Legacy Berwin Leighton Paisner was hit by a 21% drop in profit and 3% dip in revenue in its last full financial year prior to its merger with Bryan Cave, LLP accounts reveal.
Last February, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP)’s quest for a US tie-up received a shot in the arm when its transatlantic merger with Bryan Cave was approved by partners, with the deal going live in April 2018. Continue reading “LLP accounts show BLP flagging ahead of Bryan Cave merger as profit fell 21%”
Slaughter and May, Sullivan & Cromwell, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang and Ashurst have defied a challenging market to take key roles on a pair of UK mergers as listed Gateley leads on the collapse of Patisserie Valerie.
Last week saw the £3.3bn takeover of UK listed plastics manufacturer RPC Group by funds managed by Apollo Management IX, as well as Primary Health Properties’ £393m acquisition of MedicX Fund Limited in an otherwise sedate UK M&A market. Continue reading “Deal watch: City and US firms defy tough M&A market with deal duo as Gateley takes the cake on Patisserie Valerie collapse”
The transfer of business services roles into low-cost bases shows no sign of slowdown in 2019, with top 20 UK firm Taylor Wessing announcing it is considering making 13% of its 270-strong City team redundant by the end of 2020.
The move, announced today (25 January), potentially affects 34 London-based staff and comes as the firm looks to create 35 new business services roles in the Liverpool base it launched last October. Continue reading “City biz services staff under threat again as Taylor Wessing mulls 34 redundancies”
A Hogan Lovells partner has agreed to leave the firm after being caught viewing pornographic images on a work computer.
The firm suspended the partner in November last year and launched an investigation after the partner in question was caught by a lawyer from a window in Irwin Mitchell’s offices, which are next to Hogan Lovells’ base on Holborn Viaduct. Continue reading “Hogan Lovells partner leaves firm after watching pornography at work”
The three way union of CMS, Nabarro and Olswang cost the partnership £28.9m in ‘reorganising, restructuring and integrating’ the merger in the year to April 2018 the combined firm’s first LLP accounts showed this week (24 January).
But operating profit at the post-merger firm rose to £160m, up 30% on the £122.5m combined profits of the three legacy firms. The last accounts published for the firms pre-merger showed profits had fallen at all three in 2016-17. Continue reading “CMS 2017/18 accounts reveal profit rise despite £30m cost of merger”
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has come under fire in parliament after widespread IT disruption wrought chaos on the functioning of the justice system.
The meltdown, which saw several IT systems repeatedly crash over the last few days, prompted difficult questions from Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi to under-secretary of state and conservative MP Lucy Frazer in parliament today. Continue reading “MoJ faces parliamentary grilling over IT network meltdown”
Eversheds Sutherland has added to its suite of sole adviser relationships with a deal for Dyson’s global privacy mandate.
Eversheds has been a leader on sole adviser mandates since its first in 2006 with Tyco, a relationship which continued after the security provider merged with industrial company Johnson Controls in 2016. The firm’s sole adviser role for Dyson’s global privacy work will run for a three-year term. Continue reading “In-house: Eversheds brokers Dyson sole adviser deal alongside fresh FSCS appointment”
What is it like to work as a lawyer in the fast-paced, risk-laden, tech-driven ‘disruptive’ company? How do general counsel find the right level of resource in a company where legal is viewed as anathema to impatient entrepreneurs? When is a lawyer not a lawyer? Continue reading “Beyond the cookie cutter”
As a long-term observer of the legal profession, I view the development of GCs with an oxymoronic mix of admiration and cynicism. Admiration because common claims about the dramatic improvements in the calibre and size of the talent pool in the in-house profession are that rarest of beasts: a received wisdom that turns out on inspection to be largely true. Cynicism because those strides are often mixed with unwillingness to tackle the ethical and practical implications that come with increased clout. Continue reading “The GC outlook: more for more and more to come”
As a long-term observer of the legal profession, I view the development of GCs with an oxymoronic mix of admiration and cynicism. Admiration because common claims about the dramatic improvements in the calibre and size of the talent pool in the in-house profession are that rarest of beasts: a received wisdom that turns out on inspection to be largely true. Cynicism because those strides are often mixed with unwillingness to tackle the ethical and practical implications that come with increased clout. Continue reading “The GC outlook: more for more and more to come”
