Scottish firm Harper Macleod, the legal advisor to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, has expanded by merging with private client boutique Bird Semple to create a firm with a combined turnover of more than £23m.
‘Clients are more confident about the market’: Baker & McKenzie becomes world’s largest law firm
Baker & McKenzie has overtaken DLA Piper as the world’s largest law firm, with revenues for the year ending 30 June 2014 climbing by 5% to $2.54 billion after a transactions bonanza.
Ashurst starts out-of-hours worker redundancies
The past year has seen a number of UK firms scale back their back-office support teams to become more efficient and save costs, with international firm Ashurst being the latest and placing half of its overnight support team in London at risk.
‘The overall benefits are potentially enormous’: Bucks County Council granted ABS licence with emergency services group
In a move that has been welcomed by the Legal Services Board, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has granted an alternative business structure (ABS) licence to local authorities for the first time, as Buckinghamshire County Council enters into a joint venture with Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority.
Slaughters posts high trainee retention rate while BLP keeps on 83%
Slaughter and May, which is well known for its high retention rates, has kept on 33 out of its 34 qualifying trainees, giving it a retention rate of 97%. In March, the firm retained 36 people from a cohort of 38, a rate of 95%.
Guest post: Stop being proactive, stop being commercial, stop being nice
I made a mistake. It was in 1989. I went in-house and found I was good at my job. It was the first time in my life I truly felt I was good at something. Until then I had found everything hard. Exam results were never adorned with flying colours and my CV, such as it was, looked more apologetic than full of promise.
Financial results 2013/14: Burness Paull posts 20% revenue increase alongside 25% profit rise
Scottish firm Burness Paull is the latest to release its 2013/14 financial results and has today (7 July) announced a hefty 20% turnover increase to £46.3m while profits have risen to £20.7m from £16.5m, constituting a 25% increase.
Former Freshfields lawyers open boutique following Magic Circle firm’s Barcelona exit
Two of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s lawyers have set up an IP/IT specialist boutique in Spain following the closure of the firm’s Barcelona office in April this year.
HSF snatches Freshfields former energy co-head
Herbert Smith Freehills has landed a blow on Magic Circle firm Freshfields with the hire of the firm’s former co-head of energy and natural resources Dirk Hamann as the Anglo-Australian firm looks to build out its German offices.
Wachtell, A&O and Gibson Dunn lead on Walgreens acquisition of Boots
The largest drug retailer in the US, Walgreens, has instructed Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy to handle its full combination with Nottingham-based chemist Alliance Boots.