Former City law boss launches legal strategy firm

The former boss of legacy City firm Berwin Leighton Paisner has launched a consultancy to advise law firms and investors on strategy and private capital investment.

Neville Eisenberg was part of the firm’s leadership for 18 years, and is now moving into the consultancy space in what his new venture ClarityX Advisory describes as one of the “most disruptive” periods the market has ever faced.

“Law firm leaders are operating in a far more complex ecosystem than previously,” said Eisenberg.

“Technology, capital, client behaviour, talent, and competition are all moving rapidly and reshaping the market for legal services, while decision-making processes struggle to keep up.”

The London-based consultancy is aiming to help partners as they make business-critical decisions in particularly salient areas such as AI, mergers and demergers, external investment, consolidation and governance reform. 

ClarityX’s founding team includes lawyers and other business services professionals from across law and the City more widely - including Emma Kaye, who spent 13 years at Clifford Chance where she became global director of strategy implementation. 

Importantly, Eisenberg says, ClarityX’s team consists of people with extensive lived experience in the legal sector.

A new advisory ecosystem

A number of legal advisory firms have launched over the past year as private capital interest and the rise of AI create new opportunities - and challenges - for law firm leaders.

Recent entrants include Passmore & Oliver, founded by former SRA executives Crispin Passmore and Juliet Oliver; Dejonghe & Morley, set up by former A&O leaders Wim Dejonghe and David Morley; and Oakwood Strategy, led by former Linklaters and PwC strategy executive Greg Jackson.