The Law Society, already fighting to recapture full control of education standards for lawyers from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), is facing a claim at the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) over ‘an abuse of its dominant position’ that is allegedly ‘restricting competition’ of financial crime training in the UK.
Continue reading “Legal training provider launches competition claim against Law Society”
As a sluggish US legal market drives consolidation, Reed Smith is lining up a merger with smaller American firm Pepper Hamilton.
Continue reading “Reed Smith enters merger discussions with Pepper Hamilton”
Stephenson Harwood has hired Ashurst corporate partner and board member Anthony Clare who is leaving the firm after 14 years.
Continue reading “Ashurst corporate partner Clare quits for Stephenson Harwood”
A few years ago the general counsel of one of the big banks told me that they only went to outside law firms for three reasons. First to get advice on what to do. That could be on a deal, a dispute or some other objective of the bank. It requires senior time and is not particularly price sensitive. Let’s call that ‘advisory work’.
In a move to boost its real estate finance practice, Linklaters has hired former Allen & Overy (A&O) real estate finance head Mark O’Neill.
Partners from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer continue to exit the firm’s European offices as a four partner team is about to leave the Paris outpost to join Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
Lawyers have teamed up with journalists to condemn the so-called snooper’s charter as MPs began discussing the Investigatory Powers bill in parliament this week.
Olswang has made just two partner promotions firmwide including one in the City, while Nabarro has promoted five in a City-heavy round. Continue reading “Partner promotions: Nabarro makes up four in the City as Olswang makes up one in reduced round”
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has asked several law firms to clarify whether they are linked to the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers leak, Mossack Fonseca.
Continue reading “SRA to probe City firm connections to Panama Papers”
AIM listed law firm Gateley has bought tax adviser Capitus in a deal worth £2.72m, the firm’s first acquisition since its listing in June 2015.
Continue reading “Gateley acquires tax adviser Capitus in first deal since AIM listing”
These are tough times for the house that Stanley Berwin built, with exhibit A being recent news that King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is undergoing a sweeping partnership restructuring set to trim its European business by nearly two dozen partners, or 15% of its ranks.
Continue reading “Comment: KWM – ultimately it comes down to a question of confidence”
US firm Winston & Strawn has swooped on City rival Simmons & Simmons to take aviation finance duo Mark Moody and Christopher Boresjo.
Continue reading “Winston & Strawn makes double partner hire from Simmons in aviation finance boost”
Forsters lined up against Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May on Tata Steel’s deal to sell its European long products business to UK investment house Greybull Capital.
Continue reading “Steel deal: Forsters and Slaughters lead as Tata sells first chunk of UK business”
To avoid tax you have to do a thing which cuts your tax bill. Fail to do that thing and your tax bill is higher. But do it and you’ve avoided tax compared with an alternative world – economists call it a counterfactual but you and I would call it an overdraft – in which your tax bill is higher.
Continue reading “Guest post: On David Cameron and inheritance tax”
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has boosted its City-based investigations practice having relocated white collar partner Keith Krakaur (pictured) from New York to London to head the firm’s European government enforcement and white collar crime practice.
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Jones Day are leading a raft of firms advising on a £1.4bn property deal between Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company and Delancey. Olswang, Mishcon de Reya and Simmons & Simmons are also acting on the joint venture.
Continue reading “HSF and Jones Day lead on £1.4bn deal between Qatari Diar and Delancey”
King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has been ordered to pay its former client Commodities Research Unit International (CRUI) damages of £118,125 after facing a professional negligence claim at London’s High Court.
Maritime and insurance firm Ince & Co has continued to break away from long-standing tradition with the launch of a new consultancy firm.
Continue reading “Adaptation continues as Ince & Co launches non-legal consultant service”
Paris has been a hot spot for lateral hires this week, as firms including Squire Patton Boggs, Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) and Mayer Brown make international appointments across the board.
Sometimes in business what you correctly forecast can prove as problematic as what you get wrong. Because even when you manage the considerable feat of identifying what will happen in the world you are left with problems of unintended consequences.
Take the one-stop shop, a dominating idea during the legal industry’s defining 1990s-era globalisation as firms fought to become larger players that could serve clients across borders and product lines. The idea was that plc clients would narrow their adviser lists to smaller numbers of larger law firms. And this has largely come to pass – the trend of smaller panels has been well documented for years and the shift shows no sign of changing. There is also ample evidence that being a one-stop shop for high-end work across borders is highly profitable for law firms.
Continue reading “One-stop shopping is here but it’s not doing what it was supposed to”
