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A&O matches Magic Circle’s sluggish gender pay gap progress after finally releasing partner pay stats

Allen & Overy

Allen & Overy’s (A&O) response to criticism over its failure to disclose the pay gap between male and female partners has revealed slow progress on a par with its Magic Circle peers.

The UK pay gap report for 2018, published today (6 September), for the first time includes the disparity between A&O’s female and male partnership and reveals men at the firm are overall paid on average 61.2% more than women. When taken on a median basis, the 2018 disparity is reduced to 39%. Continue reading “A&O matches Magic Circle’s sluggish gender pay gap progress after finally releasing partner pay stats”

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A victory for legal privilege as ENRC triumphs in landmark SFO case

Serious Fraud Office

City litigators uttered a collective sigh of relief as legal professional privilege (LPP) was upheld in the judgment of the highly-anticipated Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) case against the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

The decision has wide-ranging implications for businesses and litigators alike as to what information from internal investigations is protected by privilege, after the Court of Appeal today (5 September) ruled the ENRC is not obliged to disclose a series of documents which had been requested by the SFO. Continue reading “A victory for legal privilege as ENRC triumphs in landmark SFO case”

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Start me up: Highly-rated legal AI platform Kira secures a record $50m in private equity backing

cyborg

In a significant benchmark for the legal tech sector, leading AI platform Kira Systems has sealed $50m of private equity backing from New York-based Insight Venture Partners, as legal tech companies continue to prime for growth.

The investment, announced today (5 September), is the first external backing the AI company has received since its inception in 2011, with ex-Weil Gotshal & Manges associate and co-founder Noah Waisberg and Kira CTO Alexander Hudek initially funding the start-up themselves. The company saw year-on-year revenue growth of more than 100% for 2017. Continue reading “Start me up: Highly-rated legal AI platform Kira secures a record $50m in private equity backing”

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Ominous signs for western firms in Russia as Akin Gump team quits to launch local independent

The latest sign that life in Russia is getting tough for international firms came today (5 September) as two of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s key Moscow partners quit to launch an independent firm.

Heavyweight litigator Ilya Rybalkin and corporate veteran Suren Gortsunyan have launched Rybalkin, Gortsunyan & Partners (RGP) alongside 11 associates, counsel and paralegals from the US firm – a team which claims to have been involved in transactions cumulatively worth over $80bn. Continue reading “Ominous signs for western firms in Russia as Akin Gump team quits to launch local independent”

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Disputes round-up: White & Case continues hiring drive with RBS litigation head as HSF partner appointed deputy High Court judge

City of London

White & Case is continuing its bid to add firepower to its London disputes bench with the hire of The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)’s former head of litigation and investigations Laura Durrant as a partner.

Meanwhile, Swiss disputes firm LALIVE is opening an arbitration-focused office in London and Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) litigation partner Adam Johnson QC has been appointed a deputy High Court judge. Continue reading “Disputes round-up: White & Case continues hiring drive with RBS litigation head as HSF partner appointed deputy High Court judge”

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Revolving Doors: Summer recruitment round ends with Global 100 firms hiring in the City and Asia

DLA Piper

The summer holiday recruitment round officially finished last week, with DLA Piper and Pinsent Masons making significant moves in London, while Eversheds Sutherland  and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan continued the recent wave of Asia hires with additions to their IP and litigation offerings respectively.

DLA Piper announced the hire of construction and infrastructure partner Sarah Thomas, who joins as part of a larger team of lawyers as DLA looks to bolster its practice. Thomas joins from Pinsent Masons, where she had been since 1991, acquiring experience acting on an array of major infrastructure projects in the UK and internationally. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Summer recruitment round ends with Global 100 firms hiring in the City and Asia”

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International round-up: Latham hits DLA’s Madrid outpost again for antitrust partner as Kennedys opens innovation back office in India

Latham & Watkins has dealt yet another blow to DLA Piper’s Spanish ranks, hiring its first Madrid-based antitrust partner, while Kennedys has joined the growing number of firms beefing up their low-cost capabilities.

