Page 276 – Legal Business

25 August 2017

Bean bags primed – A&O buffs up disruptive cred as eight companies join its innovation hub Fuse

Having already carefully cultivated an image as the most free-thinking City law firm in its weight class, Allen & Overy (A&O)has taken another step to recast itself for the age of disruption after choosing eight companies to join its ‘tech innovation hub’ Fuse.

The City giant is offering companies space in its London HQ which will work together with the firm’s lawyers, technologists and clients to create services and products for companies, financial institutions and law firms.
Continue reading “Bean bags primed – A&O buffs up disruptive cred as eight companies join its innovation hub Fuse”

24 August 2017

Freshfields freezes associate pay bands after 2016 largesse but battle for top juniors to intensify

Amid a simmering market for junior City lawyers, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has opted to hold the line on associate salaries following a round of bumper increases in 2016.

Newly-qualified (NQ) solicitors at the Magic Circle firm currently earn £85,000. This rate was established last year when the City giant substantially overhauled its comp structure to hike base salaries from £67,500 to £85,000, a 26% rise. The increase included the rolling in of bonuses, though overall compensation was also increased.

Continue reading “Freshfields freezes associate pay bands after 2016 largesse but battle for top juniors to intensify”

23 August 2017

Guest post: How should in-house counsel lead? It’s all about purpose

To be a leader as an in-house lawyer today is to be faced with a bewildering array of ideas, strategies and influences. Reports are written with grim regularity, it is impossible to read them all. Conferences are organised with grim regularity, it is impossible to attend them all. Consultants always have the next great idea with grim regularity, it is impossible to take a sharp stick and poke them all.

The quality of leadership in-house is nothing like as strong as the quality of the legal work our in-house lawyers do or the quality of the people who are the in-house counsel. Collectively we need to get better at leadership. Continue reading “Guest post: How should in-house counsel lead? It’s all about purpose”

21 August 2017

Clients back New Law model as LOD posts post-merger revenue surge

Berwin Leighton Paisner‘s (BLP) freelance spin-off Lawyers on Demand(LOD) has posted 15% turnover growth in its first full-year results since it merged with Australia’s AdventBalance in March 2016, in what was the largest New Law merger to date.

As the global flexible lawyering business saw its turnover grow to £35m for 2016/17, LOD co-founder and managing director Simon Harper (pictured) said the satisfying results – which came ahead of LOD’s tenth anniversary last month – were down to ‘new service lines’.

Continue reading “Clients back New Law model as LOD posts post-merger revenue surge”

21 August 2017

‘Bumpy year’: Burness Paull posts flat revenue and profit as muted Scots performance continues

Scottish independent Burness Paull has posted flat financials for 2016/17 with turnover up 1% from £53.3m to £53.8m, while profit per equity partner stands at £453,000 compared to £451,000 last year.

Additionally, overall profit was down 2% from £22.5m to £22m in what the firm’s chairman Philip Rodney described a ‘bumpy year for the Scottish economy’. In 2015/16, the firm saw stronger revenue growth of 4% but PEP was down by 6%.

Continue reading “‘Bumpy year’: Burness Paull posts flat revenue and profit as muted Scots performance continues”

18 August 2017

Trainee retention: Linklaters, Gowling, Macfarlanes and Ince keep rates high for the autumn

Linklaters is the latest Magic Circle firm to post its trainee retention numbers, retaining 84% of its 56-strong cohort.

This proportion was slightly down on its 91% autumn retention rate last year. 53 offers were made to this year’s group, with 47 accepting positions. Last week Allen & Overy posted a retention rate of 85% while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer retained 66% of its cohort. Continue reading “Trainee retention: Linklaters, Gowling, Macfarlanes and Ince keep rates high for the autumn”

17 August 2017

Guest Post: My kingdom for a horse – your literary introduction to the psychology of pricing

Think, just for a moment, exactly like a client.

You asked me to provide you with a quote for a particular legal service – one that you are relatively unfamiliar with. You have just received a copy of the firm’s terms of engagement and a fee quote that tells you that the work will cost £10,000 and is payable within 28 days of the final bill being issued, which is estimated to be in two months’ time.

Do you have any questions for me?

‘A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!’ Continue reading “Guest Post: My kingdom for a horse – your literary introduction to the psychology of pricing”

16 August 2017

Guest post: You’re masterful, Mr President: Standards of proof debate takes odd turn

There are some interesting comments highlighted in a story on Legal Futures this month by the president of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) regarding a BSB consultation.

‘The SDT will remain the master of its own destiny in this debate. Its membership will do what it believes to be right in a rational, informed, evidence-based manner. Continue reading “Guest post: You’re masterful, Mr President: Standards of proof debate takes odd turn”

14 August 2017

Ince’s new partner bonus pool sees top of equity jump 28%

Ince & Co has made use of its new bonus pool for the first time, with the firm allocating around one third of its profits to reward high-performing partners for the 2016/17 financial year.

Legal Businessunderstands the use of the bonus pool has shifted the firm’s equity spread from £140,000 – £430,000 in the financial year 2015/16 to £140,000 – £550,000. Continue reading “Ince’s new partner bonus pool sees top of equity jump 28%”

11 August 2017

Trainee retention: Latham and Kirkland report contrasting City rates as Magic Circle firms start to post 2017 figures

Latham & Watkins has managed to retain 95% of its City trainees in its latest round, contrasting with Kirkland & Ellis, which has kept on just over half of its cohort.

Meanwhile Allen & Overy (A&O) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer posted their autumn trainee retention rates this week. Continue reading “Trainee retention: Latham and Kirkland report contrasting City rates as Magic Circle firms start to post 2017 figures”

11 August 2017

‘Unprecedented in scale’: Travers, Slaughters and Hogan Lovells advise as Tata Steel separates UK pension scheme

Travers Smith, Slaughter and May and Hogan Lovells have all advised as Tata Steel today signed a long-awaited agreement to separate its business from the £15bn British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS), in what is the largest pensions scheme restructuring ever in the UK.

