Fresh from sealing a landmark deal with Lawyers On Demand (LOD) to provide freelance lawyering services to its clients, DLA Piper will roll out the service in Australia following LOD’s merger with Asia-Pacific rival AdventBalance.
Continue reading “DLA Piper launches flexible working in Australia as part of LOD roll out”
Stephenson Harwood has formalised its association with Chinese law firm Wei Tu, while Allen & Overy has made a key hire into its finance practice in Hong Kong.
Former Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) corporate partner Frances McLeman has been made head of legal for ring-fencing at Lloyds Banking Group, a prominent in-house appointment made quietly by the bank nearly three months ago.
Let’s get this in context right off the bat. The Training for Tomorrow proposals by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) represent the most radical change in legal education for over 20 years. When one considers the massive structural changes in the legal services market in recent years, which have been covered extensively by Legal Business before, we are faced with a unique situation.
Fasken Martineau will close the doors of its Hanover Square office at the end of this week, relocating a significantly reduced 10 lawyer team to London’s Old Broad Street. Lawyer headcount at the firm’s City office has been cut by almost a third in just a few months, having 28 fee-earners at the beginning of this year.
Continue reading “Fasken Martineau slashes London lawyer headcount by a third ahead of office move”
Finance company Fairpoint Group, which in recent years has pushed into the legal market with the acquisitions of Simpson Millar and Colemans, has posted annual revenue of £31.6m from its legal services division. The figure is a 165% jump on the £11.9m brought in last year.
Continue reading “ABS Fairpoint Group legal revenues hit £30m as firm hunts further acquisitions”
The latest to release its partnership promotions, Slaughter and May has announced ten promotions all in the City, a big bump on last year’s round of four.
Clifford Chance has retained 80% of its March trainees, with 43 out of a cohort of 54 accepting positions at the Magic Circle firm. The rate comes as rivals Allen & Overy and Linklaters also posted lower retention rates than the year prior.
A new report released by Deloitte is warning law firms to prepare for changes as the rise of automation is likely to cut legal sector jobs by 39% over the next two decades.
City law firms using contract lawyers can breathe a sigh of relief, after Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (pictured) said in his Budget today (March 16) that the government would not target the private sector in its crackdown on tax savings made by consultants through personal service companies (PSC).
Continue reading “Budget 2016: Contract lawyer services avoid tax crackdown”
It promised to create a property and disputes giant across the Atlantic and one of the most distinctive law firms in the global market but in the end the mooted union between Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Greenberg Traurig has been called off.
Continue reading “‘Not enough common ground’ – BLP and Greenberg call off transatlantic merger bid”
Lord Neuberger (pictured), in a recent short speech, provides some interesting insights in to the problematic world of legal advice privilege (LAP), but he does so with one eye closed. Let me explain.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer disputes veteran Ian Terry is leaving the Magic Circle firm after 38 years and heading to the Bar.
Continue reading “Freshfields disputes veteran Terry heads to the Bar”
Top 50 UK law firm Burges Salmon has promoted four individuals to partner, and made one lateral hire from Travers Smith, in a move to build up what it sees as its key growth areas.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has dropped its investigation into allegations of rigging in the foreign exchange (forex) market after it found insufficient evidence to prosecute.
As two of the most highly regarded leaders in the Square Mile – David Morley at Allen & Overy (A&O) and Chris Saul at Slaughter and May – prepare to hand over, it’s an apt moment to reflect on the state of leadership at leading UK law firms. It’s not clear that what emerges from the profession is all that flattering.
Continue reading “Comment: Too many reasonable men? What ails law firm leadership”
Eversheds has hired a trio of lawyers from Squire Patton Boggs, while DLA Piper, Mayer Brown and Dentons all added to their benches around the globe.
Mishcon de Reya has today (14 March) announced the arrival of former Addleshaw Goddard partner Sonia Campbell as it continues the steady expansion of its commercial disputes team.
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has stepped in to the long-simmering debate on costs and access to the profession to confirm it will toughen the Bar Course Aptitude Test (BCAT) amid controversy regarding 99%-plus pass rates.
Continue reading “Watchdog to raise bar on the Bar in toughened pre-vocational test”
Since I wrote about David Cameron’s ‘sovereignty plan’, it seems to have been forgotten. It’s clear the idea was aimed at keeping politicians in the Remain camp, and has failed.
Continue reading “Guest post: How Boris Johnson is wrong on parliamentary sovereignty”
