On paper, an 11% jump in average revenue to £135.5m for the second 25 looks like a great leap forward from last year’s 5% increase to £122.6m, and this rate of growth compares favourably to the top quartile’s 9% hike to £830.7m. But as usual the figure must be taken with a pinch of salt. …
Continue reading “LB100 Second 25: A brooding gloom in sunshine”
This article sits in the news leader slot of our latest issue, but when considering Allen & Overy (A&O) and its epic courtship of O’Melveny & Myers, the defining factor has been the absence of news. Since it emerged last spring that A&O was in merger talks with the Los Angeles-bred firm, there have been …
‘Our team was nearly twice the size of Akin Gump’s London team. There was potential for vulnerability on both sides. They didn’t want their entire lives disrupted by a very large cuckoo in the nest.’ Five years on, restructuring partner James Roome reflects on the potential pitfalls of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s 28-partner …
Simon Davis has had quite a start to his one-year term as the 175th president of the Law Society of England and Wales. Taking office just a few weeks before Boris Johnson was appointed Prime Minister in July, the Clifford Chance (CC) litigation partner faced the reality of a nation that was heading for a …
Continue reading “Dealing with no deal – Can top law firms cope with a chaotic Brexit?”
I’m less Marmite than I was. Never been deferential. Having a Mancunian directness, I was brought up by people who called a spade a spade. Helps me with clients massively. Sometimes it’s not what other lawyers want. I could be more political and in the past, I’ve tried. You can only be yourself. I was …
Kennedys senior partner Nick Thomas describes 2018/19 as a year of consolidation: ‘The acquisitions are up and running and, despite those investments, we had growth all over the place throughout the year.’ In 2017/18, this insurance and shipping specialist was hands down the star performer of the 26-50 bracket in revenue terms, recording a 31% …
Andrew Ballheimer, Allen & Overy’s (A&O’s) global managing partner, has promised heavy investment in its US practice in the wake of the City giant’s abandoned tie-up with O’Melveny & Myers, saying new US hires are on the verge of being announced. Speaking to Legal Business on Friday (6 September), Ballheimer said the market could expect ‘more …
Allen & Overy has conceded the ‘compelling synergies’ between it and O’Melveny & Myers were not quite enough to seal a long sought-after tie-up, having today (2 September) said they were calling it a day on merger talks. The news comes after months of market speculation since a possible merger between the Magic Circle giant …
Continue reading “The deal is off: A&O and O’Melveny call an end to transatlantic merger talks”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has brought to an end a lawsuit brought against the firm by the liquidator of the insolvent Maple Bank with a €50m settlement payment. The settlement came to light on Thursday (29 August) at a creditors’ meeting when the liquidator, Michael Frege of CMS, said he had recovered €50m for creditors to …
Continue reading “Freshfields denies wrongdoing in tax advice amid €50m settlement payout”
Lawyers are a pessimistic bunch by nature and, with the big four Magic Circle firms posting another year of solid but unspectacular revenue and profit per equity partner (PEP) growth, the consensus view is that 2018/19 could have been a lot worse. Amid a wider slowing of the UK economy and Europe’s deal markets in …
