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03 January 2008 / Guy Clapperton
Issue: 7302 / Categories: Features , Training & education , Profession
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Perks of the job

How do law firms attract and retain talent? Guy Clapperton explains

What do the following items have in common? Four-day weeks, alternatives to partnership, talks from Lynne Truss, on-site student groups, relocation, kayaking, a private cinema, cycle loans and community work. The answer is that they are means used by law firms to attract the best employees to their organisations.

These are approaches that contrast dramatically with much of the public perception about what law firms are and what they do. The classic picture of the overworked lawyer struggling to reach partnership, after which the strain really starts to tell; the client who thinks he more or less owns the individual lawyer assigned to his case; the long hours culture; and the clichéd mighty dollar might not be things of the past just yet, but they are starting to recede into the background.

UNDERLYING TREND

It’s instructive to look at the underlying trend that’s causing this step change as it has a marked bearing on the methods used to recruit staff

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

Daniel Burbeary, office managing partner of Michelman Robinson, discusses launching in London, the power of the law, and what the kitchen can teach us about litigating

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Firm welcomes partner with specialist expertise in family and art law

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Dual-qualified partner joins international private client team

NEWS
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
In a striking financial remedies ruling, the High Court cut a wife’s award by 40% for coercive and controlling behaviour. Writing in NLJ this week, Chris Bryden and Nicole Wallace of 4 King’s Bench Walk analyse LP v MP [2025] EWFC 473
A €60.9m award to Kylian Mbappé has refocused attention on football’s controversial ‘ethics bonus’ clauses. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Estelle Ivanova of Valloni Attorneys at Law examines how such provisions sit within French labour law

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

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