As a result of the separation, achieved through a regulated apportionment arrangement (RAA), Tata Steel will pay £550m to BSPS, which will also be given a 33% equity stake in the steel company. With the support of the Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), a new BSPS will be created after an assessment period. Continue reading “‘Unprecedented in scale’: Travers, Slaughters and Hogan Lovells advise as Tata Steel separates UK pension scheme”

10 August 2017

Pinsents picks up key mandate on Carillion’s £1.3bn HS2 contracts

Pinsent Masons has picked up the key advisory mandate as embattled British construction company Carillion was handed a lifeline last month thanks to the award of two contracts worth £1.3bn on the HighSpeed 2 (HS2) project.

Carillion is to build two sections of the UK’s second high-speed rail project from London to Birmingham along with its joint venture partners Kier Construction and France’s Eiffage Genie Civil, which will take at least five years to complete. Continue reading “Pinsents picks up key mandate on Carillion’s £1.3bn HS2 contracts”

9 August 2017

Troubled water: Hill Dickinson in talks to sell insurance business to Keoghs as revenue and profit dip again

Insurance and shipping specialist Hill Dickinson is in talks with fellow LB100 firm Keoghs to sell off part of its insurance business group.

Both firms – each based in the North West – confirmed they had held ‘high-level, preliminary discussions’ on the potential transfer of £23m worth of business, including 16 partners and more than 400 other staff but excluding Hill Dickinson’s marine and clinical negligence work. Continue reading “Troubled water: Hill Dickinson in talks to sell insurance business to Keoghs as revenue and profit dip again”

8 August 2017

Revolving doors: Fieldfisher hires from Hogan Lovells as global players make international appointments

Fieldfisher has made a major addition to its London corporate team while DWF, Watson Farley & Williams, O’Melveny & Myers and Linklaters have all made key hires around the globe.

Arriving from Hogan Lovells, Fieldfisher has appointed Keith Woodhouse as a partner in its London office. Woodhouse has experience in advising private equity houses on investments, M&A, disposals and restructurings. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Fieldfisher hires from Hogan Lovells as global players make international appointments”

8 August 2017

Linklaters and Addleshaws among the runners on William Hill’s leaner UK panel

Pinsent Masons, DLA Piper, Ashurst and Bird & Bird have all missed out on William Hill’s latest UK adviser panel, with Linklaters and Addleshaw Goddard the only firms to retain their places on the FTSE 250 bookmaker’s slimmed-down roster.

Slaughter and May, Eversheds Sutherland and Wiggin each won new spots on the five-firm panel following a review. Firms were invited to pitch for places around Easter. Continue reading “Linklaters and Addleshaws among the runners on William Hill’s leaner UK panel”

8 August 2017

‘A stellar team’: Pinsents to open in Perth with Norton Rose Fulbright partners

Pinsent Masons is continuing its extensive international expansion of late with a new Australian office and the hire of four infrastructure and energy partners from Norton Rose Fulbright.

The firm’s new Perth base, to open in the autumn, will be its third Australian office after Sydney and Melbourne and its fifth international launch in the last 18 months. Continue reading “‘A stellar team’: Pinsents to open in Perth with Norton Rose Fulbright partners”

7 August 2017

Financials 2016/17: Trowers & Hamlins steadies ship with double-digit turnover rise

Top-50 UK firm Trowers & Hamlins has recorded increases in turnover and profit per equity partner (PEP) to recover from last year’s mixed financial results.

Revenue at the 400-lawyer firm rose 12% from £85.6m to £97m, while PEP also saw a marginal 1% increase from £310,000 to £312,000 for the 2016/17 financial year. The growth in PEP was underpinned by a 10% increase in net income, from £19.5m to £21.5m. However the firm’s equity spread remained largely flat, with top of equity at £450,000 and the bottom at £180,000. Continue reading “Financials 2016/17: Trowers & Hamlins steadies ship with double-digit turnover rise”

7 August 2017

‘We are seeing results’: Kennedys’ international growth continues with Melbourne launch

Insurance specialist Kennedys is continuing to invest in its international operations by expanding into Melbourne through what is its seventh international office opening and eighth lateral hire this year.

The firm’s second Australian base will be led by Michael Kavanagh from local firm Lander & Rogers, where he was a partner. Continue reading “‘We are seeing results’: Kennedys’ international growth continues with Melbourne launch”

4 August 2017

‘Right to be voluntary’: Litigators respond to Jackson’s latest fixed costs proposals

City disputes partners have responded cautiously to proposals put forward by Lord Justice Jackson to extend the fixed recoverable costs (FRC) regime to a number of different claims.

Lord Jackson had been reviewing whether or not FRC should be introduced to all civil claims with a value up to £250,000. But in the report – published 31 July – he recommended introducing a voluntary capped costs pilot scheme solely for High Court claims valued up to £250,000. Continue reading “‘Right to be voluntary’: Litigators respond to Jackson’s latest fixed costs proposals”

4 August 2017

‘Takes us to a new level’: Hogan Lovells picks up Freshfields investment funds veteran Baird in latest partner exit

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has seen the departure of a member of its corporate team with the exit of investment funds partner Jonathan Baird to Hogan Lovells.

He is the latest hire into Hogan Lovells’ investment funds practice, with the transatlantic firm bringing in New York-based Adam Tope from Greenberg Traurig in March. Continue reading “‘Takes us to a new level’: Hogan Lovells picks up Freshfields investment funds veteran Baird in latest partner exit”