Hello everyone, I thought it might be a good idea to have a place to discuss some commercial issues - how they affect law firms and clients especially. Feel free to drop anything that has caught your eye in the news and let's discuss!
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Commercial Discussion 2026
- Thread starter Jessica Pearson - Managing Director
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One thing that has been standing out to me is the Greenland debacle. Pressure for increased NATO spending = more investment in military & arms companies. Trump's propensity to U-turn = general market instability. General issue over "rare earth" minerals and China's dominance in that market. But also the shifting alliances as Canada cozes up to China for trade and the USA is seen as an unstable ally. Although Trump has reversed on the tariffs, this was an indication that the so-called Western alliance might not be on steady ground for much longer.
Okay so today I wanted to talk about the economy. I know, I know - the UK economy is complicated. Applying for/getting a job seems harder and more competitive than ever, things are getting more expensive and... well the general vibe is off. Rest assured this is only tangentially related.
But, something interesting caught my attention recently: the government is proposing some changes to the CMA to stimulate the economy.
What is the CMA?
Well, the CMA is the UK's Competition and Market Authority. In essence, they are the regulatory body that overlooks mergers & acquisitions. They are supposed to block anti-competitive mergers and protect consumer rights. They have the power to block potential deals and can even roll back deals even after they have been completed. Obviously, this would discourage M&A deals - imagine businesses spending all that money on lawyers, accountants, consultants etc. only to find out that they deal is not worth the laptop it was typed on!
So, the UK gov't, to stimulate the economy, are proposing some reforms that seem like they would strip power from the non-ministerial CMA. The idea is to "ease the burden" on businesses and the consultation will be ongoing until Monday 2 March 2026.
Who cares?
The "problem" with the CMA is not just that they can unwind deals but imagine the uncertainty when waiting for a decision to be made. The CMA investigated 39 deals last year. Guess how many were stopped? (Hint: it was 1)
So of course, a looser regulatory system would be great for businesses wanting to merge and acquire - and great for lawyers who can get in on the action. It would not be so great for competition lawyers perhaps as they would likely have less work. But for corporate and commercial firms specialising in M&A this may lead to a lot more work. With M&A comes employment law, tax law, maybe regional considerations (e.g. a big supermarket in Manchester is merging with a chain from Birmingham) - how can law firms as business capitalise on this.
So what?
For any firms that you are applying to, consider what they specialise in and how this would affect them. Have they completed any deals recently? Have any deals been investigated/put on hold? Or are they in competition law?
*Bonus - what I like to do sometimes is type in a topic and add a law firm to see if they have published anything about it. It is interesting to see the sort of advice that they might potentially be giving clients.
*Note changes have yet to be made but this was a fun exercise for me in thinking about future-proofing clients but also future-proofing a potential firm. The gov't may yet make a U-turn so it will be an interesting story to follow.
But, something interesting caught my attention recently: the government is proposing some changes to the CMA to stimulate the economy.
What is the CMA?
Well, the CMA is the UK's Competition and Market Authority. In essence, they are the regulatory body that overlooks mergers & acquisitions. They are supposed to block anti-competitive mergers and protect consumer rights. They have the power to block potential deals and can even roll back deals even after they have been completed. Obviously, this would discourage M&A deals - imagine businesses spending all that money on lawyers, accountants, consultants etc. only to find out that they deal is not worth the laptop it was typed on!
So, the UK gov't, to stimulate the economy, are proposing some reforms that seem like they would strip power from the non-ministerial CMA. The idea is to "ease the burden" on businesses and the consultation will be ongoing until Monday 2 March 2026.
Who cares?
The "problem" with the CMA is not just that they can unwind deals but imagine the uncertainty when waiting for a decision to be made. The CMA investigated 39 deals last year. Guess how many were stopped? (Hint: it was 1)
So of course, a looser regulatory system would be great for businesses wanting to merge and acquire - and great for lawyers who can get in on the action. It would not be so great for competition lawyers perhaps as they would likely have less work. But for corporate and commercial firms specialising in M&A this may lead to a lot more work. With M&A comes employment law, tax law, maybe regional considerations (e.g. a big supermarket in Manchester is merging with a chain from Birmingham) - how can law firms as business capitalise on this.
So what?
For any firms that you are applying to, consider what they specialise in and how this would affect them. Have they completed any deals recently? Have any deals been investigated/put on hold? Or are they in competition law?
*Bonus - what I like to do sometimes is type in a topic and add a law firm to see if they have published anything about it. It is interesting to see the sort of advice that they might potentially be giving clients.
*Note changes have yet to be made but this was a fun exercise for me in thinking about future-proofing clients but also future-proofing a potential firm. The gov't may yet make a U-turn so it will be an interesting story to follow.
Love how you’ve been breaking these down, and I will be adding my two cents when I can 😍
Bouncing on this, the proposal is to make the regulation review less deals which would hasten the M&A due diligence process. This has two impacts on law firms: Corporate and Competition. From a corporate perspective, this is great because they can complete deals more quickly and there is more certainty surrounding the CMA. For the competition practice area, this means less work for them if less deals need to be reviewed by the CMA. I think this balance is really good to mention in an interview or even application because it shows you think about the pros and cons to the law firm.
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