Former DLA head of competition José Maria Jiménez Laiglesia has succeeded against four other candidates to join Latham’s Madrid outpost, which has almost doubled its headcount in less than a year since bringing in DLA’s former senior partner Juan Picón. Continue reading “International round-up: Latham hits DLA’s Madrid outpost again for antitrust partner as Kennedys opens innovation back office in India”

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Deal watch: Magic Circle scoops £300m Funding Circle IPO as Linklaters advises on £2bn wind farm financing

Linklaters

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters have scored lead mandates on the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of small business lender Funding Circle, while Linklaters advised on the £2bn financing of the Triton Knoll wind farm.

London-based start-up Funding Circle, which provides a loan platform for SMEs in the UK, US, Germany and the Netherlands, announced today (3 September) its intention to issue at least 25% of its share capital to raise around £300m. Continue reading “Deal watch: Magic Circle scoops £300m Funding Circle IPO as Linklaters advises on £2bn wind farm financing”

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Deal watch: Slaughters leads on Wonga collapse and joins Skadden, Ashurst and CC on £3.9bn Costa deal

Slaughter and May office

Slaughter and May has landed key roles on the high-profile collapse of payday lender Wonga and Coca-Cola’s £3.9bn acquisition of national coffee house Costa, joined by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Clifford Chance (CC) and Ashurst.

The demise of Wonga, the UK’s largest payday lender, was confirmed yesterday (30 August) amidst a flood of compensation claims as the government cranks up the pressure on companies offering high-cost, short-term loans. Continue reading “Deal watch: Slaughters leads on Wonga collapse and joins Skadden, Ashurst and CC on £3.9bn Costa deal”

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Magic Circle duo goes full throttle on Aston Martin’s landmark London listing

Aston Martin

City heavyweights Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have taken the driving seat on the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of Aston Martin, a float reportedly valuing the luxury car maker at £5bn.

Slaughters won the mandate advising Aston Martin with a corporate team led by Nilufer von Bismarck and including Roland Turnill and Filippo de Falco. The firm is working alongside Aston Martin’s general counsel (GC) Michael Marecki, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is advising on US law, led by London-based partner Gil Strauss. Continue reading “Magic Circle duo goes full throttle on Aston Martin’s landmark London listing”

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Revolving Doors: Sullivan & Cromwell ends City recruitment hiatus as White & Case lead firms strengthening in Asia

Circling candidate

There are signs the summer hiring lull is coming to an end after Sullivan & Cromwell and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) made significant London plays, while White & Case led an array of firms looking East.

Sullivan & Cromwell broke a five-year duck in the City by hiring Jeremy Kutner from Shearman & Sterling. Kutner, who was made partner in 2012, had headed up Shearman’s technology, media and telecoms (TMT) industry group, advising a plethora of major media companies including Liberty Global, Virgin Media and Vivendi. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Sullivan & Cromwell ends City recruitment hiatus as White & Case lead firms strengthening in Asia”

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‘Europe’s waking up to legal tech’: another hefty funding round as start-up Apperio raises $10m

Nicholas d’Adhemar

Legal tech start-up Apperio is switching to growth mode after closing a $10m funding round that will enable it to double in size to 40 staff and expedite further expansion into the US market.

Apperio, founded in 2013 and formerly called Legal Tender, is a platform that provides companies with real-time transparency on legal fees while tracking matters. It can also be used to assess and monitor law firm performance: features which combine to both manage in-house budgets and help general counsel (GC) show value. Continue reading “‘Europe’s waking up to legal tech’: another hefty funding round as start-up Apperio raises $10m”

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DLA adds ‘practical’ regulatory expertise with hire of former high-ranking SFO lawyer

Patrick Reppo

DLA Piper has hired a former Serious Fraud Office (SFO) division head in response to multinational clients increasingly demanding ‘expertise on the ground’ with regulators.

DLA announced today (28 August) it had hired corporate crime and regulatory investigations lawyer Patrick Rappo from the London arm of US firm Steptoe & Johnson, which he joined in 2013. Prior to that, Rappo spent five years at the SFO, where he became joint head of bribery and corruption. Continue reading “DLA adds ‘practical’ regulatory expertise with hire of former high-ranking SFO lawyer”

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International round-up: Fieldfisher opens third China office as Pinsents settles Madrid dispute

Guangzhou

Ever-expansive Fieldfisher has bolstered its presence in Asia having opened a third office in China, while Pinsent Masons has settled a dispute with its former Spanish best friend firm over its Madrid outpost.

