The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured a major win today (4 July) after three former Barclays traders were found guilty by a London jury of conspiring to fraudulently manipulate global benchmark interest rates.
Continue reading “‘Questions remain’: Three former Barclays traders convicted in London Libor trial”
Legal Business looks under the bonnet to assess how the Scottish arms of Pinsent Masons and CMS have fared post-merger.
The ‘Better Together’ campaign, in favour of preserving Scotland’s union with the UK in 2014, maintained that Scotland was stronger as part of Great Britain, winning that particular argument by a margin of around 11%. But while the battle may have been won for now, a number of Scottish law firms are still wrestling with the decision of whether to tie-up with an English suitor – a fact most recently indicated by Maclay Murray & Spens’ aborted merger talks with Addleshaw Goddard in February.
Continue reading “Better together? – Those Anglo-Scots unions in focus”
Pinsent Masons has posted more subdued figures for this financial year, with revenue up 5% from £362.4m to £382.3m and profit per equity partner (PEP) rising 2% from £538,000 to £550,000.
One of the big four remaining independent law firms in Scotland, Brodies has continued its strong form announcing revenue growth of 12% from £57.9m to £65.1m, while profits per equity partner (PEP) is up 13% from £532,000 to £602,000.
Law firms have attempted to blow away the Brexit blues with new partner hires. Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Hogan Lovells have added to their London offices, while in the Magic Circle Allen & Overy has expanded in Germany and Clifford Chance has boosted its Washington DC practice.
The latest corporate to boost its in-house legal capabilities through a high-profile recruit is Boston Consulting Group (BCG) which has appointed Ulrike Schwarz-Runer from property development company Grosvenor as global general counsel.
Latham & Watkins has boosted its real estate finance practice in the City, hiring Quentin Gwyer, who was executive counsel at GE Capital Real Estate. The appointment follows the hire of Jeremy Trinder from Dechert who started at the firm this week.
An administrators’ progress report for the now-defunct Parabis Group, published this week on Companies House, showed that unsecured creditors will receive only half of what was already a dismal return on their outstanding debts.
Continue reading “Parabis collapse update: Creditor dividend halved, latest report reveals”
Herbert Smith Freehills has significantly bumped up pay packets, awarding its associates with a base salary of £82,000, up £13,000 on last year’s £69,000.
King & Wood Mallesons, Latham & Watkins (KWM) and Cleveland firm BakerHostetler have advised on the $1bn sale of defense company Data Device Corporation (DDC) to TransDigm Group.
Continue reading “Dealwatch: KWM leads for regular client TransDigm on $1bn US defence purchase”
A high-profile barrister has launched a publicly-funded campaign with human rights firm Bindmans to consider a public law case on the result of the EU referendum.
Taylor Wessing has expanded its offering in Vietnam, by merging its Singapore outpost, RHTLaw Taylor Wessing, with its Vietnamese alliance firm PBC Partners.
Continue reading “Making it official: Taylor Wessing deepens Vietnam reach with local merger”
DLA Piper has continued its Nordic expansion, confirming a merger with Swedish law firm Grönberg Advokatbyrå. Continue reading “Strengthening Sweden: DLA Piper acquires 21 lawyer firm”
Texas headquartered law firm Haynes and Boone is to open its first European office, announcing a merger with London boutique Curtis Davis Garrard (CDG).
The renewed interest in Germany’s legal market continues apace with US firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher to launch in Frankfurt after hiring Latham & Watkins corporate partners Dirk Oberbracht and Wilhelm Reinhardt. Continue reading “Gibson Dunn continues Germany push, launching in Frankfurt with double Latham hire”
Shami Chakrabarti, the former director of Liberty, and the author of Labour’s report into antisemitism, has called on the party to appoint a general counsel or other staff lawyer, as well as a legal panel.
Nabarro has increased turnover by 3.5% to £130.4m, joining other mid-market firms with muted results for 2015/16. Last year the firm posted an 8% revenue rise to £126m, its biggest rise in more than a decade.
Due to the uncertainty and economic volatility stoked by last week’s shock Brexit vote, the Law Society has told MPs that plans to give the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and other regulators full independence should be shelved.
Insurance specialist Kennedys has announced solid revenue growth of 7% for this financial year from £129.9m to £138.8m. In addition, the firm’s UK figure has topped £100m, with turnover at £102m from £99.6m.
The ongoing saga that is the £4bn shareholder group action against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) continues to prove controversial, as it has emerged that litigation powerhouses Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Stewarts Law and Signature Litigation are seeking millions worth of costs incurred from the claimants of Mishcon de Reya.
