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A&O Shearman (formerly Allen & Overy) is one of the UK’s leading firms and a member of the Magic Circle, the group of the five most prestigious law firms in the UK. The firm is frequently ranked among the top law firms globally.
Founded in 1930 by George Allen and Thomas Overy, the firm quickly distinguished itself in London and has since expanded to become a global powerhouse.
In May 2024, Allen & Overy merged with New York firm Shearman & Sterling in one of the most significant law firm combinations in decades. The newly merged firm created a global law firm with revenues of around $3.5bn and significantly boosted A&O’s capability in the US, which is the world's biggest market for legal services.
A&O Shearman operates 48 offices in 29 countries globally, employing over 4,000 lawyers, including more than 700 partners.
The firm is strong in a variety of practice areas but is best known for its work in banking, finance (especially capital markets), and big-ticket corporate/M&A. It is known for its prowess in handling large, cross-border transactions thanks to its extensive global footprint. A&O Shearman has offices in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East.
Recently, A&O Shearman has also become a leader in legal technology and innovation. The firm has been at the forefront of the legal AI revolution, launching notable partnerships with generative AI solutions like Harvey. The firm also has its own AI contract drafting and negotiation tool known as ‘ContractMatrix’.
A&O Shearman makes our ranking of the UK's most prestigious law firms.
Blog-Rich-text-CMS
A&O Shearman (formerly Allen & Overy) is one of the UK’s leading firms and a member of the Magic Circle, the group of the five most prestigious law firms in the UK. The firm is frequently ranked among the top law firms globally.
Founded in 1930 by George Allen and Thomas Overy, the firm quickly distinguished itself in London and has since expanded to become a global powerhouse.
The firm is strong in a variety of practice areas but is best known for its work in banking, finance (especially capital markets), and big-ticket corporate/M&A. It is known for its prowess in handling large, cross-border transactions thanks to its extensive global footprint. A&O Shearman has offices in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East.
- Start with the answer: Begin your communication with the key answer or recommendation you are giving. This captures your audience’s attention right from the start and sets the context for everything that follows.
- Support the answer with a handful of supporting arguments: Organise the main arguments from your analysis that support your answer or recommendation.
- Back up your supporting arguments with evidence and data: Substantiate each of your supporting arguments with relevant data.
Recently, A&O Shearman has also become a leader in legal technology and innovation. The firm has been at the forefront of the legal AI revolution, launching notable partnerships with generative AI solutions like Harvey. The firm also has its own AI contract drafting and negotiation tool known as ‘ContractMatrix’.
A&O Shearman makes our ranking of the UK's most prestigious law firms.
Modern legal professionals do not use fancy words, long sentences and archaic language and neither should you. We can’t stress this enough.
“rEaD ThE FiNanCiaL TiMeS!”
Yeah, there’s a little more to it than that. But it’s not rocket science. Here’s what you should do:
1. Stay informed about legal and business news
Regularly read the business section of newspapers, financial newspapers, and legal publications.
Make this a habit, a part of your day. It only needs to take you 15 minutes.
The aim of the game here is to get a feel for the top stories and to try and spot trends.
For example, the big business trends of 2024 in the UK were:
- Inflation
- Interest rates
- London stock market troubles
Keep your finger on the pulse of the big trends.
In our example, you should know what the latest inflation rate (CPI) figures are, what the Bank of England’s base rate currently is, and you should be able to name a couple of the big companies delisting from the London Stock Exchange.
Here’s a list of the publications we would recommend you look at regularly:
Business news
Legal news
- The Lawyer
- Law.com
- Law Society Gazette
- Global Legal Post
- Legaltech News (for technology news)
Podcasts
- FT News Briefing
- Unhedged by the FT
- In the City by Bloomberg
Newsletters
Subscribing to a newsletter which summarises all the top stories for you is a great way of keeping on top of things.
Non-Billable does this for lawyers, summarising the top legal and business stories you should know about.
Here are some others that are business and finance focused:
So live by George Orwell’s rules for writing:
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
If you take one thing away from this guide, let it be that simpler communication isn't just a style preference - it's a strategic advantage.
Clients and colleagues will respect and respond to clarity.
Simplicity isn't for ease - it's for impact.
- Start with the answer: Begin your communication with the key answer or recommendation you are giving. This captures your audience’s attention right from the start and sets the context for everything that follows.
- Support the answer with a handful of supporting arguments: Organise the main arguments from your analysis that support your answer or recommendation.
- Back up your supporting arguments with evidence and data: Substantiate each of your supporting arguments with relevant data.
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A&O Shearman (formerly Allen & Overy) is one of the UK’s leading firms and a member of the Magic Circle, the group of the five most prestigious law firms in the UK. The firm is frequently ranked among the top law firms globally.
Founded in 1930 by George Allen and Thomas Overy, the firm quickly distinguished itself in London and has since expanded to become a global powerhouse.
In May 2024, Allen & Overy merged with New York firm Shearman & Sterling in one of the most significant law firm combinations in decades. The newly merged firm created a global law firm with revenues of around $3.5bn and significantly boosted A&O’s capability in the US, which is the world's biggest market for legal services.
A&O Shearman operates 48 offices in 29 countries globally, employing over 4,000 lawyers, including more than 700 partners.
The firm is strong in a variety of practice areas but is best known for its work in banking, finance (especially capital markets), and big-ticket corporate/M&A. It is known for its prowess in handling large, cross-border transactions thanks to its extensive global footprint. A&O Shearman has offices in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East.
Recently, A&O Shearman has also become a leader in legal technology and innovation. The firm has been at the forefront of the legal AI revolution, launching notable partnerships with generative AI solutions like Harvey. The firm also has its own AI contract drafting and negotiation tool known as ‘ContractMatrix’.
