During the original dot-com boom, there was a brief period – oh so brief – when legal technologists and managing partners were almost on the same page. With both camps dreaming of dramatic use of IT projects to revolutionise the legal business – the era of Blue Flag – there were big sums signed off, …
Continue reading “Almost meeting minds – a select band of CIOs and MPs plot a big, big breakthrough”
Now is the time to demonstrate how your firm, chambers or in-house team has positioned itself ahead of the pack this year: nominations are open for the most prestigious showcase of talent in the industry, the Legal Business Awards 2014. The event will take place on Thursday 13 February 2014 at The Grosvenor House Hotel, …
DLA Piper has considerably strengthened its corporate practice in Australia with the appointment of two partners from leading local firms, veteran Bryan Pointon from Gilbert + Tobin and David Ryan from Ashurst Australia. Private equity specialist Pointon has been a partner in Gilbert + Tobin’s corporate practice since 2007. Prior to that, he was a …
Following recent news that insurance specialist Kennedys is to merge with Simpson & Marwick in Scotland, the firm announced on Friday (6 September) that it is to extend its reach into Latin America through an association with Bogota insurance boutique Botero Salazar Tobón & Abogados (BST). Kennedys now has four associations in Latin America, complementing …
Continue reading “Latin America pulls in insurance firms as Kennedys launches in Bogota”
Following Monday’s $130bn deal between Vodafone and Verizon, yet another blockbuster telecoms transaction has emerged to keep M&A lawyers enthralled, with US firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett taking the lead in Microsoft’s $7bn acquisition of Nokia’s Devices & Services business along with a ten-year patent licensing agreement.
The latest Legal Business 100 results show the total revenue of the UK’s top 100 law firms has topped £19bn for the first time, while the number of lawyers across those firms has passed the 60,000 mark, also a first. However, this top-line growth is largely the result of another year of fervent merger activity, …
Continue reading “Merger frenzy hikes Legal Business 100 income but growth masks another tough year”
Lawyer count passes 60,000 but profits fall at top UK firms The latest Legal Business 100 results show the total revenue of the UK’s top 100 law firms has topped £19bn for the first time, while the number of lawyers across those firms has passed the 60,000 mark, also a first. However, this top-line growth …
Continue reading “Merger frenzy hikes LB100 income but growth masks another tough year”
A five-year view of the LB100 underlines the profound impact globalisation has had on the UK’s top firms but also the soaring success of the best mid-pack players. Legal Business analyses the winners and losers since Lehman unleashed a storm The five years that have passed since 2008, when the previous year’s credit crunch morphed …
Continue reading “LB 100 – The Five Year View: Riders on the Storm”
The latest results for firms in the second half of LB100 are a mixed bag, as Howard Kennedy reports inflated revenues reflecting its recent merger with Finers Stephens Innocent, Clarke Willmott posts a fifth consecutive year of falling revenues and Manches unveils a sharp fall in turnover and profit. Clarke Willmott’s revenues edged down 1% …
Following Dundas & Wilson’s announcement last week that its revenues and profits had tumbled dramatically for the second year running, the latest figures from Scotland’s two other elite firms shows it is not alone in suffering from poor financial performance. Maclay Murray & Spens (MMS) has managed to outdo the beleaguered Dundas in terms of underperformance, with …
