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Allen & Overy Fuse start-up Bloomsbury sold to Facebook for $23m

Fuse by Allen & Overy

Allen & Overy (A&O) is unlikely to replace the start-up that has been snapped up by Facebook just two months after it joined Fuse, the magic circle firm’s innovation hub.

London-based Bloomsbury AI, which has built a tool that can read documents and answer questions about them, is joining the social media giant in a deal reportedly worth between $23m and $30m. Facebook has confirmed the move but would not comment on its value. Continue reading “Allen & Overy Fuse start-up Bloomsbury sold to Facebook for $23m”

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Comment: Yet unremarked, generational conflict cripples City law

Our cover feature this month largely speaks for itself in assessing the changing face of partnership as Millennials begin colonising the senior ranks of City law firms. Within five years, this group will be the driving force of elite commercial advisers.

Yet this column is not about the changing attitudes of youngish lawyers, more an issue that touches so many topics in the pages of this magazine, spanning remuneration, strategy, governance and talent. Quite simply, that is the success – and much more often failure – of leading law firms in balancing the interests of their younger ranks with their older partners. Continue reading “Comment: Yet unremarked, generational conflict cripples City law”

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Freshfields partner profits top £1.7m as City giant posts more confident year

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has posted something of a rebound after announcing a 12% increase in profit per equity partner (PEP) to £1.734m while the firm added 5% to its top line.

The firm achieved total profits of £683m, a 12% increase, while revenues were up from £1.33bn last year to £1.403bn. The performance will be seen as a marked improvement on the 2016/17 season when Freshfields failed to hike income at all despite favourable movements in currencies. The hike in partner profits will be seen as particularly welcome at a time when many London leaders are seeing their star partners targeted by aggressive US rivals. Continue reading “Freshfields partner profits top £1.7m as City giant posts more confident year”

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The Magic Circle packs tight in 2018 results as A&O follows peers with modest growth

Allen & Overy

The firm was a stand-out performer in 2017, but Allen & Overy (A&O) could not keep up the blistering pace for a second year as the London leader today (6 July) confirmed a solid but unspectacular 4% hike to its top line, sending revenues up £54m to £1.57bn.

The result was matched by a 4% increase in profit per equity partner (PEP), which hit £1.64m, while pre-tax profits were up 3% to £690m. The performance leaves A&O as the second largest Magic Circle firm in revenue terms. Continue reading “The Magic Circle packs tight in 2018 results as A&O follows peers with modest growth”

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Disputes round-up: Retailers beat Visa/Mastercard on fees as Stewarts launches financial crime unit

The UK’s largest disputes specialist, Stewarts, has helped secure a win in the high-profile Visa/Mastercard interchange fees case less than a week after launching a financial crime department.

On Wednesday (4 July), a host of British retailers represented by Stewarts, Mishcon de Reya and Morgan Lewis & Bockius  won a Court of Appeal ruling against the financial services giants. Continue reading “Disputes round-up: Retailers beat Visa/Mastercard on fees as Stewarts launches financial crime unit”

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Taylor Wessing follows northshore wave with 10-lawyer Liverpool launch

Liverpool

Taylor Wessing is joining the growing list of City firms expanding into low cost centres in the UK by launching an office in Liverpool.

The UK top 20 firm’s new base will open in September with an initial team of 11 lawyers and business support staff. Taylor Wessing will appoint a partner to lead the new office and aims to grow the team to 25 by the end of the year – consisting of 10 legal and 15 non-legal roles. They will all be new roles for the firm. Continue reading “Taylor Wessing follows northshore wave with 10-lawyer Liverpool launch”

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Top-line growth no longer a priority as profit jumps 12% at HSF

Mark Rigotti

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) chief executive Mark Rigotti says the days of focusing on revenue growth ‘are gone’ after the firm revealed today (4 July) less than one percent turnover growth for 2017/18 against a 12% increase in profit per equity partner (PEP).