A&O Shearman makes our ranking of the UK's most prestigious law firms.
podcast-rich-text
A&O Shearman (formerly Allen & Overy) is one of the UK’s leading firms and a member of the Magic Circle, the group of the five most prestigious law firms in the UK. The firm is frequently ranked among the top law firms globally.
the reader will engage with it.
- Start with the answer: Begin your communication with the key answer or recommendation you are giving. This captures your audience’s attention right from the start and sets the context for everything that follows.
- Support the answer with a handful of supporting arguments: Organise the main arguments from your analysis that support your answer or recommendation.
- Back up your supporting arguments with evidence and data: Substantiate each of your supporting arguments with relevant data.
Simply put, it requires less energy from the reader to consume it and no one in the history of the world has ever said they wished something was harder to read.
Recently, A&O Shearman has also become a leader in legal technology and innovation. The firm has been at the forefront of the legal AI revolution, launching notable partnerships with generative AI solutions like Harvey. The firm also has its own AI contract drafting and negotiation tool known as ‘ContractMatrix’.
A&O Shearman makes our ranking of the UK's most prestigious law firms.
So live by George Orwell’s rules for writing:
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
If you take one thing away from this guide, let it be that simpler communication isn't just a style preference - it's a strategic advantage.
Clients and colleagues will respect and respond to clarity.
Simplicity isn't for ease - it's for impact.
job-category-rich-text
A&O Shearman (formerly Allen & Overy) is one of the UK’s leading firms and a member of the Magic Circle, the group of the five most prestigious law firms in the UK. The firm is frequently ranked among the top law firms globally.
the reader will engage with it.
- Start with the answer: Begin your communication with the key answer or recommendation you are giving. This captures your audience’s attention right from the start and sets the context for everything that follows.
- Support the answer with a handful of supporting arguments: Organise the main arguments from your analysis that support your answer or recommendation.
- Back up your supporting arguments with evidence and data: Substantiate each of your supporting arguments with relevant data.
Simply put, it requires less energy from the reader to consume it and no one in the history of the world has ever said they wished something was harder to read.
Recently, A&O Shearman has also become a leader in legal technology and innovation. The firm has been at the forefront of the legal AI revolution, launching notable partnerships with generative AI solutions like Harvey. The firm also has its own AI contract drafting and negotiation tool known as ‘ContractMatrix’.
A&O Shearman makes our ranking of the UK's most prestigious law firms.
So live by George Orwell’s rules for writing:
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
If you take one thing away from this guide, let it be that simpler communication isn't just a style preference - it's a strategic advantage.
Clients and colleagues will respect and respond to clarity.
Simplicity isn't for ease - it's for impact.
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A career at the intersection of law and technology
Waters' career path is a little unconventional.
Before entering the legal world, she was a web developer during the dot-com boom in New York. It was then that she first saw technology racing ahead of the law, from the rise of Napster to the emergence of peer-to-peer file sharing.
That curiosity led her to law school in the US, followed by a move to London, where she joined A&O’s capital markets team before moving to Simmons and then eventually Ashurst where she would become a partner.
Her combined experience in law and technology made her a natural fit for Ashurst’s innovation and digital transformation strategy, where she spearheaded projects such as the firm-wide rollout of AI tool Harvey.
The end of legal tech’s 'back office' phase
For years, legal technology was largely focused on operational efficiency - streamlining processes, automating document review and improving back-office functions. While these innovations improved workflows, they didn’t fundamentally change how law firms delivered services to clients.
That changed with the rise of generative AI, particularly after the public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022.
Fee-earners were hooked, Waters explains: "Basically every single lawyer saw that and suddenly was like, that looks easy to use. I bet I could use it to do X or Y or Z.”
“I had very senior partners telling me they are already paying for the premium account because they wanted to make sure they could access it because they were on the free account. Sometimes you’d tell them to wait for half an hour, and then you'll be able to access it again.”
The tool was a game-changer - and put pressure on Waters to start getting the technology in the hands of lawyers.
“Suddenly you had this whole rush of we have to be using this new generative AI technology. How do we use it? I'm being pulled in the direction of the lawyers.”
“We finally had the mindset shift that we've all been trying to make happen within the legal community finally happen - where the lawyers are saying, we want to work differently. If you give us the right tools, we will work differently and we will adopt this.”
We finally had the mindset shift that we've all been trying to make happen - lawyers are saying, we want to work differently.
“We ran those trials in such a structured way that our team was able to take all of that quantitative and qualitative data and it was very clear that the people that were involved in the Harvey trial were almost universally saying it was fantastic.”
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uui-text-rich-text 3 (now not used just for reference)
A&O Shearman (formerly Allen & Overy) is one of the UK’s leading firms and a member of the Magic Circle, the group of the five most prestigious law firms in the UK. The firm is frequently ranked among the top law firms globally.
the reader will engage with it.
- Start with the answer: Begin your communication with the key answer or recommendation you are giving. This captures your audience’s attention right from the start and sets the context for everything that follows.
- Support the answer with a handful of supporting arguments: Organise the main arguments from your analysis that support your answer or recommendation.
- Back up your supporting arguments with evidence and data: Substantiate each of your supporting arguments with relevant data.
Simply put, it requires less energy from the reader to consume it and no one in the history of the world has ever said they wished something was harder to read.
So live by George Orwell’s rules for writing:
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
If you take one thing away from this guide, let it be that simpler communication isn't just a style preference - it's a strategic advantage.
Clients and colleagues will respect and respond to clarity.
Simplicity isn't for ease - it's for impact.
