Team hire: TLT takes on 30-strong Irwin Mitchell team in Manchester

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Strategic recruitment Irwin MitchellTLT

TLT is putting its fledgling Manchester office at the centre of its UK-wide growth plans as the top 60 LB100 firm takes on a 30-strong Irwin Mitchell team, including former commercial litigation head John Lord.

The six-partner team, who will join the 250-lawyer firm’s six month old Manchester office before Christmas, also includes non-contentious property partner Andrew Bell, employment partner Ed Cotton, corporate partner Jon Close, commercial litigation partner Julien Luke and banking and finance litigation partner Tom Seabrook, along with 24 solicitors, paralegals and support staff.

Merger talks: Dentons and McKenna Long partners say no to a tie-up

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Legal mergers Dentons

Just two days after Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and New York-headquartered Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman called off their potentially game changing merger, Dentons and McKenna Long & Aldridge have announced that their partners have said no to a tie-up, after the decision was put to a partnership vote yesterday (26 November).

Both firms confirmed that they were in merger talks in late September and a vote was originally scheduled for 14 November, which if it had gone through would have created a firm with around 3,100 lawyer globally.

Leadership: Andrew Saul takes over as senior partner at Osborne Clarke

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Leadership Osborne Clarke

With its half year revenues up by 12% and following a two-year period of international investment, Osborne Clarke‘s (OC’s) UK senior partner Tim Birt is to stand down with London head Andrew Saul taking over the role.

Corporate partner Saul – who joined 600-lawyer OC in 1996 as head of corporate and led the practice for seven years before becoming head of the London office in January 2012 – was voted in as senior partner through an election held at the London headquarters of the firm, ranked 32 in the LB100. He will take over the role on 1 January 2014.

Merger talks: Orrick and Pillsbury call time on talks after client conflict issues dominate

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Legal mergers Orrick, Herrington & SutcliffePillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

The potentially game changing merger between California-based Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and New York-headquartered Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman is off after the firms said issues surrounding client conflicts of interest had proved insurmountable.

The firms disclosed around a month ago that they were in talks, with a view to creating a 1,800-lawyer practice with revenues of around $1.4bn, putting the combined entity in the top 15 law firms in the world by fee income.

Panel review: Taylor Wessing and KWM SJ Berwin secure spots on property developer Essential Living’s ten-strong panel

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Property King & Wood MallesonsTaylor Wessing

Newly-formed rental property developer Essential Living has appointed a ten-strong panel of law firms to its roster as it focuses on ambitious development targets for the coming year, with Taylor Wessing and King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin securing advisory roles ‘with an overarching brief to provide corporate, finance and delivery advice,’ a statement said today (26 November).

Investigations: RBS appoints panel firm Clifford Chance to conduct independent review

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In-house Clifford ChanceLinklatersThe Royal Bank of Scotland

Investigations have become big business for the City’s thriving litigation teams although the majority of them happen behind closed doors for valued clients and are not said to offer an ‘independent’ assessment.

A recent exception is the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) disclosure yesterday (25 November) that it has appointed Clifford Chance (CC) to conduct an independent inquiry into the treatment received by small business customers in financial distress, after allegations that the bank deliberately drove them to collapse for its own gain.

Price of good education: University of Law unveils first financial results since PE buyout

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Education

The University of Law has recorded a net profit of over £14m in its latest financial results, just a year after being purchased by private equity house Montagu Private Equity for £177m.

Accounts filed at Companies House reveal the UoL, formerly a charity, posted turnover of £53.3m over an 18-month period dating from February 2012 to July this year, alongside a retained loss of £7.7m which was attributed to investments made improving college facilities. The education body also paid zero UK corporation tax during this period.

International expansion: Speechly opens in Paris as Rouse and Tilleke Gibbins launch in Myanmar

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France Charles Russell SpeechlysRouse & CoTilleke & Gibbins

The burgeoning Paris market has drawn in another UK name as Speechly Bircham opens in the City while UK IP firm Rouse expands into Myanmar alongside new South East Asian entrant Tilleke & Gibbins, which has also launched in Indonesia and Laos.

Its fourth new European office in two years, UK top 55 firm Speechly Bircham opened today (25 November) in the French capital with an 11-strong team, which will focus on private wealth tax planning as well as corporate and litigation services to private clients, private equity investors and corporates.

Innovation alert – A&O becomes first top tier player to forge a contract lawyer service with launch of Peerpoint

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Innovation Allen & Overy

For all the talk of innovation in the profession, experimentation with new models has so far been more evident at mid-pack players like Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Eversheds than elite London or New York advisers.

However, as Legal Business reveals today (25 November), Allen & Overy (A&O) has become the first top tier outfit to challenge that orthodoxy with the Magic Circle firm launching a high-end contract lawyer service for major clients.

Guest post: ‘Chasing short term profits is the enemy of long-term success’ – A conversation with Freshfields’ Ted Burke

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Leadership Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

I recently had the chance to sit down with Ted Burke, outgoing managing partner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. I’ve known Ted for years and with the recent announcement that he would be stepping down at Freshfields to join Arclight Capital Partners as COO and general counsel it was time to catch up.

When we sat down, I asked Ted to reflect on his years at Freshfields (head of the firm since 2005). He opened: ‘It’s the oldest great firm in the world.’ Founded in 1743 with the Bank of England as a client, which remains a client today. The firm has been successful over 270 years, Ted observed, but not at all times, and it has had to change repeatedly. ‘No business can last more than a generation without changing.’