Is the rise of the boutique firm—and indeed other ‘alternative’ models like the platform firm—simply about addressing the desire to return to a time in the profession when people, legal excellence and client service mattered more than the bottom line?
Working to live
The assumption is that lawyers will follow the money and that this is the main criterion behind career decisions and the battle for talent, but it was not always thus. In fact, when US firms first came to London, lawyers and market commentators were quick to draw a contrast with the UK partnership model, delineating that the UK model was more about working to live rather than living to work.
However, the big UK firms were not immune from market criticism. When the Magic Circle and Silver Circle firms began their ascendancy, there were accusations from others that the riches they promised and provided were at a human
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