Revenue at HSF during what it described as a period of encouraging growth was £926.8m, barely up on last year’s £920.5m. HSF’s profits, meanwhile, rose 8% to £277.2m and PEP was up from £760,000 to £852,000. The firm’s financial figures are not currency-adjusted but foreign exchange impacts were described as marginal. Continue reading “Top-line growth no longer a priority as profit jumps 12% at HSF”

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Deal Watch: Rich pickings for Travers and Ashurst as US giants get busy on the continent

Milan, Italy, cityscape

It was a busy week for UK and US deal counsel as Travers Smith and Ashurst acted on multibillion-pound deals north of the channel and White & Case and Ropes & Gray landed key mandates in continental Europe.

Again acting well above its traditional mid-market territory, Travers advised IT company Micro Focus on the $2.5bn sale of open source software business SUSE to EQT Partners. Continue reading “Deal Watch: Rich pickings for Travers and Ashurst as US giants get busy on the continent”

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Veteran Pernod Ricard GC FitzSimons departs after 16 years at the helm

French wines and spirits company Pernod Ricard announced yesterday (2 July) it had lost a veteran of the in-house legal community, with group general counsel (GC) Ian FitzSimons departing after a 16-year stint.

In a statement, Pernod Ricard said FitzSimons ‘has decided to devote himself to new projects outside the group’ and thanked him ‘for his contribution, notably as a key actor in the major acquisitions which have transformed the group.’ Continue reading “Veteran Pernod Ricard GC FitzSimons departs after 16 years at the helm”

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Barclays presses counsel for radical shake-up by 2021 as it unveils final panel

Barclays is intent on pushing dozens of major law firms to adopt a radical overhaul in working arrangements in time for its long-planned move away from a formal panel by 2021.

The global banking giant confirmed on Monday (2 July) that it had completed its final global panel review, further reducing its advisers from 140 to just under 100 before it phases out a conventional legal panel altogether in three years. Continue reading “Barclays presses counsel for radical shake-up by 2021 as it unveils final panel”

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Ashurst taps Mayer Brown’s City office in disputes drive as White & Case adds Macfarlanes rising deal star Jones

Ashurst

The City lateral market has kicked off after an uncharacteristic hiatus in recent weeks, seeing Ashurst recruit disputes partner Tom Duncan from Mayer Brown as Macfarlanes loses private equity rising star Emmie Jones to White & Case’s relentless hiring spree.

Macfarlanes-bred Jones, who featured in Legal Business’ analysis on the female City private equity players to watch in the mid-tier, was made up to partner in 2013. She has joined White & Case’s global M&A and private equity industry group as the firm sallies forth with its 2020 strategy, which includes going ‘toe-to-toe’ with the Magic Circle in London, led by erstwhile London executive partner Oliver Brettle. Continue reading “Ashurst taps Mayer Brown’s City office in disputes drive as White & Case adds Macfarlanes rising deal star Jones”

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A relative result: CC hikes partner profits to £1.6m as first Magic Circle player unveils 2018 numbers

matthew layton

For months lawyers have been talking of unexpectedly robust trading conditions but the first clear indication from the City elite come today (3 July), as Clifford Chance (CC) announces a 5% income hike for 2017/18, while partner profits surged to £1.6m.

The first set of results from a Magic Circle outfit show revenue up from £1.54bn to £1.623bn, while the firm’s overall profits pool was up just over 13% to £626m. The number of equity partners over the year dipped from 403 to 392, driving profits per equity partner up nearly 16% from £1.375m to £1.596m. The number of lawyers at the firm also dipped to 2,905 from 2,999 last year. Continue reading “A relative result: CC hikes partner profits to £1.6m as first Magic Circle player unveils 2018 numbers”

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Slater and Gordon fined £80,000 for Quindell disclosure breach involving more than 7,000 files

