SRA reviews firm finances amid ‘perfect storm’ while KPMG reveals cost of Cobbetts collapse Sarah Downey The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has begun an evaluation of financial data gathered from 2,000 law firms after warning earlier…
Outsourcing giant Capita unveils plans to enter legal market as first ABS posts healthy financial results Sarah Downey Outsourcing giant Capita is to re-enter the UK legal market, having reached a conditional agreement to acquire Optima Legal Services,…
Sorry the hardest word as Bar Council apologises for getting its sums wrong Jaishree Kalia In an embarrassing setback The Bar Council has apologised for incorrect figures submitted to the Ministry of Justice in support…
Close to the wire: Freshfields and Herbert Smith settle £142m London Underground negligence claim Legal Business Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Herbert Smith Freehills have reached an eleventh hour settlement of the £142m professional negligence claim brought…
Asia-Pacific: DLA moves to strengthen Australia offering with double corporate partner hire Legal Business DLA Piper has considerably strengthened its corporate practice in Australia with the appointment of two partners from leading local firms,…
Barclays £5.8bn rights issue sees Clifford Chance, Sullivan & Cromwell and Freshfields in the lead Legal Business Barclays has begun the biggest capital raising by a UK bank since 2009 under which Clifford Chance (CC), Sullivan & Cromwell and Freshfields…
Recruitment drive for Cadwalader in London reaps double Mayer Brown hire Jaishree Kalia Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft’s efforts to rebuild its London finance team were today rewarded with the hire of two leading Mayer Brown…
European tax boost for Shearman as it becomes BFs with Tremonti Legal Business Shearman & Sterling has boosted it European tax offering by entering into a ‘best friends’ cooperation agreement with tier one Italian…
No such thing as a free lunch – first judgment clarifies termination of third party litigation fund Caroline Hill Third party litigation funders look set to adopt a similar position to insurers in driving the litigation agenda after a…
First limb of Lloyds privatisation sees Slaughters and Freshfields win lead roles Legal Business Five years on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have won the leading roles on…
Kirkland opens up in Beijing to expand 65-lawyer Chinese operation Legal Business Kirkland & Ellis has expanded its sizeable Chinese footprint by opening an office in Beijing, the top 10 global firm…
Comment: Why the in-house triumph over law firms may prove short-lived Legal Business In the decade prior to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, an excess of work masked the corrosive effect to law…
Competition and Markets Authority wins over doubters as City nerves subside Sarah Downey After longstanding debate followed by a consultation launched by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) in March 2011,…
In-house: Lloyds Banking Group sees knock-on effect at senior level as it fills GC for group legal role Legal Business In-house promotions and moves often have a domino effect across the entire legal function and Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) is…
Swings and roundabouts: DLA Piper announces replacement Birmingham head and double hire as Patrick Somers joins from BLP Legal Business After losing Birmingham managing partner Mark Beardmore to Eversheds last week DLA Piper has announced his replacement plus a double hire to boot,…
In-house: Clifford Chance and Slaughter and May lawyers take senior roles at CMA, Shell and PwC Francesca Fanshawe Magic circle lawyers have this week filled a number of senior regulatory and in-house positions, with a Slaughter and May partner…
Hogan Lovells bolsters mental health and workplace stress measures in the wake of tragic IP partner suicide Legal Business Hogan Lovells has bolstered its policies and procedures around workplace stress and mental health in the wake of the tragic suicide…
Line up, line up: Twitter, Royal Mail and Foxtons go to market Legal Business After a flurry of initial public offerings (IPOs) earlier in the year, with Esure, Countrywide and Partnership Assurance among the…
Mergers push the top 100 firms back into double digit growth David Stevenson A wave of consolidation in the UK legal industry has sparked double digit growth among the top 100 law firms…
Asia Round-up: Linklaters and Sidley Austin hire in Hong Kong and Singapore while DLA suffers another Singapore exit Legal Business Magic circle lateral hires still happen comparatively infrequently but if they do happen, these days it’s quite often in Asia.…
