The Non-Billable Podcast
Episodes
How AI-powered Lawhive plans to build a global consumer law firm
24 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Pierre Proner is the CEO and co-founder of Lawhive. He joins the podcast to explain how his company is combining AI with a regulated law firm model to...
Inside Ropes & Gray's Europe strategy: Private capital, Milan and an all-equity partnership
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ropes & Gray has been quietly rolling out one of the most ambitious European growth strategies among US firms in London. In this episode, London m...
'AI is a top priority': Peter Duffy on the tech bets reshaping Big Law
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Legal tech has gone from “let’s run a few pilots” to “we need to scale this across the whole firm” - and Peter Duffy says that shift is now ...
DWF boss Matt Doughty on life after listing and why most firms aren’t ready for PE
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with DWF CEO Matt Doughty to discuss what comes next for the UK’s biggest private equity-owned law firm.We discuss DWF’...
How law firms win the AI race: Alex Kardos-Nyheim on data, defensibility and staying power
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Kardos-Nyheim is the founder of SafeSign Technologies and now co-lead of AI research at Thomson Reuters. Alex built a legal-specific large langua...
Ex-DLA Piper boss Simon Levine on why Europe is the next big opportunity for UK firms
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we speak with Simon Levine, former global co-CEO of DLA Piper and now an adviser to Shoosmiths, about leadership, strategy and where ...
Do law firm mergers actually work?
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we’re joined by Robert Millard, founder of Cambridge Strategy Group and one of the leading thinkers on law firm strategy and merger...
Inside the battle for the City’s best associate talent
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Ria Karnik, who leads the associate recruitment team in London at Major, Lindsey & Africa, to unpack what’s re...
Why more Big Law partners are choosing to go it alone
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
James Hacking and Mike Estill from Kindleworth join the show to unpack one of the more salient shifts in Big Law right now: senior partners leaving la...
Quinn Emanuel co-founder John Quinn on building a global disputes powerhouse
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
John Quinn is one of the most influential figures in modern Big Law. In this episode, he reflects on how Quinn Emanuel grew from a four-lawyer spin-ou...
The US law firm shaking up London - with partner pay Big Law rivals can't match
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pierson Ferdinand launched in January 2024 in what it says was the largest law firm debut in US history - starting with around 130 partners and growin...
Leaving Big Law to start an AI-enabled boutique
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we speak with Simon Leaf - a former Mishcon de Reya partner who has launched Three Points Law, a tech-enabled boutique focused on tec...
Inside $1.8bn Legora: Alex Fortescue-Webb on the legal AI platform race
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alongside Harvey, Legora has quickly become a frontrunner in the legal AI platform race, offering lawyers a suite of productivity tools for contract r...
How a 245-year-old City firm stays ahead: Wedlake Bell’s Camilla Wallace on external capital, culture and what juniors want today
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Camilla Wallace, senior partner of Wedlake Bell. A private client specialist who has spent 18 years at the firm, Cam...
Why private equity wants a piece of Big Law: Former A&O boss David Morley on what's really happening
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Private equity is closing in on the legal industry, and few people have a better vantage point than David Morley, former managing and senior partner a...
The $20m law firm partner: Headhunter Siobhán Lewington on the battle for Big Law talent
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Siobhán Lewington, partner at leading legal headhunter Macrae, joins us to unpack what’s driving the lateral partner market in Lon...
Harvey: Inside the $5bn legal AI startup taking over Big Law with chief business officer John Haddock
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Harvey has become the poster child of the legal AI boom - used by over half of the top 100 US law firms and backed by more than $700 million in fundin...
Lessons from a Big Law leader: Charlie Geffen on US dominance, the rise of private equity, transatlantic mergers, and why striking deals with Trump made sense for some
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Few people have had a closer view of the modern City law market than Charlie Geffen. As former senior partner at Ashurst, he helped build one of Londo...
Why Hogan Lovells built a 100-person legal tech company: Sebastian Lach on what clients actually want from AI
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hogan Lovells might not be the first name that comes up in conversations about legal AI, but maybe it should. The firm quietly spun up ELTEMATE, a 100...
Inside McDermott's $2.8bn merger: London managing partner Aymen Mahmoud on building a transatlantic private capital powerhouse
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
McDermott has just completed one of the biggest Big Law mergers in recent years, tying up with New York’s Schulte Roth & Zabel to create a $2.8 ...
Why Hill Dickinson sponsored Everton's new stadium: Peter Jackson on bold marketing bets and lessons from 20 years at the top
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hill Dickinson made headlines earlier this year with one of the boldest law firm marketing moves in recent memory: a multi-million pound deal to put i...
'The reality is very different': KPMG legal chief Stuart Bedford on what people get wrong about the Big Four’s legal ambitions
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What role do the Big Four really play in the legal market, and how different are they from traditional firms? In this episode, we sit down with Stuart...
'Some firms won't survive': Simmons senior partner Julian Taylor on the legal AI reckoning, NQ pay wars and the US firm challenge
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Julian Taylor is senior partner at Simmons & Simmons and one of the City’s most highly regarded employment lawyers. He’s spent over 25 years a...
