episode! Link to access on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/thefirmanalyst

Welcome back everyone! Today, we discussed the following topics in what was a more reflective episode:

a new UK Export Finance programme aiming to grant finance to companies importing minerals into the UK for manufacturing amidst a global trade war for rare earth minerals;

Shroders being the first asset manager to setup a Long Term Asset Fund in the UK. We also embarked on a whistle-stop tour of the investment funds world and how law firms play a role in its daily activities; and

how employees at Monzo may soon achieve millionaire status due to share incentive schemes setup by the company. This segment also focused on how startups incentivise both employees and investors to buy into their vision.

I hope you enjoyed the episode!

Welcome back to The Firm Analyst! I'm very excited to be kicking off season 11 with a discussion on the following topics:

firstly, we unpacked the Labour budget, looking specifically at how a change in tax law can impact several sectors and how law firms may be called on to assist their clients;

for our second story, we looked at the Viadux phase 2 project in Manchester as a joint venture case study and examined how law firms get involved in putting these structures together;

lastly, we reflected on how Space X's recent achievement of 'catching' the upper stage of its Starship rocket marks a key point in commercial space history and discussed what this means for the space law sector.

Hi everyone! Welcome to the final episode of this season of The Firm Analyst. Today we discussed:

the importance of being curious as well as reflective. I shared a recent personal story about how I was able to connect simple markings on an electricity meter to a learning point about a law firm's practice;

using books to learn about the history and strategy of certain law firms. In particular, we made mention of books such as Too Big to Fail, Barbarians at the Gate and more; and

we wrapped up the podcast by learning about how public information disclosed by the government can reveal which law firms are working with them on a range of matters.

I hope you enjoy the episode! We will be taking our usual season break next week, so hope to see you the week after.

Link to access the podcast:https://linktr.ee/thefirmanalyst

Welcome back to The Firm Analyst! In this episode we discussed:

how REA Group's £6.2bn offer for Righmove could result in a hostile takeover of the company and how lawyers assist clients in such circumstances;

why law firms seek to rebrand, while taking a closer look at how Freshfields, Foot Anstey, A&O Shearman and BDB Pitmans have considered branding more recently; and

Standard Chartered's dispute with investors regarding the proposed rate switch from LIBOR to SOFR on preference shares issued by the bank in 2006.

I hope you enjoy the episode! Link to access on all platforms: https://linktr.ee