Clyde & Co has become the latest UK firm to enter the Republic of Ireland, opening a base in Dublin for its Irish law insurance practice.
In a move announced today (13 May), insurance partner Garrett Moore has relocated from London to Dublin to ensure he continues practising Irish law ‘whatever the outcomes of Brexit’. Continue reading “‘Makes sense’ – Clyde & Co becomes latest English firm to launch in Dublin”
Irwin Mitchell has fired a number of partners following ‘a review of the future needs’ of the firm.
According to RollOnFriday, the firm has asked at least a dozen partners across its business to leave. Continue reading “Irwin Mitchell axes ‘small number’ of partners following business review”
Highly-respected M&A practitioner Steve Cooke (pictured) has had his term as senior partner at Slaughter and May extended until 2024.
Cooke was first elected to senior partner at the City institution in 2016 for a five-year term after a long stint spearheading the firm’s M&A practice. His current term runs until 2021, with the extension meaning Cooke will have been in the role for eight years. Continue reading “‘Keep doing it better’: Slaughters senior partner Cooke gets another three years”
A further nine law firms have signed up to the Mindful Business Charter, an initiative devised by banking giant Barclays alongside Pinsent Masons and Addleshaw Goddard to try to mitigate unnecessary stress for in-house and external lawyers.
Capsticks, CMS, DWF, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith Freehills, Michelmores, Osborne Clarke, Stone King and Weightmans have today (9 May) signed up to the charter – six months after it launched – bringing the total number of signatories to 20. Continue reading “Out of office: Freshfields, HSF among nine new Mindful Business Charter signatories”
The news this week that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was to push through the highest real-terms pay rises by a major City firm for a decade is a significant moment for the London legal market.
The decision to hike its associate pay scale, raising its benchmark rate for newly-qualified solicitors from £85,000 to £100,000 is a bold and expensive step for the City giant. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest such a move, which will put Freshfields well ahead of its Magic Circle peers, comes at an annual cost of more than £10m. Continue reading “City paywars: a history lesson – Freshfields hikes hark back to era of Magic Circle domination”
Addleshaw Goddard will open its first continental European office in Hamburg with the hire of a five-partner team from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP).
Addleshaws said today (8 May) it will open its sixth office outside the UK next month, with five lawyers joining partners Exkart Budelmann, Michael Leue, Martin Lüderitz, Maximilian Karacz and Hubertus Schröder in the move from BCLP. Continue reading “Addleshaws launches first European base in Hamburg with five-partner BCLP hire”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is fighting the war for talent by becoming the first Magic Circle firm to raise its pay for newly-qualified (NQ) solicitors to £100,000.
The £15,000 salary uptick is symbolic, given the pressures imposed on the City elite by US competitors in recent years. There will also be a discretionary bonus on top of the new NQ salary. Continue reading “Shades of 2007: Freshfields sends NQ salaries soaring above £100k to head off talent threat from US rivals”
Long-rumoured to be on their way out of the US giant, Kirkland & Ellis private equity duo David Arnold and Gavin Gordon are set to join Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
The pair joined Kirkland from Ashurst in 2010 in one of the firm’s first major laterals in private equity in the City. Clients Gordon has worked with include Cinven, ABRY Partners, KKR and Vista, while Arnold’s list include CapVest Partners and Montagu Private Equity. Continue reading “Kirkland private equity duo quit for Willkie Farr”
Revenue at Keystone Law rose by more than a third to £42.7m as the listed legal platform’s principal lawyer headcount rose 14%.
The firm’s financial results for the year to 31 January 2019 – its first full set since becoming the third UK law firm to float in late 2017 – also show a strong 57% increase in net profit before tax to £5.1m. Continue reading “Stronger than expected recruitment track adds 35% to Keystone’s top line”
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has today (3 May) published the full list of its allegations against Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Ryan Beckwith.
In the published allegations, which follow a case management hearing at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) last week, Beckwith – who has been placed on indefinite leave by Freshfields – is alleged to have attempted to engage in sexual activity with an intoxicated junior member of staff in an abuse of seniority at an event organised by the firm. Continue reading “SRA releases full allegations against Freshfields partner Beckwith”
A group of 65 general counsel spanning major companies from the UK and Europe has collectively signed a letter urging law firms to improve their diversity efforts.
Continue reading “Significant matters – Spring 2019”
A group of 65 general counsel spanning major companies from the UK and Europe has collectively signed a letter urging law firms to improve their diversity efforts.
Continue reading “Significant matters – Spring 2019”
When Axiom announced in February its intentions to float, it was a seminal moment for New Law, with the pioneering flexible lawyering company established as the most prominent global brand in the sector. Back in 2013 one excited commentator forecast 2018 as the year Axiom would become the world’s largest legal provider (spoiler alert, it still wouldn’t make the Global 100).
The often-cited but seldom-seen legal arrival of the Big Four has long passed into a professional joke, though renewed investment from the major accountancy groups in the last three years has given the debate fresh urgency. But, truly, something must have changed in the wind, as even that traditional hold-out, Deloitte, has signalled its intention to build a significant law presence. Continue reading “New Law meets Big Four – Has Deloitte got the conviction to match its free-thinking legal pitch?”
Building on sister publication Legal Business’ 2018 cover feature on the City’s star female deal counsel, The In-House Lawyer teamed up with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for a reception celebrating the strides made… and steps still to be taken. The 80 senior lawyers across in-house and private practice that gathered at The Ned in late November heard from a panel of general counsel and partners talking frankly about careers, life and changing aspirations.
We have at IHL Towers something of a reputation for being sceptical of the claims to fresh thinking surrounding much of New Law Land. One exception, though, has been Axiom, the pioneering outfit that pushed lawyering into the mainstream. Sure, Axiom’s message could be obscured by strangulated attempts to ape Silicon Valley speak, an odd trait given the straight-talking style of founder Mark Harris. But its growth rates and reputation for quality never made you doubt that the outfit was a cut well above most New Law lightweights. Continue reading “Innovation needs law firm champions as Axiom doubts emerge”
There can be few legal roles in the US of as much significance and substance as White House counsel. And when Beth Nolan jettisoned film school for law school, she had no idea her eventual career, including serving as White House counsel for President Bill Clinton – the first female to take on the role – would be almost the stuff films are made of.
The proliferation of blockchain technology has led many sectors to re-examine traditional ways of doing business, even if the platform remains shrouded in the fog of confusion and hype. Nowhere is the potential more apparent, or the sector more traditional, than in the negotiation, creation and execution of contracts. If the blockchain evangelists are to be believed, the manner in which parties contract will be changing radically in the not-too-distant future. But while a number of high-profile success stories illustrate the potential of the technology, it is clear that there is a long way to go if it is to ever live up to the rhetoric.
In controlling and protecting their reputations, the internet and social media have made online information critical in determining how individuals and companies are perceived. The old phrase ‘bad news travels fast’ resonates in the modern age. Simultaneously, as the law tries to keep pace with technology through developments in defamation, privacy and data protection, reputation management has become embedded in corporate strategy. Continue reading “Perfect curveballs”
At our 2019 Enterprise GC summit in March, one of the set-piece debates united three veteran in-house counsel to reflect on their perspectives in facing a crisis… and how to get through it relatively unscathed.
