Hot topics at Ambition’s Senior Finance Networking Lunch

This week Ambition hosted a Senior Finance Networking Lunch with an exclusive group of senior finance professionals from the legal sector.

The event provided an open forum in which to discuss hot topics relating to the London market and international markets in the world of legal finance.

Among the subjects raised was the increase in the mergers happening within legal. It was noted that law firms want to grow their businesses but that many are finding this challenging to achieve without merging. Firms want to offer their clients a full service but are often unable to offer this service without partnering up with another law firm that specialises in an area outside their current remit.

It was also noted that firms are becoming increasingly commercial and this has led to some legal firms bringing in Pricing/Commercial teams.  Revenue Controllers are increasingly making a move into this area.  In some firms, Legal Project Managers have been brought in to look at everything from margins to budgets to ensure that the whole matter process runs smoothly from start to finish.

The discussion later moved on to the advantages and disadvantages of regional business services.  It was noted that relocating teams to regional offices offers financial gain due to the lower cost of labour and floor space but prevents finance teams from having regular interaction with the partners and fee earners which remains important.

Technology was another topic that generated a great deal of discussion, including e-billing.  As finance becomes increasingly automated, where will the future CFO’s come from? Could we see a rise in the COO/CFO role merging?

We were delighted to bring together such a fantastic group of senior finance professionals who generated a lively discussion resulting in plenty of key insights.  We look forward to continuing the discussion at our next event!

If you are a senior level finance professional working in the legal sector and would like to attend one of our future networking lunches, please get in touch.