Firms have been busy recruiting in London and abroad, as McGuireWoods and DWF made key London appointments and Jones Day, Hogan Lovells and BonnelliErede bolstered their international practices.
In a real estate move, DWF hired Mark Shepherd to its London office as partner after two years at Paul Hastings. He previously worked at DLA Piper and legacy SJ Berwin. Continue reading “Revolving doors: DWF and McGuireWoods hire in London as Jones Day, Hogan Lovells and BonelliErede expand worldwide”
UK law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn has announced an eight figure sum portfolio-based litigation finance deal with Burford Capital for the first time to fund current and upcoming litigation the firm is handling.
The arrangement is the first to be offered by a top 100 UK firm with a litigation funder. City-headquartered Shepherd and Wedderburn has offices in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Continue reading “Shepherd and Wedderburn secure ‘substantial eight figure’ Burford litigation finance deal”
Global cartel fines have decreased significantly in the first half of 2017 with worldwide fines totalling $1.2bn, on track to be significantly lower than 2016 which counted fines of $7.8bn according to Morgan, Lewis & Bockius’ latest midyear cartel report.
The report, however, which covers 70 countries, may not signify an overall drop in cartels investigations or cases, which Morgan Lewis partner Omar Shah said remain in an ‘active pipeline’ and are ‘cyclical.’ Continue reading “Global cartel fines drop substantially in first half of 2017 but market collusion and sanctions remain ‘cyclical’”
UK firm Addleshaw Goddard has reported £198m in revenue for 2016/17, a 2% fall from the figure announced last year.
However, while the figure represents a drop on 2015/16’s reported revenues of £202m, a spokesperson for the firm said this sum included an uplift for income from conditional fee arrangements. Actual revenue last year was £194m, meaning underlying growth in real terms of 2% to this year’s top line. Continue reading “‘A rollercoaster ride’: Addleshaw Goddard reports mixed financial performance after turbulent year”
Baker McKenzie has appointed three new City lawyers, taking on Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer banking partner Geoff O’Dea, Travers Smith finance counsel Matthew Smith and Morrison & Foerster tech counsel Sue McLean – both of whom will be made up to partner in the move.
O’Dea was made up to partner in 2012 at the Magic Circle firm. Specialising in restructuring and insolvency and acquisition finance, O’Dea has a wide range of clients including sponsors, special situation funds, creditors and debtors, and insolvency practitioners. Continue reading “Baker McKenzie brings in three City lawyers from Freshfields, Morrison Foerster and Travers Smith”
Clifford Chance and Baker McKenzie advise on the €4.5bn (£4.03bn) takeover of German metering and energy management group company Ista by a CK Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) and Cheung Kong Property Holdings joint venture, as Chinese buyouts of European companies rise.
German firm Hengeler Mueller is acting for the vendors CVC Capital Partners Fund V. Continue reading “CC and Baker McKenzie advise as China joint venture pays $4.5bn for German energy smart meter company”
Latham & Watkins has appointed head of financial services and regulatory David Berman from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan’s London office, returning to the firm for the recruit six months after hiringlitigation partner Martin Davies.
Berman only joined Quinn in January this year and was previously Macfarlanes head of financial services regulation and a partner for nearly eight years. In his early career, he was a managing director at an global investment bank where he held senior legal, compliance and regulatory roles. Continue reading “Latham swoops on Quinn Emanuel for high-profile financial regulatory hire Berman”
Asia-headquartered firm King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has made a strategic commitment to its German practice with the hire of two new partners in Frankfurt to strengthen its Sino-German deals capability, following the collapse of its European arm in January.
With four corporate partners in Germany, all based in its Frankfurt office, the firm told Legal Business that it plans to grow around 50% in the region by mid-2018. Continue reading “KWM Germany plans to double Chinese-German deals capability by mid-2018 in focus shift”
Herbert Smith Freehills‘ (HSF) qualified trainee retention score has dipped to 80% while City-headquartered firm Stephenson Harwood recorded a significant increase in its autumn 2017 trainee retention rates for this autumn.
At the same time last year, in contrast, HSF retained 94% of its autumn qualifying trainees. Continue reading “HSF’s qualifying trainee retention rate falls as Stephenson Harwood keeps 90% of intake”
UK law firms have reported a record 45 cases of cyber thefts to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in the first quarter of this year, with £3.2m stolen through conveyancing and inheritance matters as well as from law firms’ own accounts – mainly through email modification fraud.
The number of crimes reported more than doubled the 21 recorded over the same period in 2016. Continue reading “Law firms report record £3.2m cybercrime theft in first quarter but prosecutions have fallen”
Litigation funder Burford Capital generated more profit in the first half of 2017 than any full year in its history, revealing a total income rise of 130% from last June to $175.5m.
