UK firm Burges Salmon’s profitability fell 8% in the year to 30 April for the first time in six years, which the firm attributed to the negative impact of Brexit on its business in a challenging year.
This year, the Bristol-headquartered firm’s revenue stayed at £87m, slightly down from last year’s £87.4m. Continue reading “Financials 2016/17: Expansive Burges Salmon cites Brexit impact as revenue and PEP growth halted”
Firms have strengthened their global practices, as Hogan Lovells appointed a key Paris partner, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher recruited in Munich, McGuireWoods hired in London and Winston & Strawn brought in a new Dubai managing partner.
Hogan Lovells have recruited heavyweight antitrust Francois Brunet in Paris, after a 26-year career building Cleary’s antitrust practice. His practice focuses on complex merger cases and cartel investigations. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Hogan Lovells and Gibson Dunn expand on continent, McGuireWoods appoint to London, Winston to Dubai”
Private wealth specialist Withers has recorded a decade of consecutive growth this year, with a profit per equity partner (PEP) boost of 25% to £381,000.
With 2016/17 revenues up 8% to £174.5m, the pace of growth slowed from last year, when the top line figure was up 21% to £161.5m, but the firm’s international expansion appeared to continue to pay off. Continue reading “‘Encouraging results’: Withers’ global expansion breeds revenue growth as PEP leaps 25%”
Former Clifford Chance(CC) Germany private equity (PE) head, Christopher Kellett, who retired from the firm’s partnership in April, is understood to be joining Linklaters’ Frankfurt office as the firm strengthens its capabilities.
Kellett joined CC in 1996. The firm appointed him head of PE in Germany in 2015. Continue reading “Linklaters strengthens German private equity arm with former Clifford Chance heavyweight”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringerhas appointed Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrisonlawyer Menachem Kaplan (pictured) as its first partner to head up the firm’s intellectual property (IP) capabilities in the US.
Kaplan joins Freshfields today (24 July) as the firm’s first IP partner to be based in New York. He joins Freshfield’s international IP offering led by three existing IP partners elsewhere – Avril Martindale and Giles Pratt in London and Frank-Erich Hufnagel in Dusseldorf. Continue reading “‘Firing on all cylinders’: Freshfields appoints Paul Weiss lawyer to head US IP team”
Five New York-based partners are to leave Ashurst for US finance firm Chapman and Cutler, completing the full departure of the ten-partner team the firm hired from McKee Nelson in 2009 to launch a structured finance practice.
Collateralised loan obligation (CLO) partners Pat Quill, David Nirenberg, Steve Kopp, Doug Bird and Tom Glushko will all leave Ashurst this week, after originally arriving as part of a 30-lawyer finance team which included ten partners in 2009. The deal gave Ashurst a presence in both New York and Washington DC. Continue reading “Ashurst to lose five remaining New York structured finance launch partners to US firm”
Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) has revealed 3% revenue growth for the 2016/17 financial year, alongside an 8% jump in profit per equity partner (PEP) in its second full year since the merger of Charles Russell and Speechly Bircham in 2014.
CRS managing partner James Carter said last year was one of consolidation for the merged firm, while dealing with costs associated with several office openings against the backdrop of a largely flat UK market. Continue reading “Charles Russell unveils 8% PEP rise amid modest revenue growth in year of consolidation”
Vinson & Elkins(V&E) has increased its London associate and trainee solicitor salary levels, boosting newly qualified salaries 20% to £120,000 and first-year trainee salaries by 11% to£50,000.
The firm announced the rates this week (20 July), alongside its second-year associates pay. They will receive a pay rise of 15% to £127,000 (from £110,000 previously), while the firm boosted third-year salaries to £140,000, a 17% increase from £120,000 last year. Meanwhile, the firm hiked second-year trainee salaries 17% to £55,000. Continue reading “20% hike at Vinson pushes associate starting pay to £120k as US leaders heat up City talent market”
Dentons is to combine with Scottish firm Maclay Murray & Spens, embarking on the latest phase of its European expansion into Scotland’s oil and gas markets and bringing its total UK lawyers to over 800.
The merger is the latest in a series for the Dentons, the world’s largest law firm by number of fee earners, as it adds three more offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Dentons’ European offices will total 31 on completion of the deal. Continue reading “Dentons to merge with Scotland’s Maclay Murray & Spens to gain foothold in European oil and gas centre”
The government department for exiting the European Union (DExEU) has spent £3.7m in legal costs since it was set up last summer, the most significant area of expenditure for DExEU after overall staff costs of £14m.