Fieldfisher’s new office in in Guangzhou, which will focus on corporate, M&A, dispute resolution and IP work, is staffed by a seven-lawyer team from local firm Geenen Law Office. Continue reading “International round-up: Fieldfisher opens third China office as Pinsents settles Madrid dispute”

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Law Society predicts no-deal Brexit could halve UK legal sector turnover growth

law society entrance

The UK legal sector could lose nearly £3bn in turnover growth and have 10,000 fewer jobs by 2025 with a no-deal Brexit, according to forecasts published by the Law Society.

The society’s research unit released a report today (22 August) which predicted the legal sector would grow at an average 2.2% annually from 2019 to 2025 with a soft Brexit. This, however, drops to just 1.5% with a harder Brexit and falls further to 1.1% in a no-deal scenario. Continue reading “Law Society predicts no-deal Brexit could halve UK legal sector turnover growth”

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HSF’s corporate ambitions take hit after losing seasoned trio to Morgan Lewis

Herbert Smith Freehills

Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) rhetoric of improving corporate capabilities has taken a blow after a trio of transactional partners left for the London office of US firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

The departures include HSF’s head of London private equity, Mark Geday, who had been at the firm since 1996, alongside corporate partners Nicholas Moore and Tomasz Wozniak. They will come as a disappointment for HSF, particularly after the firm made concerted efforts to promote the success of its corporate practice over the last year. Continue reading “HSF’s corporate ambitions take hit after losing seasoned trio to Morgan Lewis”

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A&O Fuse start-up among first to take space at Barclays’ law tech lab

Daniel Porus

A start-up from Allen & Overy’s (A&O) Fuse innovation hub is one of the first 17 companies to join banking giant Barclays’ legal technology lab.

Deal platform Legatics, which has been in Fuse for each of A&O’s first two cohorts, has taken up residence at Barclays’ 100-person LawTech Eagle Lab in London’s Notting Hill. AI provider ayfie, contract generator Ginie AI, and document collaboration platform Annotate are the only other start-ups in the lab to have been named. Continue reading “A&O Fuse start-up among first to take space at Barclays’ law tech lab”

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Revolving Doors: Jones Day makes it a brace in the City as Clifford Chance loses partner in-house

game of hoopla with lawyers

Away from the headline laterals last week, Jones Day was the only firm to make moves in London after securing a double hire to bolster its finance offering, while Clifford Chance (CC) lost a London partner to in-house in Hong Kong and Hausfeld strengthened in Berlin.

Jones Day has set about reinvigorating its City offering after an exodus earlier this year, announcing the hires of Lee Federman and Ewen Scott who join the firm’s banking, finance and securities practice. Federman joins from Dentons, where he served as a finance partner having originally joined the firm in 2015 and brings with him experience in cross-border syndicated financing transactions, with particular focus on leveraged finance and corporate lending. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Jones Day makes it a brace in the City as Clifford Chance loses partner in-house”

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‘Not starting from scratch’: Fieldfisher opens high-volume hub in Belfast

Michael Chissick

Mid-tier pacesetter Fieldfisher has become the latest firm to explore volume legal services, opening a low-cost hub in Belfast to be staffed by 125 people.

The new Northern Irish office will provide document negotiation and legal support from a team largely consisting of paralegals. The venture is being launched in conjunction with Donaldson Legal Consulting (DLC), with which Fieldfisher has had a Belfast tie-up since the end of last year. Continue reading “‘Not starting from scratch’: Fieldfisher opens high-volume hub in Belfast”

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Double whammy for Magic Circle infra as Latham hires CC’s Moylan and A&O’s Andersen

Latham & Watkins has secured the services of two of the highest profile names in the City’s infrastructure private equity space in a double hire at the expense of Clifford Chance (CC) and Allen & Overy (A&O).

CC’s private equity offering took a knock amid one of the firm’s most senior departures in years as infrastructure head Brendan Moylan quit for Latham & Watkins. Continue reading “Double whammy for Magic Circle infra as Latham hires CC’s Moylan and A&O’s Andersen”