The UK’s Magic Circle (MC) – a variable, but severally-numbered group of firms which represent a charmed band favoured by the government, banks and major companies in the UK – will not, I think, survive in the longer term. Continue reading “Guest post: The Magic Circle is doomed. Here’s why.”
Travers Smith has unveiled its partner promotions for 2017, with four female associates making the cut. The number is slightly less than last year, when six associates (two of whom were women) were made up. Continue reading “Travers Smith announces first ever all-female partner promotion round”
DLA Piper and Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners have picked up mandates as Italy’s Atlantia launched a bid of €16.3bn cash-and-share offer for its Spanish rival Abertis, in an effort to create the world’s biggest operator of toll roads. Continue reading “DLA in the driver’s seat as Italy’s Atlantia bids to create world’s largest operator of toll roads”
DLA Piper announced today (15 May) that it is entering Nigeria through an alliance with local firm Olajide Oyewole, following three minor office closures and one opening in the space of two months for the firm. Olajide Oyewole was established in 1966 and is based in Lagos. Continue reading “‘Reflecting a strong relationship’: DLA continues global expansion with Nigeria alliance”
Mishcon de Reya has revealed a six-strong shortlist of legal tech start-ups to participate in its incubator programme, MDR LAB. The companies were selected after a pitch day at Mishcon’s London office on 25 April, where 19 companies presented their products. Continue reading “‘Young and ambitious’: Mishcon picks six legal start-ups for incubation programme”
Legal Business‘ team and contacts have had to put up with me banging on about my intention to do an issue focused on quality of life for quite some time. It is a difficult topic to write about without descending into generality or banality but this remains a people business to the bone.
Continue reading “Comment: Quality of life – law can give it…and take it away”
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has named Capsticks as its sole provider for disciplinary and litigation work, opting to abandon a law firm panel approach.
Continue reading “Capsticks wins out as SRA ditches panels for sole adviser mandate”
William Hill has invited law firms to pitch for its new UK panel with the bookmaker expected to slim down its six-strong roster. Continue reading “Luck of the draw: William Hill invites law firms to pitch for smaller legal panel”
LB100 firm Bevan Brittan has brought 90 administrative staff back into the firm, ending its six-year agreement with Intelligent Office UK – which takes outsourced services from professional services firms. Continue reading “Back in-house: Bevan Brittan ends outsourcing agreement to bring 90 admin staff into the firm”
Listed law firm Slater and Gordon (S&G) is to bring a £600m action against the company formerly known as Quindell over its 2015 deal to acquire Quindell’s professional services division.
White & Case‘s London associates have seen a significant increase in their pay with the US firm awarding its newly qualified (NQ) associates with a £15,000 pay hike for 2017.
Experienced financial regulation partner Bob Penn, who moved to Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton last year and advised HSBC on the controversial bank ring-fencing reforms while at Allen & Overy (A&O), is clear on whether those reforms are fit for purpose. ‘This is a hugely unwelcome and disruptive process, and frankly yet another distraction from running a profitable bank at a time when they are already facing a cascade of regulatory reform and the prospect of Brexit.’
The City’s leading firms have formally embraced flexible working, with the percentage of fee-earners working part-time at the top ten of the Legal Business 100 ranging between 2% and 10%.
Continue reading “‘Some firms do it very well’: Top City outfits embrace flexible working”
While pitching to general counsel (GCs) is hardly a foreign concept for private practitioners, an elite group of GCs for fast-growth companies has invited a pre-selected list of law firms to bid to host its events.
After going months without a global managing partner, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has appointed Australia chief executive partner Sue Kench to the role, effective 1 June 2017. Continue reading “‘Cementing KWM’: Australian chief exec Kench elected as new global managing partner”
Kirkland & Ellis has returned to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to hire financial restructuring partner Sean Lacey.
Clyde & Co has kept up the rapid pace of its international expansion by announcing its first office in Mexico, merging with four-partner local law firm Garza Tello & Asociados. Meanwhile, Dentons has signed a strategic alliance in Brazil with local firm Vella Pugliese Buosi Guidoni.
Sarah Davis, group commercial legal director of Guardian Media Group (GMG) , is set to leave the company after seven years in the role, Legal Business can reveal. Continue reading “In-house: Sarah Davis to leave legal director role at Guardian Media Group”
Emerging markets are by nature volatile, frequently impacted by events such as political instability, civil unrest, corruption and other economic forces. The extremes of growth and decline could hardly be more apparent than in the Middle East, where the collapse in oil prices has prompted a great deal of soul searching.
Saudi Arabia, for example, is going through the most radical social and economic reform programme in its history, and Iran is still subject to ongoing trade sanctions and uncertainty connected to US foreign policy. Added to this, these two nations share deep enmity, which demands high levels of diplomacy on the part of firms that target both jurisdictions. Continue reading “Holding steady – A turbulent Middle East market separates the committed from the faint-hearted”
Every Thursday at 6pm, Yair Geva, co-head of Herzog Fox & Neeman (HFN)’s high-tech department, drinks a beer on the rooftop of a client’s office in central Tel Aviv. The weekly drink, which started seven years ago when he returned to Israel from New York, is a routine that is borne out of professional commitment and friendship. In the start-up and high-tech world, the two often go hand in hand.
‘We share a long journey with our clients and we are often with them from day one,’ Geva says. ‘The only way to keep in touch with this very vibrant dynamic ecosystem is to hang out with friends, clients and hear the news.’ Continue reading “In the game – Israeli law firms embrace risks to secure the tech icons of tomorrow”
