The June judgment followed a 9-11 May hearing, at which Ahluwalia admitted failing to ensure that a client’s defence in 2013 was filed in good time, resulting in default judgment and £500,000 damages and costs.
Sullivan & Cromwell and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz led a host of elite US law firms advising Amazon on its $13.7bn purchase of Whole Foods Market, marking the online retailer’s first expansion into the bricks-and-mortar food industry.
Continue reading “S&C and Wachtell lead on Amazon’s $13.7bn Whole Foods buyout”
The tie-up will create one of the five largest container shipping lines in the world, with 230 vessels and a combined turnover of around $12bn.
Natura was in exclusive negotiations with L’Oréal, which put The Body Shop up for sale in February after buying the business in 2006 for £652m.
Continue reading “Linklaters advises L’Oréal on €1bn Body Shop sale”
DWF has broken into Asia for the first time, opening a Singapore office to expand its growing regional client offering. In June, DWF recruited a four-lawyer team formerly from Eversheds.
Continue reading “‘Most important strategic step’: DWF breaks into Asia with Singapore start-up”
The Collora buyout gives Hogan Lovells access to a new market within the US. It will gain Collora’s expertise in life sciences and healthcare, as well as its financial services and technology clients. After the deal completes, Hogan Lovells and Collora will share over 500 life sciences lawyers.
Continue reading “Hogan Lovells opens new Boston office in Collora buyout”
Even before that, BLP had been through a factional election in 2015 which elevated employment specialist Lisa Mayhew as its new managing partner, while gripes over a disastrous run of partner hires on guaranteed pay deals several years previously have still not been forgotten.
DLA Piper, the world’s second-largest Swiss Verein-structured law firm, saw global turnover in 2016 drop 3% to $2.47bn from $2.54bn. The drop in overall revenue was attributed by the firm to exchange rate fluctuations across the global firm’s international business, which is divided between an international LLP and a US LLP. In sterling, DLA says, turnover was up 3%.
Similarly, Norton Rose Fulbright saw turnover drop 3% to $1.69bn, with the firm again attributing the performance to currency fluctuations. In a statement, a spokesperson said the firm had seen a 3% increase on 2015 revenue using like-for-like exchange rates, adding: ‘Our stated US dollar figures are very susceptible to currency exchange moves and, in the past year, the sterling, euro, Australian/Canadian dollars and South African rand experienced significant negative moves against the US dollar.’
‘I prefer to use the Magic Circle rather than US firms. They are, if anything, becoming better-run businesses.’
Philip Bramwell, BAE Systems
It should come as no surprise that clients on the global stage continue to demand more from their advisers. Yet, for the most part, those London-headquartered firms at the top end of the Global 100 report are delivering for clients despite the influx of international firms, particularly those based in the US, into their home market.
‘I continue to believe that the Magic Circle firms offer excellent strength and depth on big-ticket issues,’ says Philip Bramwell, group general counsel (GC) of multinational defence, security and aerospace company BAE Systems. ‘Their strength is in their gene pool – their core systems and the processes that they continue to invest in – and they are, if anything, becoming better-run businesses.’
AIM-listed law firm Gateley has posted a double-digit increase in revenues for this financial year, with turnover up 16% from £67.1m to £77.6m.
Akin Gump has increased trainee salaries by 12% and 8% for first and second years respectively, with the group representing the first trainees the US firm has taken on, while its newly qualified (NQ) pay remained static this financial year.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has added to its growing European offering with the appointment of London-based arbitration partner Jeffrey Sullivan from Allen & Overy (A&O).
Ince & Co is offering its lawyers the option to choose a different career path from the traditional partner track, as it revamps its associate pay structure.
Travers Smith has recorded a 4% rise in revenue to £125m, marking eight consecutive years of growth, while the firm’s profits fell amid investment and challenging market conditions.
Continue reading “‘Top end of expectations’: Travers PEP drops below £1m as turnover edges up”
LB100 firm Gordon Dadds is in ‘very advanced negotiations’ to become an AIM-listed law firm by August this year, following a recent share offer of £18.75m by Work Group.
Litigation specialist Stewarts Law has posted its third consecutive year of double-digit growth, with a record profit per equity partner (PEP) rising 30% to reach £1.9m.
Claire Chapman (pictured), the general counsel (GC) and company secretary of the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) has left the company after almost five years, Legal Business can reveal.
Continue reading “In-house: Daily Mail’s GC Claire Chapman departs after five years”
Travers Smith, Macfarlanes and Jones Day have all boosted their junior lawyers pay in this year’s review, in contrast to Herbert Smith Freehills and CMS McKenna Nabarro Olswang which have held pay for London associates, with some regional pay rises.
The arrival of July marked a heightened pace of lateral hires by UK firms boosting their London bases. Simmons & Simmons recruited to its corporate team, while Dentons, Watson Farley & Williams (WFW), RPC and PwC also appointed key new partners.
