Katie Bench

Introducing Mishcon de Reya's latest guide, providing a concise overview of the key competition law principles under UK law relevant to start-ups and growing companies. Download your copy for practical guidance to help new businesses operate legally and ethically while fostering innovation and growth, from Gwen Ballin-Reeler and Chanelle Cattin: https://lnkd.in/gZQay-35

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The SQE1 pass rate has dropped to 41%. The lowest it’s ever been since its introduction in 2021. Students are disappointed, confused and deflated about their career prospects. Why is the number so low? The answer doesn’t lie with one organisation. 👥 Yes, the SRA could be more transparent with past papers and provider pass rates. 👥 Kaplan could also fix the glitches that have long made the process disproportionately challenging. 👥 Providers also need to take accountability for their role in delivering adequate teaching and preparation, 👥and employers and supervisors need to do better at understanding the demands of the process, how gruelling it is and how much support students need to succeed. It’s easy to point fingers, but it’s a nuanced issue. We all have a collective responsibility to support the next generation of lawyers and the sooner we realise that and act on it, the sooner that number goes up.

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I'm excited to share LittleLaw teamed up with Linklaters this week. Yes, with Linklaters! 🤯 They've let us behind the scenes of something massive (bigger than hundreds of football pitches). In this week's newsletter, we've broken down how Linklaters helped fund the UK's first carbon capture mega-project – a deal that's literally creating the rules for a brand new industry. But what I'm most excited about is this: we didn't just get the surface-level stuff you'd find in a press release. We heard from the actual lawyers who worked on this deal – partners, senior associates, and trainees – and they walked us through what they really did, day-to-day, to get this billion-pound project over the line. Because that's what will help you as an aspiring lawyer. Not just knowing that "Linklaters advised on a deal." But understanding things like: → What does that actually mean? → What were the trainees involved in? → What problems were the partners solving that no one had solved before? So read it, and let me know what you think. The link's in the comments 👇

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Delighted to see that Edwards Gibson's research on female partner hires in law firms was featured in the weekend Financial Times, and it was a pleasure to share my thoughts with Suzi Ring for this important piece. The article highlights that, despite genuine efforts by commercial firms to address the gender imbalance — which, to be fair, is evident in the raw data at the junior partner level — women still account for only a fifth of hires in the most lucrative practice areas: corporate and finance. Drawing on various sources, the article explores the reasons behind this disparity, focusing on the challenges of balancing primary carer responsibilities with the long and unpredictable hours required for deal-focused roles. It also touches on another factor that we, as headhunters, know well: the methodology law firms use to assess a partner’s value, while ostensibly objective, tends to favour men over women. This is because — contrary to what some firms claim — external partner hires are rarely about “filling skill-set gaps” and almost always about “buying books of business.” A partner’s value is therefore largely determined by their personal business case. And the reality is that women, who are often more risk-averse (or less inclined toward hyperbole!), tend to understate the size of their portable practice compared to men. As I mention in the article: “Men tend to be far more optimistic about the size of their client followings — this is both an emollient for the hire itself, and it often results in them achieving higher compensation … as a general rule, we multiply a man’s business case by 0.8 and a woman’s by 1.2.” For the full Financial Times article: “Corporate law firms hire mostly men for highest-paid roles” click here: https://on.ft.com/4mDtiTb #biglaw #womeninlaw #recruitment #lawfirm #partnership #london #lawyers #privateequity #genderpaygap 

