Comment: What ails Freshfields? Time is running out for ‘The Last Champions’

Posted on | Blogs | and
Comment: What ails Freshfields? Time is running out for ‘The Last Champions’

The headline of the last lengthy piece Legal Business carried on Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer said it all: The Last Champions. While there is no doubt that the Magic Circle has faced huge challenges asserting itself since the banking crisis, for many Freshfields was the member of the club with the best prospect of securing its …

Continue reading “Comment: What ails Freshfields? Time is running out for ‘The Last Champions’”

What ails Freshfields? Time is running out for ‘The Last Champions’

Posted on | Comment | and
What ails Freshfields? Time is running out for ‘The Last Champions’

The headline of the last lengthy piece Legal Business carried on Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer said it all: The Last Champions. While there is no doubt that the Magic Circle has faced huge challenges asserting itself since the banking crisis, for many Freshfields was the member of the club with the best prospect of securing its …

Continue reading “What ails Freshfields? Time is running out for ‘The Last Champions’”

As the City elite gets coy on associate salaries, US rivals are winning the battle for young talent

Posted on | News review |
As the City elite gets coy on associate salaries, US rivals are winning the battle for young talent

Madeleine Farman assesses the impact of another round of pay rises on the City market As US firms continue to hike associate pay for UK lawyers, members of the City’s legal elite are getting increasingly coy over what they are offering their junior ranks… but are such tactics sustainable in the long run?

Ashurst pulls the plug on ill-fated 2009 move into US finance law with NY restructuring

Posted on | News review |
Ashurst pulls the plug on ill-fated 2009 move into US finance law with NY restructuring

Five New York-based partners left Ashurst in July for US finance firm Chapman and Cutler, with a sixth partner departing for Allen & Overy (A&O) last month. Partners Patrick Quill, David Nirenberg, Steven Kopp, Doug Bird and Tom Glushko all left Ashurst, completing the full departure of the ten-partner team the firm hired from McKee …

Continue reading “Ashurst pulls the plug on ill-fated 2009 move into US finance law with NY restructuring”

Legal Business 100: The second 25 – Faster, pussycat

Posted on | Analysis LB100 2017 |
Legal Business 100: The second 25 – Faster, pussycat

While the second quarter of the Legal Business 100 (LB100) has seen a 7% increase to £2.93bn in its combined revenue over 2016/17, the group has been impacted by further consolidation at the start of the calendar year, which will see around £230m stripped from this total in our 2018 report. This group is starting …

Continue reading “Legal Business 100: The second 25 – Faster, pussycat”

Life during law: Patrick Sarch, White & Case

Posted on | News review |
Life during law: Patrick Sarch, White & Case

I started at Paisner and then on qualification went off to Norton Rose. I joined Clifford Chance in 2000, which was the big global merger. They were a challenger in M&A. That’s why I chose them. I started off at Midland Bank in Fleet Street opposite Freshfields. One of six trainees. Later I sent out …

Continue reading “Life during law: Patrick Sarch, White & Case”

Bean bags primed – A&O buffs up disruptive cred as eight companies join its innovation hub Fuse

Posted on | Blogs |
Bean bags primed – A&O buffs up disruptive cred as eight companies join its innovation hub Fuse

Having already carefully cultivated an image as the most free-thinking City law firm in its weight class, Allen & Overy (A&O)has taken another step to recast itself for the age of disruption after choosing eight companies to join its ‘tech innovation hub’ Fuse. The City giant is offering companies space in its London HQ which will …

Continue reading “Bean bags primed – A&O buffs up disruptive cred as eight companies join its innovation hub Fuse”

Freshfields freezes associate pay bands after 2016 largesse but battle for top juniors to intensify

Posted on | Blogs |
Freshfields freezes associate pay bands after 2016 largesse but battle for top juniors to intensify

Amid a simmering market for junior City lawyers, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has opted to hold the line on associate salaries following a round of bumper increases in 2016. Newly-qualified (NQ) solicitors at the Magic Circle firm currently earn £85,000. This rate was established last year when the City giant substantially overhauled its comp structure to hike base …

Continue reading “Freshfields freezes associate pay bands after 2016 largesse but battle for top juniors to intensify”

Trainee retention: Linklaters, Gowling, Macfarlanes and Ince keep rates high for the autumn

Posted on | Blogs |
Trainee retention: Linklaters, Gowling, Macfarlanes and Ince keep rates high for the autumn

Linklaters is the latest Magic Circle firm to post its trainee retention numbers, retaining 84% of its 56-strong cohort. This proportion was slightly down on its 91% autumn retention rate last year. 53 offers were made to this year’s group, with 47 accepting positions. Last week Allen & Overy posted a retention rate of 85% while Freshfields Bruckhaus …

Continue reading “Trainee retention: Linklaters, Gowling, Macfarlanes and Ince keep rates high for the autumn”

Ince’s new partner bonus pool sees top of equity jump 28%

Posted on | Blogs |
Ince’s new partner bonus pool sees top of equity jump 28%

Ince & Co has made use of its new bonus pool for the first time, with the firm allocating around one third of its profits to reward high-performing partners for the 2016/17 financial year. Legal Businessunderstands the use of the bonus pool has shifted the firm’s equity spread from £140,000 – £430,000 in the financial year …

Continue reading “Ince’s new partner bonus pool sees top of equity jump 28%”