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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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?

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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.

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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!

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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. 

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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.