The jump for the company, which operates in law as an alternative business structure, was a result of a booming investment income which rose by 148% to $161.6m in the same time period, the firm said. Continue reading “Burford Capital grows from £80m startup to post record 130% income growth over year”
Mayer Brown, Berwin Leighton Paisner(BLP) and CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang all advised on the £1.3bn purchase by Hong Kong investors LKK Health Products of London landmark skyscraper, 20 Fenchurch Street, or the ‘Walkie Talkie’.
In the UK’s largest property deal to date, Mayer Brown UK real estate head Chris Harvey told Legal Business that the transaction demonstrates further appetite from foreign investors including new entrants to the London market. Continue reading “China buys: Mayer Brown and BLP land key roles on £1.3bn Walkie Talkie sale in record property deal”
Scottish independent firm Brodies has posted slower growth for the financial year 2016/17, with turnover up 2.4% to £66.7m, while profit per equity partner (PEP) has decreased slightly, down 2% from £597,000 to £585,000.
However, profits before partner distributions rose by 2.6% to £31.7m and the firm’s cash balances increased by 14.4% to £18.2m in the seventh consecutive year of revenue and profit growth for Scotland’s largest law firm. Continue reading “Financials 2016/17: Growth slows for Brodies as Scottish independent posts 2.4% revenue increase”
Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom are all advising on Michael Kors’ £900m offer for luxury British fashion company Jimmy Choo.
Under the agreement, the shoemaker would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Michael Kors. Its shareholders will receive £2.3 in cash for each of their Jimmy Choo shares, 36p above the £1.68 share price the day before Jimmy Choo’s parent JAB Luxury announced it would launch a formal sale process in April. Continue reading “Slaughter and May leads as Freshfields and Paul Weiss take key roles on £900m Michael Kors buyout of Jimmy Choo”
Watson Farley and Williams will retain 100% of its autumn 2017 qualifying trainees, while Mishcon de Reya‘s rate of retention has dipped below 80% for the first time in three years.
All of Watson Farley’s 15 final-year trainees will stay at the firm on permanent newly-qualified lawyer (NQ) contracts, marking a modest improvement over last year’s autumn trainee retention rate when 13 out of 14 or 93% of its trainees were kept on. Continue reading “Watson Farley to retain all its qualifying trainees as Mishcon’s rate falls to 64%”
Snap Inc general counsel (GC) Chris Handman has stepped down from his position to spend more time with his family, after three years at the US company.
California-headquarted parent company Snap Inc owns social media camera application Snapchat, which allows users send instant image messages, and was co-founded by chief executive Evan Spiegel in 2011. Continue reading “Snap Inc general counsel Handman to step down from role after three years”
The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that employment tribunal fees are unlawful, allowing trade union UNISON’s appeal in a ground-breaking decision requiring the government to stop charging the fees.
Today’s ruling found the fees unlawful under both domestic and EU law because they had the effect of preventing access to justice. The Supreme Court stated that therefore the fees must be quashed. Continue reading “‘A triumph for access to justice’: Supreme Court rules employment tribunal fees unlawful”
Future RPC trainees will attend courses exclusively at the University of Law (ULaw) from September 2017, after the insurance firm switched to the training provider to prepare its professional courses in advance of the controversial new Solicitors Qualification Examination (SQE).
From this September until 2020, trainees at the firm will be required to complete the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), Legal Practice Course (LPC) and an MSc in Law, Business and Management at the university’s Moorgate centre as sole provider, in a partnership RPC training principal Simon Hart described as the firm’s response to the ‘forthcoming radical reforms to legal education’, having previously worked with another group. Continue reading “RPC partners exclusively with University of Law ahead of SQE launch”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer‘s joint managing partner Chris Pugh (pictured) is stepping down less than half way into his term, the second person to vacate the position early in four years and the firm’s third unscheduled c-suite departure since 2013.
Former disputes head Pugh will leave the role but remain at the firm, continuing his client-facing work. He took up the role, which carries a five-year term, in January 2016 after a three-month transition period. Continue reading “Freshfields co-managing partner Pugh steps down a year and a half into role”
Morrison & Foerster and Sullivan & Cromwell have both advised on major Swiss electricity smart meter producer Landis+Gyr’s $2.4bn (£1.84bn) initial public offering (IPO), Europe’s second largest this year.
The IPO represents Landis+Gyr’s break from Japanese conglomerate Toshiba after it purchased the company six years ago. The IPO is the largest on the Swiss Exchange in the past ten years. Landis+Gyr employs more than 5,700 staff with activity across 30 countries. Continue reading “Morrison & Foerster and SullCrom gear up on Landis+Gyr’s electric smart meter $2.4bn initial public offering”
