| COVER STORY: Mr Bling Revealed: the amazing $30m package A&O created to lure its US rainmaker |
In this month's issue Be enraptured by our Bling front cover, exclusively charting as it does the lengths Allen & Overy was prepared to go to in order to secure Cravath corporate star Dan Cunningham. The potential $30m package of profit share and other incentives that he was offered is quite staggering. Anyone practising charities law in the East Midlands is allowed to take a few moments to reflect on their lot. In our news and analysis pages, you can learn more of the joys of being a private equity partner right now. Most, indeed, are currently reassessing their market worth, as details of the packages proposed by US law firms to Clifford Chance partner Matthew Layton surface. The riches he was offered are discussed in our news leader. Life's far tougher if you're not backed up by a global firm's brand. Just ask the two private equity partners who nearly joined Olswang, but decided to stay at SJ Berwin. In our feature, 'Catch up', we've profiled the two firms together. Both have built idiosyncratic businesses based on the keen, and occasionally ruthless, pursuit of individual partner profits. Nothing wrong with that. But as Olswang enters the post-tech phase of its history, and SJ Berwin matures as a fully European business, we explore what lies in store. Like Dan, the trick is not to look too desperate.
Tom Freeman, Editor | LEGAL BUSINESS APPOINTMENTS | PRITCHARD
Big leaps forward in the global race | NEWS
American firms splash cash as they raise London salary stakes again |  MID-MARKET WRANGLES Catch up
Vanessa Pawsey meets Olswang and SJ Berwin, two mid-market firms who have had a rough ride over the last few years. April's figures are refreshingly positive, but both need to work out where they go from here | NORTH WEST FOCUS Grown-up operation
Liverpool and Manchester are at the heart of the UK's personal injury legal market. Sam Kenworthy finds out how the region's firms bring life into defending bulk claims |  NEW SQUARE The intellectuals' property
Legal Business meets one of the country's most successful IP sets, and finds out whether the efficient operation of 8 New Square is enough to silence the sceptics: the Bar delivers on value. By Camilla Sutton | COVER STORY The main man
To hire a rainmaker in New York, Allen & Overy had to be inventive with its lockstep. Claire Smith exclusively reveals the package created for Dan Cunningham, and how other Magic Circle structures compare |  WILMER AND HALE'S MERGER Wilmer's arsenal
Two vastly different US firms have completed a rare merger of equals. James Lewis uncovers the client reactions to Wilmer Cutler's merger with Hale and Dorr, and asks how the combined European operations will develop |  FINLAND Play it cool
The largest firms in Finland have remained cautiously optimistic throughout the downturn, and have emerged stronger than their Nordic counterparts. Now, they need to work out where to go next. By Anthony Notaras | | CORPORATE | | FINANCE | | REAL ESTATE | | LITIGATION | | TMT | | INTERNATIONAL | | BACK PAGE |
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