The shifting interests of international business are echoed in recent law firm moves across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and reflected in the recently published 2016 The Legal 500 EMEA, which added 15 countries to its coverage over the past two years to address growing interest in Africa, as well as the return of international work to jurisdictions such as Iran and Iraq.
Continue reading “Comment: The Legal 500 perspective on EMEA – more ways than ever to skin a cat”
‘New York To $190!’ was the long-running headline Above The Law printed frequently in more innocent and/or palmier days, with (we suppose) a combination of hope and bemusement. Well, Cravath’s pre-emptive strike of going to $180k didn’t quite get us there. Welcome to the New Normal – or the New Mediocre, the version I’m fond of because of its pith.
Continue reading “Guest post: US associate pay – welcome to the New Mediocre”
Three months after it was confirmed the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s (ISDA) longstanding general counsel (GC) David Geen had stood down, the trade organisation has announced a replacement, appointing Katherine Tew Darras to the role.
Terra Firma Capital Partners has withdrawn its £2.3bn claim against Citigroup just days after the trial started at London’s High Court.
Continue reading “‘It’s all over now’: Terra Firma drops £2.3bn EMI claim against Citi”
White & Case has continued its rapid recruitment drive, hiring Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer real estate finance partner Jeffrey Rubinoff.
Transport for London (TfL) has extended its current panel by two years with a plan to re-tender in 2018, Legal Business understands.
Continue reading “In-house: Transport for London extends current panel by two years”
In a bid to compete with its US rivals, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Clifford Chance have followed in the footsteps of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, matching the salaries of its US-based associates, bringing pay to $180,000.
The Bar Council has published an analysis of the impacts of Brexit in an attempt to provide a neutral analysis of the debate. Leaving the European Union would be ‘extremely complex’ with the need to introduce new rules if Britain is to remain in the European Single Market, according to the report.
Barclays is planning to extend the value account system it introduced in 2014, where law firms are required to pay a rebate if they fail to hit their value targets, to all external advisers as part of its current panel review.
Continue reading “Barclays panel latest: More firms to pay up as bank extends value account scheme”
Following a year-long consultation with the partnership and external advisers, high-flying City firm Mishcon de Reya has revealed a refreshed business strategy for the next decade, with a target to lift UK revenue by 40% to £175m within the next three years. Unaudited figures for 2015/16 project revenue to be in excess of £125m.
Continue reading “‘A transformed business’: Mishcon de Reya unveils ten-year strategy”
Predictions of a pay war have proved correct after four US firms followed Cravath, Swaine & Moore into bumping up their associate pay.
Continue reading “Following suit: Four firms match Cravath associate pay boost”
Fieldfisher, which recently released new a strategy homing on in three sectors, has posted a 7% increase in firmwide revenues for 2015/16, up to £121.5m from £113.3m. The result comes after the firm posted an 8% rise in revenue at the half-year point in November.
Continue reading “Financials 2015/16: Disputes drive Fieldfisher’s 7% revenue growth”
After MPs in the BHS inquiry called on the law firms involved to disclose further details of their dealings, Olswang has failed to provide details of its fees, while Linklaters and Nabarro have released what they billed.
Continue reading “Olswang silent as inquiry reveals Linklaters billed £1.2m to Arcadia in BHS sale”
Having closed its investigation earlier this year due to ‘lack of evidence’, it has emerged that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) spent £2.1m investigating alleged rigging of the foreign exchange (forex) market in less than two years.
Continue reading “Revealed: SFO records £2.1m spend on Forex investigation”
Much like British voters ahead of this month’s vote on EU membership, City law firms have been shaped in recent decades by mainland Europe, even as they have become increasingly ambivalent about that mingled destiny. It was the huge bet on European integration that gave birth to the global law firm as pioneered by London’s legal elite through the 1990s. At the turn of the millennium, the key strategic battles among City law firms were as likely to be fought in Frankfurt or Milan as London.
Continue reading “Elite indies carve out role as the one-stop shop shuts in Europe”
If there was much to celebrate amid the continued rise of London as an international disputes centre at Legal Business‘ second Commercial Litigation Summit on 24 May, the cloud on the horizon was apparent: the mounting conviction that the UK judiciary is near crisis.
Growing administrative burdens, earlier retirements, cuts to judges’ pensions and court funding – not to mention far higher earnings on offer for commercial silks. Chairing our debate on the state of the judiciary, Sir Bernard Eder remarked: ’80-100-hour working weeks are nothing to commercial judges.’ Ashurst partner Ed Sparrow picked up the theme, highlighting terrible morale in the 2014 judicial attitudes survey – a report which the veteran litigator branded a ‘terrifying document’ for those concerned with the reputation of the London courts. Sparrow added that thanks to the loss of kudos for judges in austerity Britain: ‘Judges feel that they are treated like assets and I would say sweated like assets.’
Continue reading “Not ‘looming’, the judiciary is already in crisis”
The shifting interests of international business are echoed in recent law firm moves across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and reflected in the recently published 2016 The Legal 500 EMEA, which added 15 countries to its coverage over the past two years to address growing interest in Africa, as well as the return of international work to jurisdictions such as Iran and Iraq.
Looking at EMEA results, two core themes emerge: a realignment of priorities among international practices and an emergence of firms positioned as the go-to contender for regional work.
Continue reading “The Legal 500 view on EMEA – more ways than ever to skin a cat”
To mark our inaugural Euro Elite report, management at leading independent firms give us their market views
CO-OPERATION IS KEY
‘Some international firms have been more open to co-operating with domestic Italian firms; others have not. The first category has been more successful.’
Francesco Gianni, founding partner, Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners
Unease over department restructuring continues
Lloyds Banking Group is pushing an incentive scheme to its lawyers to secure new recruits into senior legal roles following a string of exits. The move comes after the bank made multiple redundancies as part of an ongoing restructure.
Continue reading “Lloyds offers bonus for help filling senior legal roles amid shake-up”
Eversheds, Hogan Lovells and Baker & McKenzie are among nine firms to have won places on French multinational aerospace, defence and security firm Safran’s inaugural global legal panel.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges, as well as Fieldfisher and Osborne Clarke (OC) have also made the roster, alongside domestic French boutiques Betto Seraglini, Brunswick Société d’Avocats and Courrégé Foreman.