A government report published on Wednesday (19 July) revealed that DExEU cost taxpayers £1.2m in legal fees for the cases brought against the government, including that on triggering of Article 50, which formally started the UK’s withdrawal process from the European Union (EU). Continue reading “Brexit government department spent £3.7m in legal costs in year since EU referendum”
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has today (21 July) ruled against certifying one of the first US-style £14bn opt-out consumer damages antitrust class actions, against payment giant MasterCard, in what would have been the UK’s largest claim.
CAT president Mr Justice Roth ruled against allowing the collective proceedings application on grounds that potentially disparate groups of claimants could not form a single class action for the purposes of this claim, regardless of the means of payments used or the retailer from whom the purchase was made. Continue reading “Court rejects landmark application for £14bn class action against MasterCard in Freshfields win”
The Supreme Court has gained its first female head with Lady Hale today (21 July) confirmed as its new president alongside three new appointments to the UK’s top court.
The appointment, replacing the outgoing Lord Neuberger, will be welcomed by diversity campaigners and the profession’s liberal wing with the outspoken Hale often regarded as the court’s most progressive judge. Continue reading “UK’s top court gains first female president as progressive’s darling Hale to lead the Supreme Court”
City-headquartered professional services firm RPC will retain 82% of its trainees this autumn, a 15% increase from last year’s intake, as the firm sees growth in its Asia business.
The firm said that 14 of its 17 London-based second-year trainees have secured newly-qualified (NQs) roles at the firm, the majority of which will work in its London office while of the remaining two, one will be based in Bristol and the other will permanently transfer to its Hong Kong office in January 2018. Continue reading “RPC to retain 82% of trainees to newly-qualified roles as firm performs in Asia”
To recap as the UK tiptoes towards banana republic territory in the wake of last month’s inconclusive, prediction-defying general election: City professionals face the prospect of an unsteady government negotiating a logistically-epic exit from the EU with an uncertain agenda against a much larger and better prepared counter-party. That is until the next general election in perhaps the autumn. Continue reading “Comment: Magic Circle playbooks in Europe are full of contradictions’”
The civil courts generated a £100m surplus in their most recent year according to new figures that are bound to hike concerns over the use of civil courts to subsidise the justice system.
Over the last year, HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) has generated fee income of nearly £800m, £186m from family justice fees and more than £602m from civil justice fees, surpassing its own spend by £102m, while cuts to the service continue. Continue reading “Civil court service fees generate £102m surplus for government as job cuts continue”
Disputes and business crime boutique Peters & Peters has today (19 July) announced that the former head of special crime at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Nick Vamos, will become a partner at the firm.
Vamos, a qualified barrister, will join the firm as a partner on 4 September. He has significant criminal law experience, specialising in international criminal investigations, corporate manslaughter cases and political and police corruption. Continue reading “‘GCs are becoming much more discerning’: CPS special crime head Vamos to join Peters & Peters”
Ince & Co’s revenue has grown 16% to £88.5m this year, signalling recovery from a three-year decline, in what Ince’s international senior partner Jan Heuvels described as a ‘good year of investment and growth.’
Heuvels (pictured) told Legal Business that, ‘if you strip out the FX effect, as we do have significant non-sterling earnings, we still have a significant 10% increase in real terms.’ Continue reading “‘Work in an agile way’: Ince & Co revenues rebound with 16% growth after three-year decline”
Fieldfisher has invested in a digital platform offering an automated way to generate and update documents required during funding rounds, allowing start-ups and investors to negotiate and close deals remotely and more quickly, which could also offer the firm new clients.
European firm Fieldfisher was part of a £1m investment round in SeedLegals, launched three months ago, along with another law firm, investment fund Seedcamp and several other companies. Fieldfisher has a particular technology, finance and energy focus and is growing its network of European offices. Continue reading “‘A game changer’: Fieldfisher invests in digital platform for start-up funding rounds”
White & Case has been fined £250,000 in the largest-ever sanction imposed by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) against a firm, as it said today (19 July) that the firm had breached conduct rules by acting recklessly in failing to identify a conflict of interest and failure to protect confidential information regarding a $2bn Ukrainian commercial dispute.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) referred the case to the SDT after the High Court found in 2014 that the firm had failed to identify a conflict of interest and barred it from acting on the case. Continue reading “‘Acted recklessly’: White & Case fined record sum by SDT for conflict of interest breach”
The hopes of the UK’s largest legal watchdog of being separated from the Law Society appear to have been dashed, according to a Government paper that backs away from a full split of lawyers’ trade union and regulatory bodies.
The Ministry of Justice review, published today (19 July), indicates that the government is backing off earlier proposals to fully separate the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the profession’s primary front-line regulator, from the Law Society. Continue reading “Brexit saves Chancery Lane’s bacon as Government backs off proposals to split SRA from Law Society”
