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Legal tech sponsored briefing: Law firms targeted by cyber criminals – six fundamental steps to being secure

In the wake of several high-profile attacks on law firms, Kaspersky Lab’s principle security researcher David Emm describes key ways firms can combat cyber crime

Cyber attacks are consistently making the news, with high-profile stories like NotPetya, WannaCry and Shadow Brokers seemingly taking place on a monthly basis. Businesses of all shapes and sizes are increasingly concerned about the impact that cyber crime may have on them. For law firms, the threat is particularly apparent and they are targeted for two key reasons. Continue reading “Legal tech sponsored briefing: Law firms targeted by cyber criminals – six fundamental steps to being secure”

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Legal tech sponsored briefing: Voice your way ahead of competitors

Florian Schwiecker

Speech is more than just another channel of communication. It is also the driving force to improve your firm’s productivity

From the technology perspective, speech recognition has a long history with several waves of major innovations. Most recently, the field has benefited from advances in deep learning and big data. The advances are evidenced not only by the surge of academic papers published in the field but more importantly by the worldwide industry adoption of a variety of deep learning methods in designing and deploying speech-recognition systems. Continue reading “Legal tech sponsored briefing: Voice your way ahead of competitors”

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Legal tech sponsored briefing: GDPR – achieving business transparency in a changing world

With GDPR now the new reality, Andrew Elcock from Xynomix explores how to encrypt and secure your data

In 2017, we saw vulnerabilities such as WannaCry exploit millions of devices worldwide, gaining access to valuable personal information. With many organisations now holding several hundreds of terabytes of customer data, the digital world has never been so heavily scrutinised. Continue reading “Legal tech sponsored briefing: GDPR – achieving business transparency in a changing world”

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Client Intelligence Report: Data View – Middle East Focus

Demonstrating value is paramount for all in-house legal teams, concerned as it is with how legal work intersects with business objectives and strategy. When measured against the global data, firms in the Middle East reported that they demonstrated value mainly via the same two criteria as the rest of the world; through the commercial aspect of their advice and their risk mitigation abilities. However, the Middle East reported that commercial and business advice was the most important characteristic by a far larger margin than the average. In the Middle East, this was the most prized metric for measuring value added for 46% of respondents, as opposed to 38% in the global average. This implies that legal teams in the Middle East are more likely than average to be relied upon to contribute to the strategic direction of the company. This links in with Middle Eastern general counsel’s greater likelihood of being part of the management structure of their businesses, and shows that in-house legal professionals here are often more integrated with the business than the global norm. Continue reading “Client Intelligence Report: Data View – Middle East Focus”

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‘A clear validation of our strategy’: Eversheds bounces back with double-digit revenue and profit growth

In its first full financial year since its transatlantic merger, Eversheds Sutherland (International) has recorded a robust increase in both revenue and profit per equity partner (PEP).

In revenue terms – which apply to the legacy Eversheds portion of the business – the firm saw a 13% increase from £438.6m to £494.6m. PEP, meanwhile, grew by a similar margin of 12% from £726,000 to £812,000 – the highest-ever PEP figure achieved by the firm. Continue reading “‘A clear validation of our strategy’: Eversheds bounces back with double-digit revenue and profit growth”

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Another City loss for DLA Piper as private equity star quits for Paul Hastings

Anu Balasubramanian

Paul Hastings has hired Anu Balasubramanian to lead its private equity team in London, a striking move that sees DLA Piper lose one of its brightest deal stars.

The loss of Balasubramanian will be a fresh blow for DLA after a turbulent few months that have seen a high-profile partner exodus in the City to McDermott Will & Emery (MWE). Continue reading “Another City loss for DLA Piper as private equity star quits for Paul Hastings”

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‘A unique buzz’: Herbert Smith to exit Finsbury Square to set up in Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is set to relocate nearly 500 of its City workforce to a new office in Canary Wharf, as the firm moves out of its Finsbury Square base.

The move, announced today (17 May), will see 495 staff – including the majority of HSF’s London business services staff – relocated to the new office on Bank Street in September. Continue reading “‘A unique buzz’: Herbert Smith to exit Finsbury Square to set up in Canary Wharf”

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Novartis GC Ehrat steps down over ‘error’ in Trump lawyer agreement

Felix Ehrat

Veteran group general counsel of Swiss healthcare giant Novartis, Felix Ehrat, is standing down after admitting ‘an error’ relating to the company’s former agreement with US President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer.

