Posted on

Hogan Lovells opens new Boston office in Collora buyout

Hogan Lovells is acquiring Boston-based litigation and investigations firm Collora on 1 September, taking on 15 partners in a move to bolster the firm’s life sciences offering in the US.

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”

Posted on

Solid foundations but a struggle to build – Can BLP regain the confidence of its 2000s heyday?

Last year did not run smoothly for Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP). Merger talks with Greenberg Traurig publicly fell apart amid some acrimony, while the City firm’s revenues dipped 2% in the 2015/16 year, making it one of the few Legal Business 100 players to see its top line slide.

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.

Continue reading “Solid foundations but a struggle to build – Can BLP regain the confidence of its 2000s heyday?”

Posted on

‘It’s the clothes on top that matter’: how much does structure affect the Swiss Verein firms?

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.’

Continue reading “‘It’s the clothes on top that matter’: how much does structure affect the Swiss Verein firms?”

Posted on

London calling: the client view

‘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.’

Continue reading “London calling: the client view”

Posted on

Travers, Macfarlanes and Jones Day boost junior lawyers pay while HSF and CMS freeze associate salaries

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. 

Continue reading “Travers, Macfarlanes and Jones Day boost junior lawyers pay while HSF and CMS freeze associate salaries”

Posted on

Clifford Chance turns to Clydes as SRA launches probe into firm on Excalibur litigation

Clifford Chance (CC) has instructed lawyers at Clyde & Co to represent it in an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), reportedly involving the firm’s part in the Excalibur professional negligence case, resulting from a claim in which an appeal judge criticised CC for an ‘acute’ conflict of interest.

Continue reading “Clifford Chance turns to Clydes as SRA launches probe into firm on Excalibur litigation”