Slater and Gordon

In another chapter to the ongoing story of Slater and Gordon’s (S&G) troubled Quindell buyout, the firm has been hit with an £80,000 fine for disclosing confidential client information.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) today (29 June) imposed a £40,000 financial penalty on both S&G and Quindell Legal Services, now Slater Gordon Solutions, for disclosing un-redacted confidential information and documents from 7,087 client matter files to other firms. The pair were also ordered to pay the SRA’s costs of £26,000. Continue reading “Slater and Gordon fined £80,000 for Quindell disclosure breach involving more than 7,000 files”

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London rules again as Latham elects deal finance guru Trobman as new chief

Richard Trobman

Latham & Watkins is sticking to London for its new chair and managing partner, electing deal finance heavyweight Richard Trobman to the role.

Previously the firm’s co-vice chair, Trobman will step into the role immediately, bringing to an end a three-month long search for a successor to Bill Voge, who resigned from the firm in March amid allegations of misconduct involving communications with a woman outside the firm. Continue reading “London rules again as Latham elects deal finance guru Trobman as new chief”

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Baker McKenzie makes up six in London amid scaled back global promotion round as the firm claims largest female partnership

Paul Rawlinson

Baker McKenzie has promoted six in the City as part of a scaled down global promotion round which saw 68 lawyers minted, 15% fewer than last year’s 80.

Together with 53 laterals during this financial year, the promotions mean partner numbers at the firm hit 1,600. Continue reading “Baker McKenzie makes up six in London amid scaled back global promotion round as the firm claims largest female partnership”

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More growth for global traveller Bird & Bird as post-float Gordon Dadds hikes income 25%

Another year of international expansion has seen the 27th consecutive year of revenue growth for Bird & Bird as the firm posted a 6% rise to €382.3m and an 11% hike in sterling terms to £337m, as Gordon Dadds passed the £30m mark in its first results since its public listing.

In what chief executive David Kerr described as ‘strong growth’, Bird & Bird increased profit per equity partner (PEP) by 10% to £550,000 with the number of equity partners growing from 105 to 113. Continue reading “More growth for global traveller Bird & Bird as post-float Gordon Dadds hikes income 25%”

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Linklaters and A&O join Magic Circle peers in associate salary race to attract US talent

Linklaters

Linklaters and Allen & Overy (A&O) have joined Magic Circle peers Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Clifford Chance to hike associate salaries in the US as competition to recruit top-flight lawyers heats up.

A&O said today (28 June) it would pay US associates a starting salary of $190,000 rising to $340,000 for associates in their eight year. The salary rises to $350,000 for lawyers in their ninth year and for senior associates. Continue reading “Linklaters and A&O join Magic Circle peers in associate salary race to attract US talent”

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Comment: BCLP offers a (slightly) better post-merger pitch than expected

Therese Pritchard and Lisa Mayhew

It would take a generous observer of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) to claim the once sure-footed outfit had managed anything better than an indifferent run in the years preceding its union with Bryan Cave. Having dazzled through the 2000s – a period in which the firm seemed to have single-handedly revived the unfashionable notion of a City mid-tier – the last five years have been a stark contrast. Volatile financial performance, a disastrous run of partner recruitment and tension over its property-heavy direction – all in, it was unclear where the firm was going.

As such, confirmation earlier this year that BLP was uniting with a solid US operator, but one whose brand had limited potency in Europe, did not quicken the pulse. Continue reading “Comment: BCLP offers a (slightly) better post-merger pitch than expected”

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Three new appointments to Supreme Court but still no commercial judges

Supreme Court, England

While the UK Supreme Court announced today (27 June) that Lady Justice Arden, Lord Justice Kitchin and Lord Justice Sales will be appointed later this year, a lack of commercial expertise at the nation’s highest appeal court has drawn criticism.

The trio’s elevation comes after former deputy president Lord Mance retired this month, with Lord Hughes and Lord Sumption set to retire in August and December respectively. Continue reading “Three new appointments to Supreme Court but still no commercial judges”