Okay, so, they’re not *actually* secret (spoiler alert!)… BUT these resources for your research are little known, or underused, in my opinion! When you’re thinking about how to research a law firm, having a range of sources is always a good idea. Scroll for more!
Lexology
This is my number one biggest tip for junior lawyers carrying out legal research, and aspiring lawyers looking at how to research a law firms and the industry in general. CREATE A LEXOLOGY ACCOUNT! It’s completely free and it’s bloody brilliant.
Lexology is a really practical know-how resource, where all of the commentary is written by people at law firms (think Practical Law, but much less tech-y). You pick your jurisdiction and topics of interest and you’ll receive daily alerts with relevant articles.
When I was on the LPC, I found this a fantastic resource for scouting out a dissertation topic. But it’s also great for keeping on top of your industry know-how and technical developments.
The best bit is, unlike that expensive FT subscription, your peers ACTUALLY read it! My team reads and uses it all the time. We’ve even got quite a few articles published on there.
Podcasts
When I was in the thick of applications (what I like to fondly refer to as the “wilderness years”), during the morning and evening commute my ears were literally glued to podcasts. It’s application and interview prep without actually having to *do* anything except sit there and listen!
Podcasts are also a great way of accessing great quality journalism which would otherwise be behind a paywall – e.g. the FT, the Economist, the Times.
My personal favourites from the archives are:
- “Behind the Money” by the FT
- The “In our Time” series by BBC4, for podcasts on artificial intelligence
- “Law in Action” by BBC4
- “Legal Current” by Reuters
My top tip would be to find a relevant outlet, and browse the episodes for your fave episodes.
News summaries
When you’re trying to study or work alongside your applications, you literally don’t have time to keep fully abreast of all the news.
When you get to interview, anyway, your interviewers won’t be looking for a suuuuper deep dive into a specific matter; far better to be kept generally up to date on macro matters and topics of the moment (I’m looking at you, Br***t and C***d-**…) so that you’re well prepared to speak to multiple issues, I say.
Enter stage left: Free news summaries. I receive the “The Daily News in Brief” newsletter by SheerLuxe for a high-level summary of key global events, and there are plenty of others similar.
Daily podcast briefings are also a bloody lifesaver! Try:
- The 3 minute “Times news briefing”
- The 10 minute “FT News Briefing”
- The “BBC Minute”
- “The Two-Minute Briefing” by the Guardian.
Mergermarket
Mergermarket is known for its ‘league tables’ ranking law firms by deal size and volume, and daily alerts summarising M&A and equities activity.
If you’re interested in Corporate Finance/M&A/Private Equity, in particular, this is a brilliant resource. But it’s also really useful for other transactional settings, e.g. I’m in restructuring; from the alerts, I can see when various companies have been acquired from administrators via pre-pack sales.
This is a paid resource, sadly! However, Mergermarket produce half yearly reports which are free to download. And if you’re already working within a law firm e.g. as a paralegal, chances are your firm already has a subscription and you can sign up for the daily alerts.
–
I hope this post is useful and you found a resource you didn’t previously know about!