Send us Fan Mail

Freshfields created a storm last week when leaked emails revealed it was considering spinning off its AI program potentially “worth billions”.

According to the Financial Times, managing partner Alan Mason thinks that Freshfields Lab could get external investment, or even IPO.

So on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast, the team ask how such plans might work, what’s behind them, and why – as this year’s The Lawyer UK200 reports – they are part of a wider trend of law firms siphoning off non-law businesses.

Send us Fan Mail

The Manchester City judgment is an enormous moment for both law and football.

114/115 charges were proven against the club in a judgment with ramifications far beyond sport. City continue to reject the allegations and are appealing the decision.

On the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast, we discuss the parts of the judgment that may be of interest to lawyers, and its consequences, which might keep lawyers busy for years to come.

We are also joined by special guest Amar Mehta, a former litigation reporter at The Lawyer and now a news editor at Sky Sports News, as he tells us what it’s been like at the heart of the action, and how a mainstream broadcaster reacts to a legal story like this.

Send us Fan Mail

Losing big teams of senior lawyers has been something of a trend in 2026.

New York firm Weil Gotshal & Manges is the latest to suffer a series of top tier exits.

Mike Aiello, a member of the firm’s management committee and chair of its corporate group, is leaving with a team of partners for Cravath Swaine & Moore in New York.

A few days later, in London, Weil’s City co-head David Avery-Gee and fellow corporate partner Sarah Flaherty were confirmed to be joining Sullivan & Cromwell.

So on the new episode of The Lawyer Podcast, the teams asks: as Weil wobbles, will this be the end of the exits, or do the problems run deeper?