Ehrat (pictured) will retire from Novartis in June, the company said on Wednesday (16 May). Ehrat, who has been GC and a member of the executive committee at the Basel-based pharmaceuticals company since 2011, will be replaced by chief ethics, risk and compliance officer Shannon Thyme Klinger. Continue reading “Novartis GC Ehrat steps down over ‘error’ in Trump lawyer agreement”

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BCLP unveils foray into legal tech start-up scene with contract negotiation platform

Newly merged Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) has launched a ‘home-grown’ legal tech start-up which produces a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for £5.

The online contracting tool, called Swiftagree, is the firm’s first technology product launch following its April merger, and is said to precede a number of other offerings it will launch this year. BCLP partner Barry Gross and the firm’s legal technologist Bruce Braude developed the concept. Continue reading “BCLP unveils foray into legal tech start-up scene with contract negotiation platform”

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Deal watch: trio of big-ticket deals highlight frothy market for US and City elite

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Barely a City or US firm in London has gone without popping a Champagne cork in recent days as big-ticket deal activity remains frothy, while showing no signs of losing its fizz.

Recent big-ticket deals characterising the market include US tech private equity player Silver Lake’s proposed £2.2bn buyout of ZPG – the parent company of UK property site Zoopla – Cinven’s disposal of its Ufinet Spanish fibre-optic business and the $816m London listing of Avast, the Prague-headquartered cybersecurity heavyweight. Continue reading “Deal watch: trio of big-ticket deals highlight frothy market for US and City elite”

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DLA becomes latest firm to make post-Brexit Dublin move after lengthy consideration

Dublin

DLA Piper has made good on a long-pondered office in Dublin as the firm eyes increased business in Ireland post-Brexit.

The firm said today (15 May) it was opening an office in Dublin with the hire of William Fry corporate partner David Carthy, who heads that firms foreign direct investment and life sciences and healthcare groups. He will lead DLA’s Dublin office, for which an opening date has not been confirmed. Continue reading “DLA becomes latest firm to make post-Brexit Dublin move after lengthy consideration”

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Revolving Doors: A quiet week for hires in the City sees firms making lateral moves abroad

City recruitment remained quiet last week as international hires continued to dominate, with Eversheds Sutherland being among the few to make key additions domestically, while the firm saw departures internationally.

Eversheds bolstered its employment capability with the hire of Sophie White from boutique firm Abbiss Cadres. Previously White had spent 13 years at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang and possesses experience in real estate, healthcare, financial services and private equity. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: A quiet week for hires in the City sees firms making lateral moves abroad”

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Two new faces gain membership to reshaped Co-op legal panel

Fieldfisher

Seven firms have won spots on a revamped Co-op Group legal panel which sees its corporate, commercial and property panels combined to work alongside primary adviser Allen & Overy (A&O).

Newly-appointed firms Fieldfisher and Squire Patton Boggs join Addleshaw Goddard, Pinsent Masons, Hill Dickinson, Brodies and Paris Smith for a three-year term, following a review which began last year. Continue reading “Two new faces gain membership to reshaped Co-op legal panel”

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‘Common sense’: Herbert Smith follows Linklaters’ lead in personal relationship disclosure and whistleblowing network

Herbert Smith Freehills

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has become the second leading law firm to instruct partners and staff to disclose personal relationships with colleagues, while also introducing a third-party whistleblowing platform.

As part of a shake-up of its global policies and guidelines, HSF has introduced a new policy entitled ‘Personal Relationships in the Workplace.’ The firm stated that it is intended to ‘provide a framework to deal sensitively, consistently and fairly with personal relationships which may affect the business.’ Continue reading “‘Common sense’: Herbert Smith follows Linklaters’ lead in personal relationship disclosure and whistleblowing network”

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Kirkland makes surprise push into City IP with hire of A&O practice chief

Gherkin

Latham & Watkins’ City lateral hires outside its traditional transactional heartlands have been in the news for a while, but this time it is US rival Kirkland & Ellis tapping the Magic Circle for a surprising IP hire.

The firm announced today (14 May) that Allen & Overy’s (A&O) global head of IP Nicola Dagg has quit the firm to join the London office of the newly-crowned world’s largest grossing firm. Continue reading “Kirkland makes surprise push into City IP with hire of A&O practice chief”

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Slater and Gordon to launch new corporate entity alongside plans for £30m legal tech investment

Slater and Gordon

Revamped personal injury specialist Slater and Gordon (S&G) is set to roll its legal and former Quindell divisions into a single corporate entity and has earmarked £30m for investment in new technology.

The battle-worn firm today (11 May) announced plans to unify the two entities – Slater and Gordon Lawyers and Slater Gordon Solutions (SGS) – via an alternative business structure (ABS) in the coming months. Continue reading “Slater and Gordon to launch new corporate entity alongside plans for £30m legal tech investment”