Page 28 - 2019 - Leaders in Legal Business (q)
P. 28
Legal Business News Publications
John Malpas1
Publishing Director,
Legal Week
The birth of modern legal business news probably dates back to 1978, when Steve Brill
founded The American Lawyer magazine. Brill struck upon the idea of writing about the business
of law while studying law at Yale Law School when he saw a noticeboard on which law firms
were advertising for recruits. “I was writing magazine articles at the time,” he told David Lat,
founder of the online news site Above the Law, in a video interview, “and I remember thinking to
myself they [law firms] all can’t be the same — they have different people, some of them have to
be more energetic than others, more successful than others, some of them probably offer more
opportunities to non-whites than others… and I just kept thinking I’d like to write about a law firm
or two as an institution.”
The American Lawyer remains one of the world’s leading legal business titles, but it has
become a crowded marketplace. There
are several major magazines and
websites that specialize in business law
news and analysis, and these are not
confined to the world’s two leading legal
centers of New York and London. In
Germany, for example, there is JUVE,
while Italian lawyers seeking the latest
news about the local legal market can
turn to TopLegal.
The rise of the legal business
press has mirrored the transformation of
the legal profession into a multibillion-
dollar global business. When Brill
conceived the idea of writing about the business of law firms, they were relatively small, privately-
run institutions unused to public scrutiny. Brill recalled the resistance he received when setting out
to report on the inner workings of law firms, even when it came to such straightforward issues as
what deals they were acting on. Despite a move to public ownership in some jurisdictions, the vast
majority of law firms continue to be privately run. The world’s leading commercial firms have
grown exponentially since the 1980s on the coattails of globalization. At the same time, in most
1 John Malpas is the publishing director of Legal Week, which is one of ALM Media’s flagship titles. He was previously editor and editor-in-chief
of Legal Week and was a senior member of the team that launched the magazine in 1999. Since its launch, Legal Week has established itself as one
of the world's leading media brands catering for the international business law community. This article is being republished with the permission of
ALM Media.
13
John Malpas1
Publishing Director,
Legal Week
The birth of modern legal business news probably dates back to 1978, when Steve Brill
founded The American Lawyer magazine. Brill struck upon the idea of writing about the business
of law while studying law at Yale Law School when he saw a noticeboard on which law firms
were advertising for recruits. “I was writing magazine articles at the time,” he told David Lat,
founder of the online news site Above the Law, in a video interview, “and I remember thinking to
myself they [law firms] all can’t be the same — they have different people, some of them have to
be more energetic than others, more successful than others, some of them probably offer more
opportunities to non-whites than others… and I just kept thinking I’d like to write about a law firm
or two as an institution.”
The American Lawyer remains one of the world’s leading legal business titles, but it has
become a crowded marketplace. There
are several major magazines and
websites that specialize in business law
news and analysis, and these are not
confined to the world’s two leading legal
centers of New York and London. In
Germany, for example, there is JUVE,
while Italian lawyers seeking the latest
news about the local legal market can
turn to TopLegal.
The rise of the legal business
press has mirrored the transformation of
the legal profession into a multibillion-
dollar global business. When Brill
conceived the idea of writing about the business of law firms, they were relatively small, privately-
run institutions unused to public scrutiny. Brill recalled the resistance he received when setting out
to report on the inner workings of law firms, even when it came to such straightforward issues as
what deals they were acting on. Despite a move to public ownership in some jurisdictions, the vast
majority of law firms continue to be privately run. The world’s leading commercial firms have
grown exponentially since the 1980s on the coattails of globalization. At the same time, in most
1 John Malpas is the publishing director of Legal Week, which is one of ALM Media’s flagship titles. He was previously editor and editor-in-chief
of Legal Week and was a senior member of the team that launched the magazine in 1999. Since its launch, Legal Week has established itself as one
of the world's leading media brands catering for the international business law community. This article is being republished with the permission of
ALM Media.
13
