Litigation specialist Stewarts Law has hired James Price from Farrer & Co to launch a trusts litigation practice in the City.
Continue reading “Stewarts Law latest to develop trusts practice with Farrer hire”
Comment: Why it’s time for the Law Society’s levy to go
There is a reason that the slogan ‘No taxation without representation’ has echoed through history. The rally cry of the American revolution demonstrates a basic truth that institutions and figures of authority hitting up constituencies for money without broadly representing their interests are in the long run asking for trouble.
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Dentons’ venture NextLaw Labs invests in fee transparency firm Apperio
Dentons‘ NextLaw Labs, a venture launched last year for financing new legal services technologies, has made its second major investment with legal tech start-up Apperio.
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Reed Smith blames poor energy prices as global revenues dip 2.5%
Reed Smith has reported global revenues fell 2.5% in 2015 to $1.12bn from $1.15bn, while profits per partner were lower by 8.1%, which the firm has said is due to poor commodity prices and early resolution of some litigation matters.
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Milbank posts flat global results as London turnover rises 6% to $110m
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy has become the latest firm to post flat results following the economic slowdown in some of its key markets, including energy and infrastructure, as its London office put in a strong 6% revenue increase to $110.2m.
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Freshfields makes key competition hire as Clifford Chance City partner to relocate to lead Hong Kong practice
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has hired Clifford Chance’s Alastair Mordaunt to become the new competition head of its Hong Kong practice.
Allen & Overy and Wachtell take leads on Deutsche Börse spin-off
Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy (A&O) has taken a lead role acting for Deutsche Börse as it spins off its US options exchange operator International Securities Exchange, in a move which looks to aid the German stock exchange operator’s proposed merger with the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
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Reed Smith replaced as Addleshaw Goddard joins Siemens UK legal panel
Eversheds and Osborne Clarke have been reappointed to Siemens UK’s legal panel, while newcomer Addleshaw Goddard will replace Reed Smith, following a review.
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BLP promotes 82% of its global round in London in property-focused promotions round
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has made 17 partner promotions worldwide, in a bumper round more than three times last year’s round of five. Of these 17, 82% were promoted in London and six in the firm’s real estate practice.
Legal pathway to the story of the century
GC: Obviously the Snowden story was a huge scoop for The Guardian. How did you first hear about it, and what were your initial thoughts?
Gill Phillips (GP): I was actually in Australia as we were in the process of opening our office there. I got a cryptic phone call from Alan Rusbridger [then editor-in-chief] one night saying, ‘I can’t really talk about this as using the phone might be unreliable. Could you put me in touch with a US national security lawyer?’ I began to think, ‘Ok, something is going on,’ but I gave him a few names. Continue reading “Legal pathway to the story of the century”
Brave new worlds
Schadenfreude doesn’t feature much between in-house legal departments, so many general counsel would have winced when TalkTalk chief executive Baroness Harding admitted last year that she didn’t know all the technical details of the cyber breach that could ultimately cost the company £60m and contribute to the loss of 101,000 customers. Continue reading “Brave new worlds”
Myths and Millennials
Just what is it that you want to do?
We wanna be free.
We wanna be free to do what we wanna do.
Loaded, Primal Scream
It was a very different legal market in 2007 when Simon Harper and a group of colleagues at Berwin Leighton Paisner geared up for the launch of Lawyers On Demand (LOD). Amid boom time for legal services, few knew what to make of a flexi-lawyering business. Working on initial marketing, the idea was hit upon to draw on the famous freedom refrain from Primal Scream’s 1990 song Loaded (actually a sample from the cult film The Wild Angels). The intent was to reach a new generation of lawyers: a generation that in law and in other industries would increasingly be known as Millennials. The impact was immediate, recalls Harper. ‘What made LOD fly was the changing attitudes to work. Some of the CVs we got were amazing.’ Continue reading “Myths and Millennials”
2016 and all that
‘One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. “Which road do I take?” she asked. “Where do you want to go?” was his response. “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”’
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
The above passage from Alice in Wonderland, says Daniel Jowell QC of Brick Court Chambers, is apt when planning for the possibility of the UK leaving the EU. Continue reading “2016 and all that”
Straight to the source
Twenty years ago the idea of any person instructing the Bar other than a private practice solicitor was frowned upon. Although as qualified solicitors in-house counsel always had the right to instruct barristers, convention dictated private practice lawyers acted as gatekeepers of the Bar for companies seeking advice on litigation. But, as the rules have changed and in-house lawyers have expanded their remits, corporate legal teams have come to appreciate the benefits of direct interaction with barristers. Continue reading “Straight to the source”
Passion plays
Working long hours, expected to be available at all hours, and labelled a cost-centre. Such are the pressures of life in-house. The days of commerce and industry as a softer option for lawyers than the toil of the law firm associate track are rapidly drawing to a close. Continue reading “Passion plays”
Gove’s City levy kicked into long grass amid Treasury opposition
A tax on City lawyers floated by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to subsidise the criminal court system has been effectively abandoned amid Treasury opposition, according to senior City sources.
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Comment: Merging BLP and Greenberg Traurig – unique, compelling, bloody difficult
In the age of the anodyne corporate law firm, you can at least say a marriage of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Greenberg Traurig would be a distinct beast. If the talks are successful, it would be the first major international deal built on the foundation of real estate.
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Squire makes up seven in the City in global promotions round
Squire Patton Boggs has promoted seven in the City in its latest global partnership round of 30, where it has made up the same number of partners across the globe as it did last year.
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Bird & Bird’s Kerr set to hit 23 years in charge following re-election
Tech firm Bird & Bird has reappointed its longstanding leader David Kerr (pictured) as its chief executive for a further three years and elected the founder of its Italian practice as chairman.
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Goodbye nine to five
In June 2014 the government extended flexible working rights to more than 20 million employees across the UK in a policy shift that recognised the traditional nine-to-five routine no longer dominates British workplaces. But if such attitudes are relatively new to much of the economy, lawyers in in-house roles – traditionally a more progressive environment than private practice – have long put a premium on agile working. Continue reading “Goodbye nine to five”