Freshfields lags Magic Circle as management pay drops 20% amid muted top line growth

Freshfields lags Magic Circle as management pay drops 20% amid muted top line growth

The management of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has seen a 20% drop in pay even as its Asia business offered a silver lining with double-digit turnover growth. Published today [31 January], the City giant’s LLP accounts for the financial year to 30 April 2019 make for subdued reading as the firm grew its top line by only …

Essential to success: A&O reviewing equity point cut in Germany

Allen & Overy (A&O) is reviewing equity points for partners in Germany, following a gruelling few years which saw a shift to corporate from a declining banking business. The proposal, reported to amount to a 15% reduction in equity points but still under discussion, will be an unwelcome development among partners in the firm’s Frankfurt, Hamburg, …

A&O gains Shanghai approval on the back of double-digit Asia-Pac growth

A&O gains Shanghai approval on the back of double-digit Asia-Pac growth

After boosting its Asia Pacific turnover by more than 10% last year, Allen & Overy (A&O) has become the latest City giant to receive approval to practise law in China’s Free Trade Zone (FTZ). The arrangement comes by way of a joint operation with local firm Shanghai Lang Yue Law Firm – called Allen & …

LLP accounts: Pension costs hurt CC profits as A&O leadership sees pay increases

LLP accounts: Pension costs hurt CC profits as A&O leadership sees pay increases

Operating profit at Clifford Chance (CC) UK LLP fell 5% to £260m in the year to 30 April 2019 amid rising pension costs while management at City rival Allen & Overy (A&O) saw a 8% pay rise to £16m, the two firms’ recently published accounts have revealed. The fall in profits at CC’s LLP – …

Freshfields partner exits following internal conduct probe

Freshfields partner exits following internal conduct probe

In a fresh reverse for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer amid the string of disclosures of harassment impacting the profession, a partner at the City giant has exited following an internal investigation. Nicholas Williams, a partner since 2017 in the Magic Circle firm’s London disputes practice, left the firm on 11 December after the firm launched an …

Dejonghe to stand again as A&O senior partner as six leadership hopefuls revealed

Dejonghe to stand again as A&O senior partner as six leadership hopefuls revealed

As voters head to the polls on UK general election day, Allen & Overy (A&O) has confirmed the names of six partners who will vie for leadership in its own election in February. Senior partner Wim Dejonghe (pictured) is standing for a second term and will be up against Philip Bowden, the City giant’s well-regarded …

Freshfields partnership votes in misconduct penalty as #MeToo continues to overshadow the industry

Freshfields partnership votes in misconduct penalty as #MeToo continues to overshadow the industry

The partnership of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has voted in sweeping reforms to its handling of misbehaviour, including financial penalties, as the #MeToo fallout continues to plague the profession. The move to establish a conduct committee followed a consultation and  implements new enforcement protocols that mean partners who receive a final warning about their behaviour could face …

Comment: If A&O’s new leadership team can’t get a mandate, who can?

Comment: If A&O’s new leadership team can’t get a mandate, who can?

Writing at the end of November, with this issue hitting desks only a day or two before the candidates for Allen & Overy (A&O)’s leadership elections are announced – this column is truly hostage to fortune. Who will emerge to lead what has for many been the Magic Circle’s most effectively-led player will have significance …

Full disclosure – How to resolve the profession’s #MeToo problem

Full disclosure – How to resolve the profession’s #MeToo problem

‘If you’re a partner and in control of someone’s career, that is an unequal relationship. Repeated drunken flings are not the work of a balanced, responsible partner. Could she have realistically said no? He was in control of her. He was her boss.’ So says one City employment veteran of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) …

If A&O’s new team can’t get a mandate, who can?

Writing at the end of November, with this issue hitting desks only a day or two before the candidates for Allen & Overy (A&O)’s leadership elections are announced – this column is truly hostage to fortune. Who will emerge to lead what has for many been the Magic Circle’s most effectively-led player will have significance …