The 2023 “Globes”-Statista survey of the 100 finest legislation corporations in Israel finds the merger pattern persevering with, however the leak of expertise to high-tech has halted.

Within the “Globes”-Statista survey carried out amongst greater than 2,300 attorneys and purchasers, the respondents had been requested whether or not they most popular a boutique agency or a big, worldwide agency. Solely 21% replied that they would like a big agency, whereas 36% mentioned they would like a boutique agency. A lot of the respondents, 41%, hooked up no significance in any respect to the scale of the agency.

Nonetheless, a look on the rating itself exhibits that there’s a bonus to dimension. The large corporations stood out for suggestions by their colleagues and by purchasers over a broad vary of areas. Final yr, we interviewed Adv. Gil White, managing companion at Herzog Fox & Neeman. He was truly unimpressed by the concept of the benefit of dimension. “Dimension as such just isn’t a worth. There are small corporations which might be of upper high quality and extra worthwhile than a big agency. Dimension in itself means nothing. Whenever you develop organically, the expansion is extra solidly based mostly. It additionally prevents friction, disputes, and finally splits as nicely,” White mentioned.

Adv. Barak Tal, managing companion and head of litigation at Yigal Arnon, thinks in another way. In an interview with “Globes” earlier this yr, he mentioned, “We understood that there can be no place for mid-size corporations out there. We understood that there can be large corporations and boutique corporations, and that you must select. The merger is a transfer in a aggressive market. My strategic pondering for a merger has three heads: purchasers, staff, and innovation. The will to be enticing to staff is without doubt one of the issues.”

Adv. Amir Chen, managing companion at Fischer (FBC & Co.) instructed “Globes” final yr: “The authorized providers sector is turning into polarized. On the one hand, we’re seeing big corporations which might be rising, and alternatively, boutique corporations that concentrate on one specialty. The center layer of corporations is steadily shrinking, and I see the polarization pattern turning into stronger.”

Generational change: Younger attorneys turning into managing companions

Lately we have now witnessed a generational transition within the authorized providers market. In 2021, at age 47, Adv. Gil White was appointed managing companion at Herzog Fox & Neeman instead of Adv. Meir Linzen, who grew to become chairperson of the agency. In that yr, two senior companions on the agency, Advert. Ehud (Udi) Sol and Adv. Ilanit Landesman Yogev, who ran the Company and Securities Division, left to arrange a enterprise offering disaster administration providers and administration consultancy, and to advise on offers and funding banking.

This yr, veteran agency S. Horowitz & Co. determined to nominate three new managing companions, Adv. Benjamin (Benny) Sheffer, Adv. Amit Steinman, and Adv. Eran Bezalel. After twenty years wherein the agency was run by the three dominant companions, Adv. Yehoshua (Shuki) Horesh, Adv. Alex Hertman, and Adv. Tal Band – the final serving as managing companion for over a decade – the reins had been handed over to the following technology, three companions who began out as interns on the agency within the Nineteen Nineties.

At Agmon & Co. Rosenberg Hachohen & Co., headed by founder Zvi Agmon, a brand new technology of managing companions has been appointed throughout the previous few years: Adv. Moran Aumann and Adv. Avi Porten, who heads the true property apply.

Situations: Salaries soar, then halt

The attorneys had been requested, “Would you advocate your son or daughter to comply with in your footsteps and turn into a lawyer?” Most, 53%, answered within the unfavourable. 47% answered positively.

The respondents had been additionally requested to amplify their solutions. Most of those that gave unfavourable responses talked about how the market was flooded, and particularly in regards to the compensation and the lengthy working hours. In January 2022, attorneys salaries rose considerably and their employment situations and work atmosphere improved, as a lot of them switched to technological professions, and demand for attorneys peaked. However then got here the second half of 2022.

Winds of recession began to blow within the international economic system, inflation charges shot up, and central financial institution rates of interest rose accordingly. The macro-economic adjustments hit the native and international expertise sectors nearly instantly. Fund elevating rounds dried up, flotations had been postponed, and layoffs weren’t gradual in coming. The uncertainty halted the pattern of attorneys leaving the legislation for high-tech, which offset the demand. The across-the-board wage rises that characterised the early months of 2022 nearly utterly stopped. In January 2023, the big, prestigious corporations raised salaries by about 7% on common. Interns’ salaries had been unchanged, at about NIS 11,500 gross month-to-month. On the mid-size and small corporations there have been no wage rises in any respect. Even a number of the large corporations didn’t replace their wage scales. Goldfarb-Seligman, which in 2022 raised salaries twice, left them unchanged this yr for junior attorneys.

Nonetheless, regardless of the sense that the market is flooded, when respondents had been requested to call the developments that might have an effect on their corporations within the coming years, a big majority, 62%, replied that “a scarcity of recent expert staff” can be the decisive growth. 23% named coaching of present staff, an extra 23% (respondents might select multiple response) talked about altering laws and regulation, and 35% topped digitization as the event that might have essentially the most influence on their corporations within the close to future.

Methodology

Survey and pattern

The checklist of “Israel’s Finest Regulation Corporations 2023” relies on suggestions made by attorneys working in legislation corporations (peer-to-peer survey) and purchasers (particularly in-house attorneys in company authorized departments) in 29 completely different fields of legislation.

Greater than 9,000 attorneys and purchasers working in Israel had been invited to participate within the survey. The pattern was collected through analysis carried out by Statista utilizing web sites and publicly out there sources. Invites had been despatched by e-mail with a personalised hyperlink that would solely be used as soon as.

As well as, authorized specialists might take part within the survey by registering on-line. These contributors needed to validate themselves by offering a private firm e-mail deal with earlier than their solutions had been included within the analysis. The hyperlink to the self-registration website was made out there on-line on the Globes web site.

The survey was carried out on-line between July 19 and September 30, 2022. A complete of two,317 contributors took half. Self-recommendations (advice of 1’s personal legislation agency) had been prohibited and never included within the analysis.

The contributors had been additionally requested to reply some optionally available editorial questions. There was additionally a possibility to reply questions on developments within the authorized career in Israel.

Finest legislation corporations itemizing

The highest 100 legislation corporations in Israel had been recognized on the premise of the variety of suggestions every acquired. They’re sorted in alphabetical order. Every of the ranked legislation corporations acquired an above-average variety of suggestions. The checklist additionally exhibits whether or not corporations had been particularly really helpful inside a selected discipline of legislation. As well as, the highest ten corporations and the highest 5 in every discipline of legislation are indicated. The web sites of those legislation corporations and their workplaces in Israel had been researched and recorded.

The “Israel’s Finest Regulation Corporations 2023” checklist was compiled by means of an elaborate course of, however this doesn’t indicate an goal and full evaluation of high quality.

About Statista

Statista publishes worldwide rankings and firm listings with excessive profile media companions. This analysis and evaluation service relies on the success of statista.com, a number one knowledge and enterprise intelligence portal that gives statistics, enterprise related knowledge, and varied market and shopper research/surveys.

Printed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on February 23, 2023.

© Copyright of Globes Writer Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.