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Following my recent post about wanting to recruit lawyers to join me as consultants, I had a surprising number of trainees and NQs message to ask “Can I get into consultancy?” Or similar words. And I get it. No targets. No timesheets. Freedom. Flexibility. Travel 🏖️ It sounds great - and it is great. But the truth is, consultancy isn’t for everyone. And, frankly, it’s probably not for you - yet. Here are some reasons why: 1️⃣ You need actual experience. Consultancy can be a lonely game, especially when there’s no one to turn to for a second opinion. Google and ChatGPT aren’t substitutes for knowing what you’re doing. 2️⃣ It’s best done with a personal brand, or at least some reputation. There are over 250,000 solicitors in the UK. If you haven’t already started building a reputation - online or offline - then why would someone choose you? 3️⃣ You need a network. Consultants rely on referrals, collaborations and having people they can call. If you’ve not yet built your professional network, consultancy can be a very quiet place. 4️⃣ You need commercial awareness. This isn’t just a buzzword for interviews. You need to understand pricing, scope creep, value, profit, and client expectations. Consultancy is as much business as it is law. 5️⃣ You need self-motivation. No partner is checking in. No trainee supervisor. No Christmas party. You’ve got to keep the wheels turning, even when no one’s watching and it’s raining outside. 6️⃣ You need to be okay with admin. You may escape time recording, sure - but say hello to your new friends: file set up, AML, filing, closures, marketing plans, template drafting, IT setups, and accounting software. You’re running a business as a consultant. 7️⃣ You need to generate work. Just being a solicitor isn’t enough. If you’ve never had to win work before, the reality of business development can come as a shock. Clients don’t appear just because you set up a nice website. 8️⃣ You need to manage cashflow. You might make £10k or £20k one month, then 3 h’penny the next. You’ve got to be able to ride the rollercoaster, mentally and financially. 9️⃣ You carry the risk. As a trainee or NQ, there’s usually someone checking your work before it’s sent. As a consultant, you’re the one signing off - and either some firms, the liability to match. 🔟 There’s no natural career progression. No bonuses, no promotions, no praise from above. You have to design your own journey - which can be freeing, or frankly terrifying. So…. Consultancy is brilliant - for the right person, at the right time. But it’s not for everyone. Its not all holidays and free time either! It’s really hard work and can be stressful. So if you’re just starting out, don’t rush. Get loads of experience. Build your network. Learn your job and the person above you’s job. And when you’re ready, for entrepreneurial types, consultancy will be there. And it’ll be all the better for the timing.

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🚨 Simmons & Simmons has launched what it says is the UK’s first dedicated AI law internship. The two-week programme starts in April 2026 and will take eight students into Simmons’ London AI team. Interns will work on "projects shaping the future of AI law and governance, as well as AI enablement and transformation." Top-performing interns could be in line for a future role at Simmons, with the firm keeping opportunities open for "outstanding individuals" on the programme. Global AI lead Minesh Tanna said: "This is the only dedicated AI internship of its kind in the UK - offering young professionals a rare opportunity to work at the heart of a law firm with world-class expertise in both AI law and governance, and legal technology." https://lnkd.in/epJ7QYG6

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There's a huge discrepancy in General Counsel salaries, which often frustrates people. But in reality, there's a reason for this, and I think it's because there are three levels to being a GC. Level one is to provide top quality legal advice. You tell the business what they need to know, providing legal insights. That's good stuff, and necessary for a business, but in reality a significant amount of your time is managing external counsel. Level two adds in strategic input - what's good for the business' goals, offering actionable risk insights, and bridging that gap between legal and the commercial side of the business. But level three is something else entirely, they do two key things: 1) they sense problems early and prevent them from happening. It's not about saying 'we've looked at the facts and here's our solution to this'. It's about saying 'don't worry, we already knew this might happen, we prepared our legal and business tactics to mitigate this 2 years ago, and we've already fixed it'. 2) they're psychologists. They translate complex challenges into clear, manageable information, but the key is that their communication is outstanding. They know how to manage the CEO's ego, how to work with sales to keep their energy high during a collapsing transaction, how to understand the CFO's financial motivations whilst still explaining that something isn't long-term the right move. They guide leadership and colleagues without threatening their autonomy and freedom to make commercial decisions. The CEO still feels in control, the business stays focused on profits, and legal risk is handled long before it becomes a commercial distraction. Want to keep your budgets low? That's ok, you'll get good lawyers and good strategists. But when you pay top-dollar, you get someone who can take bad news and make it a highlight of your day, meaning you continue to be able to focus on the things that matter to you.

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