Leading City asset manager Threadneedle Investments is looking to fill its general counsel (GC) role following the resignation of high profile former Norton Rose litigation partner Philip Reed after seven years in the job. The move comes as Geneva-headquartered global oilfield products and services group Weatherford International, which was last year fined $253m by the US government for breaches of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and export control violations, brings in Dianne Ralston from Schlumberger as its new GC.
Guest post: Light at the end of the tunnel for the SFO and a review of the last 12 months from David Green QC
Introducing the annual report for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in the last financial year David Green, CB QC, director of the SFO had this to say: ‘Since I took up post in April 2012, we have sharpened the strategic focus of the SFO on the casework for which the Roskill model was designed and intended. This is the topmost tier of serious and complex fraud and bribery.
Robert Tchenguiz switches from Shearman to Stephenson Harwood in £300m SFO claim
Property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz has replaced Shearman & Sterling with Stephenson Harwood as his adviser on a high profile lawsuit against the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for around £300m.
Fieldfisher bolsters Paris office with trio of lateral hires
Fieldfisher has bolstered its Paris office with a trio of local lateral hires, including M&A lawyer Pascal Squercioni and tax specialist Antoine Gabizon from UGGC and competition partner Anne-Laure-Hélène des Ylouses from French boutique YGMA, a firm she co-founded in 2004.
Dealwatch: HSF and Slaughters UK advisers on AbbVie’s $51bn bid for Shire
Herbert Smith Freehills‘ corporate partners James Palmer and Gillian Fairfield have taken the UK lead on US drugmaker AbbVie’s proposed $51bn takeover of Ireland’s Shire Pharmaceuticals, which has selected Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May.
DWF takes legal action against the Insolvency Service after failed panel bid
Top 25 LB 100 firm DWF is taking legal action against the government’s Insolvency Service (IS) after the national firm lost out on an appointment to its legal services panel.
The claim was issued after it emerged earlier this year that DWF had missed out on a contract for England and Wales to Scots firm Shepherd and Wedderburn.
Comment: ‘Nobody knows anything’ – Goldman is more right than Maister
As journalists and managing partners hit reporting season the understandable urge rises once more to make sense of the legal world. Nearly six years since Lehman Brothers’ collapse did something substantive to the law game, what lessons can be learned?
Clifford Chance’s global MP Matthew Layton talks expansion and ambition for his first four-year term
The past week has seen Clifford Chance emerge as the star performer among its Magic Circle rivals, with a 7% rise in revenues to £1.36bn. Legal Business asked newly-appointed global managing partner Matthew Layton about the 2,945-lawyer firm’s plans for international expansion and his ambitions over his first four-year term.
Financial results 2013/14: Macfarlanes breaks through £1m PEP threshold as profit and turnover up over 20%
Macfarlanes has achieved a high double digit jump in both revenue and profit per equity partner (PEP) for the 2013/14 financial period, with both up by over 20%, as the top 35 UK firm breaks through the £1m PEP threshold.
The 324-lawyer firm revealed today (9 July) that its unaudited turnover was up 22% to £139.7m for the period, compared to £114.2m last financial year, while PEP has come in at £1.19m, a 21% increase on the £985,000 recorded in 2013.
Law Society pays £1m recruitment bill as Norton Rose Fulbright receives £435k
The Law Society paid out approaching £1m in recruitment fees over ten months in 2013, as Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) took the lion’s share of disclosed legal fees for that period, standing at almost £450,000, the body’s latest accounts reveal.