Why investors are eyeing law firms: Burford Capital’s Travis Lenkner on how external capital is changing the market and why Burford prefers minority stakes
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Private equity and other forms of external capital are moving into the legal sector - a shift that is very likely to reshape law firm strategy. In thi...
The $100m legal AI startup transforming in-house teams: Wordsmith CEO Ross McNairn on turning legal into a revenue driver
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ross McNairn is the founder and CEO of Wordsmith, one of the fastest-growing legal AI startups in Europe. In this episode, Ross shares how Wordsmith i...
Private equity is circling the legal industry: Rosenblatt rescue dealmaker Adil Taha on law firm deals, PE strategy and the exit problem
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we’re joined by Adil Taha, a former investment banker, private equity executive and one of the most experienced PE figures operatin...
How top firms compete for talent: City headhunter Ed Parker on the high-stakes game of elite lateral partner hiring
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we’re joined by Ed Parker, managing director at Fides Search and one of the most trusted headhunters in the City legal market. With...
The boutique that beat the Magic Circle: How Quinn Emanuel built the most successful litigation practice in London
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Richard East, the founding partner of Quinn Emanuel’s London office - the litigation powerhouse that has gone from...
Running legal at a hypergrowth tech company: Figma's international legal head Jonathan Keen on AI, expansion and EU red tape
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we speak with Jonathan Keen, head of international legal at Figma - one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies in the world. Jonny lea...
How ex-Freshfields lawyer Richard Mabey built Juro into one of Europe’s top legal tech startups: unlearning lawyering, agentic AI in legal and the future of junior lawyers
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Richard Mabey, the co-founder and CEO of Juro. A former Freshfields lawyer, Richard left private practice in 2013 to...
Inside Perkins Coie’s London play: City veteran Ian Bagshaw on launching a US firm in a crowded market, attracting the best talent, and the rise of private capital
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Bagshaw is a City law private equity partner now heading up the London office of US law firm Perkins Coie which he launched in 2024. A highly expe...
How A&O Shearman's legal tech incubator helps keep it ahead in the innovation game - with Shruti Ajitsaria, head of Fuse
27 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Shruti Ajitsaria is a partner at A&O Shearman and the head of Fuse, the firm’s legal tech incubator. Since launching Fuse in 2017, Shruti has he...
The City lawyer behind Garfield AI: the UK’s first AI law firm
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we speak with Philip Young - a former City litigation partner, founder of boutique firm Cooke, Young & Keidan, and now co-founder...
Inside Addleshaw Goddard’s legal tech strategy: innovation head Kerry Westland on managing a 70-person team, the explosive rise of AG’s internal AI tool, and what the future of law looks like
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kerry Westland leads one of the most ambitious innovation functions of any major law firm - a 70-person team at Addleshaw Goddard dedicated to transfo...
General counsel at a Premier League football club: Fulham FC’s Peter Limbert on multimillion-pound transfers, sell-ons and staying calm in football’s chaos
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Peter Limbert, general counsel at Fulham Football Club, to explore what it really means to be the top lawyer at a Pr...
The lawyer behind the biggest class action in British legal history: Tom Goodhead on building Pogust Goodhead and its $550m bet to take on the global litigation elite
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, we speak with Tom Goodhead, managing partner of Pogust Goodhead, one of the UK's fastest-growing litigation firms.Tom shares the...
How I built Definely: ex-Freshfields lawyer Nnamdi Emelifeonwu on building one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we speak with Nnamdi Emelifeonwu, a former Freshfields associate and now co-founder of Definely - one of the UK’s most exciting leg...
How to win the commercial law game: ex-RPC boss Jonathan Watmough on leadership, strategy and why most lawyers miss the point
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a conversation with Jonathan Watmough. Jonathan became managing partner of City firm RPC at just 38. Over the next decade, he repositioned it ...
What lawyers really want from AI: ex-Freshfields lawyer turned legal tech leader on what we’re getting wrong
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we speak with Jack Shepherd. Jack started out as a restructuring lawyer at Freshfields before moving into legal tech via the firm’s in-house ...
The City law partner who hit breaking point and is now leading the fight against burnout in the legal industry
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is our conversation with Richard Martin, a former partner at law firms including Jones Day and Speechly Bircham, who, after experiencing severe b...
How AI is reshaping Big Law - and why firms can’t afford to wait, with ex-Ashurst digital chief
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk with Tara Waters. Tara is a leading voice in legal tech and a lawyer with more than 15 years’ experience at City firms incl...
'$20 million is the new benchmark in London’: the City’s top headhunter on the law firm partner hiring frenzy, why firms are paying millions and how the rules of partnership are changing
04 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we sit down with Scott Gibson, one of the City’s top headhunters and co-founder of elite partner-level recruitment firm Edward...
The A&O trainee who built (and sold) a legal tech startup as a side project during his training contract
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Alexander Kardos-Nyheim, a lawyer who remarkably built a legal AI company as a side project during his training cont...