Frances Murphy, the City’s most prominent female deal lawyer who in 2008 became the first female head of corporate at Slaughter and May, passed away last night after a long illness.
Continue reading “‘A sad day’ – Slaughters’ pioneering deal veteran Frances Murphy passes away”
With law firms scrambling to build links with the much-hyped fintech sector, Simmons & Simmons has put its money where its mouth is with the launch of a £100,000 ‘fund’ offering free legal advice to promising start-ups. Continue reading “Skin in the game – Simmons launches ‘fund’ to back fintech stars with free advice”
Sir Terence Etherton has succeeded Lord Dyson to take over as Master of the Rolls, a position that will see him head the civil judiciary in England and Wales.
Continue reading “Sir Terence Etherton succeeds Lord Dyson as Master of the Rolls”
At the annual Legal Marketing Association conference in Austin, a vendor conducted a survey that asked attendees what their ‘highest-priority growth initiatives’ were for this year. The leading answer was ‘improve cross-selling.’ I don’t doubt the accuracy of the survey results; they are the conventional wisdom in the flesh.
Continue reading “Guest post: Why poor cross-selling sends the wrong message to clients”
Top-25 firm DAC Beachcroft has signed a three year ‘best friends’ agreement with Belfast’s McKinty and Wright in a bid to expand its network.
Rising private equity star Stuart Boyd has become the fifth Linklaters partner in the City to switch to US rival Kirkland & Ellis (K&E) in the last 18 months.
Continue reading “Boyd becomes the latest Linklaters partner to jump ship to Kirkland”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has appointed three new sector group leaders in London, New York and Brussels as part of a wider strategy overhaul. Continue reading “‘Strategic guidance’: Freshfields widens leadership pool with three new sector heads”
Linklaters and Olswang have been heavily criticised in parliament this week over alleged failures to identify that the buyer of collapsed retail giant BHS had previously been declared bankrupt.
Energy giants BP, ConocoPhillips and Shell are among the first corporates to sign up to a pledge for gender equality when selecting arbitrators launched by senior partners at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Boies, Schiller & Flexner.
After failing to secure further consolidation in the UK recently, Addleshaw Goddard has turned to the US for a potential merger partner to achieve its aim of becoming a £250m-lawyer firm, and is believed to be in talks with Virginia-based Hunton & Williams.
Continue reading “American dream: Addleshaws eyes US play with Hunton & Williams merger talks”
Total prosecutions for white collar crime were up by 1% across the last year according to figures from Ministry of Justice (MoJ), marking the first increase in five years. However, the body representing the most serious and complex investigations for such prosecutions, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), has faced criticism over both its blockbuster funding model and its governance structure.
M&A heavyweight Charlie Jacobs has defeated competition from corporate colleagues Jean-Pierre Blumberg and Aedamar Comiskey to be elected the new senior partner at Magic Circle firm Linklaters.
Dentons and DAC Beachcroft announced lateral hires to their City offices last week, while K&L Gates and Clyde & Co have boosted their ranks overseas.
Despite predictions of tough conditions for mid-tier firms, West End firm Forsters has bucked the trend and announced its fee income grew by 11.3% in 2015/16 to £46.2m, constituting its sixth consecutive year of double-digit growth since 2011.
More than 18 months since combining in the City, the 21-partner team that left now defunct US law firm Bingham McCutchen for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has moved in with its colleagues as the firm puts all its London lawyers under one roof.
In the second renewables project Linklaters has finalised this month, the Magic Circle firm has advised on the construction and financing of the offshore windfarm Beatrice located in the Outer Mary Firth, worth £2.6bn.
Continue reading “An appetite for renewables: Linklaters advises on £2.6bn Scottish wind farm”
Sullivan & Cromwell, Allen & Overy, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz all won roles, as healthcare and agriculture giant Bayer placed a bid to acquire agricultural company Monsanto for $62bn, in a deal which would create the world’s biggest agricultural supplier.
Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy have all won advisory roles as US company General Atlantic has taken a majority stake in Argus Media. The deal, which values Argus Media at £1bn, will see the Nasmyth family exit the business they founded in the 1970s.
Continue reading “Media matters: Magic Circle firms take lead roles on £1bn Argus Media deal”
DLA Piper has appointed Webber Wentzel corporate partner Johannes Gouws as South Africa managing partner.
In keeping with the trend for UK firms to announce good financials early, Bristol-based LB100 firm TLT has revealed its turnover for 2015/16, improving on its strong financial performance of recent years to post a 15% increase in turnover to £71.6m. Continue reading “‘It’s about getting market share’: TLT continues strong run as turnover increases 15%”
