Following the unveiling of an 18-firm general legal advice panel in March, the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has announced plans for a new £90m finance and complex work legal panel.
Continue reading “Government launches tender process for £90m complex projects panel”
In what amounts to a break-up of one of the City’s most storied private equity partner duos, Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom has hired White & Case’s global and EMEA PE co-head Richard Youle, along with recently promoted PE partner Katja Butler.
Continue reading “‘Move makes sense’: Skadden breaks up White & Case City PE duo with Youle hire”
Six former Cobbetts lawyers, including former managing partner Nicholas Carr and senior partner Stephen Benson, have been referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) following the Manchester firm’s collapse in 2013.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett‘s London managing partner Gregory Conway has stepped down from his role after 10 years of leading the practice in favour of private funds partner Jason Glover, while litigator Sally Davies has been named Sean Connolly’s replacement as senior partner at the City office of Mayer Brown.
Following the completion of its transatlantic merger with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan on 1 February, legacy Eversheds today (19 May) reported revenue growth of 8% to £438.6m for 2016/2017.
Continue reading “‘An anticipated dip’: Eversheds’ 2016/17 profit falls as revenue increases by 8%”
Theresa May’s pledge to scrap the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and incorporate it into the National Crime Agency (NCA) has dominated the City’s reaction to the release of the Conservative Party manifesto, which also makes clear the need for proper approval of bidders on M&A transactions.
Continue reading “Big leap forward? City reacts to Conservative manifesto pledge to scrap SFO”
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan announced today (19 May) that it has hired Shearman & Sterling’s global antitrust head and managing partner of its Brussels office, Stephen Mavroghenis, as well as competition partner Miguel Rato – after first approaching the team last autumn.
It would be hypocritical for the legal media to complain about the lack of serious debate on work/life balance but since no-one got into this game to be consistent, we will not let that stop us. Attempting to make up for lost time this month with a focus on quality of life, the core question is how can the profession help its staff make work more rewarding and achieve some measure of balance in their lives?
Continue reading “Comment: The true capitalist case for a new work/life deal”
A casual tweet of mine about the Oxford stabbing story gained unusual prominence (for a tweet of mine) and most of the people I have bumped into have wanted to talk about it. Continue reading “Guest post: Being within the law does not put judiciary beyond criticism – The bread knife of legal reasoning”
Ah, despite the changing fashions, technology and economic realities of the day, in law you can always rely on that curious mix of mutual hypocrisy, miscommunication, mistrust and conflicting agendas between clients and law firms to endure. Continue reading “Clients and rookie lawyers – some awkward truths and a woolly debate on training”
Ah, despite the changing fashions, technology and economic realities of the day, in law you can always rely on that curious mix of mutual hypocrisy, miscommunication, mistrust and conflicting agendas between clients and law firms to endure. Continue reading “Clients and rookie lawyers – some awkward truths and a woolly debate on training”
Supermarket giant Tesco has gifted Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) with another three-year stint as its lead property adviser. The mandate was last extended in 2014 when Tesco dropped Ashurst from its panel and the extension is a further endorsement of BLP’s key practice area and low-cost Manchester base.
Tesco also uses Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for corporate and commercial work and the Magic Circle firm recently advised the supermarket as it signed a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay the Serious Fraud Office £129m in fines relating to a 2014 profit misstatement, avoiding prosecution after a two-year investigation. Allen & Overy, Hill Dickinson and Squire Patton Boggs are also among Tesco’s regular advisers. Continue reading “Significant matters – Spring 2017”
Supermarket giant Tesco has gifted Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) with another three-year stint as its lead property adviser. The mandate was last extended in 2014 when Tesco dropped Ashurst from its panel and the extension is a further endorsement of BLP’s key practice area and low-cost Manchester base.
Tesco also uses Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for corporate and commercial work and the Magic Circle firm recently advised the supermarket as it signed a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay the Serious Fraud Office £129m in fines relating to a 2014 profit misstatement, avoiding prosecution after a two-year investigation. Allen & Overy, Hill Dickinson and Squire Patton Boggs are also among Tesco’s regular advisers. Continue reading “Significant matters – Spring 2017”
To coincide with the 20th annual Legal Business Awards, a launch reception was held on 23 March to mark the launch of our fifth annual GC Powerlist which, under the unifying title The Clients of Tomorrow, looked at both the outstanding rising star in-house counsel and high-growth companies with the prospects of becoming the global giants of tomorrow. At the gathering, which included key representatives from FTSE 100 companies such as Virgin Atlantic, Telefónica and RSA, The In-House Lawyer editor-in-chief Alex Novarese said this year’s report was the most challenging yet to research but also probably the most interesting. Continue reading “GC Powerlist”
In a world where newspapers are branding judges ‘enemies of the people’ and fake news dominates public discourse, these days the media itself is the story.
‘There are known knowns… There are known unknowns… but there are also unknown unknowns.’
‘When I initiated discussions on our culture at partners’ meetings, I could see the faces of many of my former partners light up, not for the reasons I hoped, but from the reflected glow of their BlackBerrys. They saw an excellent opportunity to catch up on more pressing issues, while I, to their minds, embarked on some abstruse philosophical and largely meaningless examination of our corporate soul.’ David Harrel, senior partner of SJ Berwin between 1992 and 2006, writing in Legal Business, 2013
At a recent event for senior in-house counsel in London, two clear messages emerged. Firstly, that there is a rapid professionalisation in the way that major legal departments are managing themselves. Secondly, there was agreement that much of the support for change was being driven from the ‘alternative’ legal market. Despite this, there was a lack of agreement as to what lay behind this process and how alternative providers were supporting it. In this article we explore these two issues. Firstly, what are the changes in-house legal departments are looking to bring about? And, secondly, how can the alternative marketplace help support them? Continue reading “The shock of the new”
For classists, the word ‘disruptive’ still carries negative connotations of damage, chaos and disarray. But these days in corporate circles it has become the phrase of the day – a complimentary shorthand to describe tech-driven innovators remaking all manner of industries. But the cult of disruption – birthed in Clayton Christensen’s hugely influential 1997 book The Innovator’s Dilemma – has truly come of age when it has reached not only the legal profession, but its in-house branch.
In her much-touted new book on bolstering team-working in professional services, Smart Collaboration, Harvard Law School professor Heidi Gardner argues that sophisticated buyers are increasingly expecting an open-house approach from advisers in delivering their wares.
