We are careful about the clients and work we take on. All need to be aligned to our strategy and should not have the potential to put us in a legal or commercial conflict or compromise our integrity or reputation.
When deciding whether to take on a client or new work, we consider each case individually, mindful of our responsibilities to our clients, our people, the wider marketplace and the communities and environments in which the firm and our clients do business.
It is essential to the building of long-term relationships that our clients are able to review their legal needs with us in confidence and that we are open as to whether we are the right firm to provide the services they need.
In practice
Finding the line -
The Linklaters Seven Questions
In 2007/8, we spent six months speaking to more than 100 partners across the firm about their views on what we should consider when taking on new work. We distilled their answers down into key themes. The result was the Linklaters Seven Questions, a practical guide that identifies the key considerations to bear in mind before accepting work, including dealing with ethical and reputational issues.
Our partners and others involved in deciding what work we should take on use the guide to inform the judgements they have to make. Tough decisions are escalated through our practice and sector leaders to our senior partner.
Our risk team
We have 20 dedicated risk lawyers working in-house to help us avoid conflicts of interest, reputational issues or regulatory problems that might arise when taking on new work.
An experienced risk management team also runs risk reviews and processes to help manage compliance, legal and regulatory issues in the conduct of our business. The team is run by former practising lawyers, who are now independent from the practices.