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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.

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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.

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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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The Lawyer’s editor Catrin Griffiths and director of insight Matt Byrne are back from a fact-finding mission in New York, and merger mania is gripping the city’s lawyers.

As firms seek scale, reach and private capital clients, some of the oldest firms in the Big Apple are pondering how a tie up could help their bottom line.

And while private equity investment into firms is all the rage in the UK, in the US it is starting to gain traction as well.

So in the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast, Catrin and Matt recount what they learned on their adventure across New York last week…

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Tax rises for partnerships may be on the way in next month’s Budget – and potentially big ones at that.

Many lawyers were left shocked after the news broke last week that the Government is considering adding the equivalent of employer’s national insurance onto partnerships.

So on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast, we ask what that might mean for a range of firms, whether it is a good idea (or just good politics), what firms might do about it, and what friend of the show and former Clifford Chance head of tax Dan Neidle thinks…

You can read The Lawyer’s piece on the idea from 2022 here:

https://www.thelawyer.com/the-treasury-could-tax-commercial-law-firms-an-extra-1bn-and-theyd-barely-notice/

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Private equity investment in law firms has accelerated in the past 12 months. Essentially every UK200 law firm in the country has been approached, and many have already accepted the opportunity. Now the question is whether firms at the top of the market might join in.

But is it actually a good idea? Can law firms offer the rapid turnaround that private equity demands? Or is it just a chance for equity partners to cash in and retire, leaving behind them a mess for their firms?

The Lawyer Podcast investigates.

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The Lawyer's UK200: Top 100 report, sponsored by Legora, is out and it contains 100 stories of firms forging ahead or falling behind. But which are the most interesting of all?

In this week's episode of The Lawyer Podcast we dive into the sea of data and analysis that is the UK200 report and come up clutching four firms that are particularly worthy of attention this year. Who are they? Why should you care about them? And who does director of insight Matt Byrne think is the sexiest firm in the top 100? You'll have to listen to find out.

And subscribers can read the full top 100 report right here:

https://www.thelawyer.com/mda/report/uk-200-top-100-2025/

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Gardening has transformed from an old-fashioned past-time to a popular trend in the past few years, and now, even law firms are getting in on the action.

Firms like Eversheds, Switalskis and CANDEY are leading the charge, but there is so much more that could be done. After all, who wants to look at a grey bit of concrete all day.

So as the Autumn weather sets in and as we all try to distract ourselves from the news, The Lawyer Podcast asks what difference gardens would make to law firms, which firms have the best gardens, and whether your firm needs to make more of an effort than a pot plant and a strip of manky grass.

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The kids are back in school, the clouds are rolling in, and offices across the land are filling up with lawyers returning from their holidays.

And just in time, The Lawyer Podcast is back after the summer break. But just like in Westminster, it was far from a quiet summer for the legal sector.

So on our first episode back, we bring you the stories you missed while you were on your holidays.

From Addleshaw Goddard’s salary debunching and bumps in the road for Pogust Goodhead and the mass claims market, to financial results and private equity’s obsession with law, this is what you need to know from the summer.

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There is a radical reconfiguration taking place in the world of BigLaw that may make terms like magic circle or white shoe firm obsolete.

The transatlantic, private capital corridor between New York and London is now the stamping ground for some of the world’s best and most profitable law firms - firms that The Lawyer are now calling the Global Elite.

The Lawyer’s brand new The Global Elite report sets out those firms making the grade as part of the transatlantic universe.

So tune in to this episode of The Lawyer Podcast as the team discusses who has made the grade, the decline of New York elite firms like Cravath and Cadwalader, the emerging battle between the Kirkland and Latham models, and why the Global Elite is really the new club many firms will want to join. Plus, which firms we think are the ones to watch going forward.

The Lawyer Podcast will be taking a break over August, but will be back in September with new and exciting content, so make sure you subscribe to get the latest episodes.

You can read The Global Elite report here:

https://www.thelawyer.com/mda/report/the-lawyer-global-elite/