header-logo header-logo

Niche disruptors in the Big Law market

09 May 2025 / Maurice Allen
Issue: 8115 / Categories: Features , International , Legal services
printer mail-detail
217827
Maurice Allen reflects on the enduring (& increasing) popularity of boutique firms

Is the traditional law firm model on the wane? Is the market ripe for disruption? More particularly, are we about to see the emergence of more ‘boutique’ law firms outside the dispute resolution space?

US boutique success

In the past 20 years we have seen the rise of the US law firm in London. It has reached the point where very few areas of law truly remain the sole preserve of UK firms. Magic Circle firms, once so dominant, are scrambling to counteract the threat the US firms pose.

In a sense, the US firms in London were, and many still are, boutiques. In the noughties the Magic Circle model remained supreme and ‘full-service’ and ‘global’ was what the clients, and the banks in particular, demanded. The Silver Circle emulated the Magic Circle model, and it was felt that for the US firms to play catch-up was an overwhelming challenge. Building scale and having multiple overseas

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll