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.
Okay party people. So, as many of you probably have, I have been seeing the craziness going on at Davos this year.
What is Davos?
Davos is a ski resort near Zurich and every year it hosts the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). It kind of like an annual networking session where business and industry titans, politicians and the who's who of academic, NGOs, religious leaders and media professionals.
What is going on?
This year has been particularly newsworthy. Of course, there has been clashes between Trump and everybody else (i.e. European leaders) over Greenland which I previously touched on. Also, Mark Carney (Canadian PM) made a very interesting speech - watch or read it if you can.
Even before all this hullabaloo, the WEF published the Global Risks report with the number 1 ranked short-term issue being Geoeconomic Confrontation, number 2 being Misinformation and Disinformation, and number 3 being Societal Polarisation. Gloomy.
Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF discussed public debt and developing countries spending more on repaying debt than critical needs like healthcare and education in the Global Economic Outlook session. Georgieva urged countries to restructure their debt - interesting to see how this will impact borrowing (if it does at all).
AI was a big talking point and CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang was in attendance, putting a positive spin on how AI technology can potentially empower people. Others in attendance were not so positive, mentioning its inaccessibility and the potential to stunt brain development, especially in children.
This Davos was framed around 5 questions which may be interesting to consider.
How can this impact firms and their clients?
It is difficult to say with any certainty how Davos will impact things, after all these are just discussions. But I consider the growing tensions amidst the ebbs and flows of global alliance. Businesses may struggle to make definitive decisions when it seems like trade at any moment could collapse. AI has escaped the bottle and there is likely no going back. NVIDIA is the biggest company by market capitalisation (stock value) and they are crucial to AI development. For now, at least, it seems like the Greenland fiasco has been tabled.
In my opinion, the best firms will need to future proof clients.
This was a doozy. What do you think?
What is Davos?
Davos is a ski resort near Zurich and every year it hosts the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). It kind of like an annual networking session where business and industry titans, politicians and the who's who of academic, NGOs, religious leaders and media professionals.
What is going on?
This year has been particularly newsworthy. Of course, there has been clashes between Trump and everybody else (i.e. European leaders) over Greenland which I previously touched on. Also, Mark Carney (Canadian PM) made a very interesting speech - watch or read it if you can.
Even before all this hullabaloo, the WEF published the Global Risks report with the number 1 ranked short-term issue being Geoeconomic Confrontation, number 2 being Misinformation and Disinformation, and number 3 being Societal Polarisation. Gloomy.
Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF discussed public debt and developing countries spending more on repaying debt than critical needs like healthcare and education in the Global Economic Outlook session. Georgieva urged countries to restructure their debt - interesting to see how this will impact borrowing (if it does at all).
AI was a big talking point and CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang was in attendance, putting a positive spin on how AI technology can potentially empower people. Others in attendance were not so positive, mentioning its inaccessibility and the potential to stunt brain development, especially in children.
This Davos was framed around 5 questions which may be interesting to consider.
- How can we cooperate in a more contested world?
- How can we unlock new sources of growth?
- How can we better invest in people?
- How can we deploy innovation at scale and responsibly?
- How can we build prosperity within planetary boundaries?
How can this impact firms and their clients?
It is difficult to say with any certainty how Davos will impact things, after all these are just discussions. But I consider the growing tensions amidst the ebbs and flows of global alliance. Businesses may struggle to make definitive decisions when it seems like trade at any moment could collapse. AI has escaped the bottle and there is likely no going back. NVIDIA is the biggest company by market capitalisation (stock value) and they are crucial to AI development. For now, at least, it seems like the Greenland fiasco has been tabled.
In my opinion, the best firms will need to future proof clients.
- There is a could be a move past AI hype. Technology now needs to be explainable, secure, and useful. At the same time, there are massive deals (M&A and financing) surrounding AI. This includes the energy sector, healthcare, employment (AI chatbots leading to a reduced headcount), agriculture, R&D (Life Sciences etc.) and so many more.
- Issues around supply chains may arise with shipping being a major focus for some firms, they may be impacted in the work that is available. Countries (and companies) may move away from globalisation to mercantilism - considering if they can sustain themselves if trade becomes too costly or unpredictable.
- If countries take the (unofficial) advice of the IMF and restructure deals, firms that specialise in advising sovereign funds and/or creditors would have a lot more on their plate.
This was a doozy. What do you think?
Heyy ah Davis made me miss Switzerland 🥲
I want to add from AI perspectives, in the developing countries, particularly global south AI is seen to be warmly welcomed by the people compared to western counterpart.
Interestingly, Asian countries saw these as an opportunity to grow and very optimistic to the future, even advanced economies in Asia (Singapore, South Korea, and Japan) been grown positive.
Why Asian and West divided?
Asian: See AI as a productive tool, using AI for the administrative task, yet lack of foundational knowledge to think critically.
West: AI is within a real life in society, train AI as a philosophy not merely wrapping as a productivity tool.
The results:
Asian:
Downside: Completely forget that AI should be used to refine, lack of creativity
Upside: Focus on efficiency, company acts fast to integrate
West
Downside: Increasing in fraud & accident due to AI, scammers are smarter
Upside: AI patents were originally from the west, China is a copy cat.
So, as a future lawyer we should know your battlefield and overcoming clients around this topic 🙂
I want to add from AI perspectives, in the developing countries, particularly global south AI is seen to be warmly welcomed by the people compared to western counterpart.
Interestingly, Asian countries saw these as an opportunity to grow and very optimistic to the future, even advanced economies in Asia (Singapore, South Korea, and Japan) been grown positive.
Why Asian and West divided?
Asian: See AI as a productive tool, using AI for the administrative task, yet lack of foundational knowledge to think critically.
West: AI is within a real life in society, train AI as a philosophy not merely wrapping as a productivity tool.
The results:
Asian:
Downside: Completely forget that AI should be used to refine, lack of creativity
Upside: Focus on efficiency, company acts fast to integrate
West
Downside: Increasing in fraud & accident due to AI, scammers are smarter
Upside: AI patents were originally from the west, China is a copy cat.
So, as a future lawyer we should know your battlefield and overcoming clients around this topic 🙂
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Love this perspective. There was also a lot of thought about AI in developing/emerging markets. Right now, DeepSeek (Chinese AI) is more popular as it is cheaper and more accessible. Competitors in Western markets are looking at how to tap into the global landscape when their LLMs right now are pricier, cost more to develop, and are yet to be profitable.
How do you think the CMA should address private equity roll-ups in the healthcare industry?
Mmmm profitability is interesting, you can't never compete with emerging markets for pricing 🤣
That's evaporating impact of every inventor. It cost so much for R&D and developing or perfecting is easier and cheaper. There is almost no relevance about employment cost factor in AI as much as in trade or manufacturing as high skilled worker like researchers are paid way above.
Let alone the west is regulatory heavy, especially EU. Emerging markets are hesitant and insensitive for regulatory also lack of experts knowledge or less focused in the policy making institute and court, that's why company can imply or integrate AI easily.
Another interesting fact is if you look closer the data obtained from emerging markets about AI fraud or malfunction is messy, the actual number is higher. So, that's why high incoming Asian countries are benefiting from the AI race/competition (South Korea and China) than the inventors like Sweden and the US.
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