Lloyds Banking Group is looking at slimming its UK roster with a number of firms set to jostle for places in 2019. Currently the core panel comprises CMS, Eversheds Sutherland, Herbert Smith Freehils, Hogan Lovells, Addleshaw Goddard and Magic Circle duo Linklaters and Allen & Overy. The bank’s last panel review was in 2016, when Norton Rose Fulbright and DLA Piper lost their places. Group GC Kate Cheetham is expected to lead the process, with a further reduction in size anticipated. Continue reading “Significant matters – Winter 2019”
Lloyds Banking Group is looking at slimming its UK roster with a number of firms set to jostle for places in 2019. Currently the core panel comprises CMS, Eversheds Sutherland, Herbert Smith Freehils, Hogan Lovells, Addleshaw Goddard and Magic Circle duo Linklaters and Allen & Overy. The bank’s last panel review was in 2016, when Norton Rose Fulbright and DLA Piper lost their places. Group GC Kate Cheetham is expected to lead the process, with a further reduction in size anticipated. Continue reading “Significant matters – Winter 2019”
‘Forgive my ignorance, can you tell me what you mean by PRIME? What is it exactly?’ asks one partner at a top-25 UK law firm, a partner charged with responsibility for overseeing apprenticeships at a firm with membership to that same cross-industry group. Continue reading “Whatever happened to PRIME?”
‘Forgive my ignorance, can you tell me what you mean by PRIME? What is it exactly?’ asks one partner at a top-25 UK law firm, a partner charged with responsibility for overseeing apprenticeships at a firm with membership to that same cross-industry group. Continue reading “Whatever happened to PRIME?”
What are the key priorities and challenges in the first 100 days of being a GC? This was the main discussion point of a recent panel debate before an audience of more than 50 senior in-house lawyers gathered at the South Place Hotel in London. Continue reading “Cutting teeth”
What are the key priorities and challenges in the first 100 days of being a GC? This was the main discussion point of a recent panel debate before an audience of more than 50 senior in-house lawyers gathered at the South Place Hotel in London. Continue reading “Cutting teeth”
Being risk savvy and commercially aware is the equivalent of ‘leaning in’ for today’s in-house lawyer. Can one do this and retain the mantle of professionalism? Or rather, how can one do that? That is the central concern of our book, In-House Lawyers’ Ethics: Institutional Logics, Legal Risk and the Tournament of Influence. We interviewed dozens of in-house lawyers and surveyed 400, mainly from business but also from government and the third sector, to shed light on the ethical dimensions of in-house practice and risk management. Our central lessons? Organisations matter. Individual lawyers matter. Ideas about the in-house role and professionalism matter. Talking about professionalism and good decision making openly and frankly matters. Continue reading “Under the influence”
Being risk savvy and commercially aware is the equivalent of ‘leaning in’ for today’s in-house lawyer. Can one do this and retain the mantle of professionalism? Or rather, how can one do that? That is the central concern of our book, In-House Lawyers’ Ethics: Institutional Logics, Legal Risk and the Tournament of Influence. We interviewed dozens of in-house lawyers and surveyed 400, mainly from business but also from government and the third sector, to shed light on the ethical dimensions of in-house practice and risk management. Our central lessons? Organisations matter. Individual lawyers matter. Ideas about the in-house role and professionalism matter. Talking about professionalism and good decision making openly and frankly matters. Continue reading “Under the influence”
Sabine Chalmers was concerned about coming back to the UK. Absent for more than two decades, most recently in the US as chief legal and corporate affairs officer at drinks giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, she had built a reputation as one of the leading lights of the general counsel community. But when she first left the UK, the GC role lacked stature, particularly in contrast to the US. ‘I was concerned about how a UK role would compare to the experience I’d had in the US.’ Continue reading “From monkey to organ grinder”
Sabine Chalmers was concerned about coming back to the UK. Absent for more than two decades, most recently in the US as chief legal and corporate affairs officer at drinks giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, she had built a reputation as one of the leading lights of the general counsel community. But when she first left the UK, the GC role lacked stature, particularly in contrast to the US. ‘I was concerned about how a UK role would compare to the experience I’d had in the US.’ Continue reading “From monkey to organ grinder”
