As the combination between Wragge Lawrence Graham and Gowling Lafleur Henderson to create a £400m practice has gone live today (22 February) the firm already wants to deliver a new tie-up by 2018, and is targeting Germany and east Asia.
Continue reading “Germany and east Asia next targets as Gowling WLG merger made official”
US firm Mayer Brown has made a number of lateral hires this week as Pinsent Masons, Cooley and Jones Day also made notable appointments.
Dentons continues to build its City offering through lateral recruitment, confirming the hire of Clifford Chance (CC) senior capital markets partner Peter Voisey (pictured) in a bid to capture greater market share.
Continue reading “Magic Circle play: Dentons hires Clifford Chance veteran Voisey”
Baker & McKenzie and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have picked up roles as US company Sysco Corp moves to buy London food distributor Brakes Group from Bain Capital.
After months of speculation regarding which senior Conservative figures will campaign for the UK to leave the EU, the current justice secretary Michael Gove and his predecessor Chris Grayling have emerged as two of the most prominent figures in the out camp. The split in the ranks of the governing Conservative Party over whether the UK should leave the EU is producing strange bedfellows, as questions loom large for the country’s legal framework should ‘Brexit’ occur.
Continue reading “Uneasy alliance formed as Gove and Grayling have meeting of minds over Brexit”
Following BT’s high-profile £12.5bn takeover of UK mobile business EE, it has emerged the companies’ plan to consolidate external legal panels, while EE’s general counsel James Blendis (pictured) has been appointed to BT’s legal leadership team.
Continue reading “Better connected: EE legal head reveals plans in wake of telco merger”
King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) global revenue dropped 1% to $1.02bn in 2015 as the Hong Kong-headquartered firm unveiled a new global strategy to see it through to 2020.
As City firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) closes in on its landmark transatlantic merger with Miami giant Greenberg Traurig, the firms have targeted full financial integration.
City lawyers at US firms Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan are to face off after Russia filed a claim against Ukraine at London’s newly created financial court over its default of $3bn in bonds.
FTSE 100 company Land Securities has kicked off a panel review of its external legal roster now that the current three-year term has come to an end.
Continue reading “Land Securities to launch panel review following de Souza departure”
Allen & Overy (A&O) has opted for continuity in its generational leadership change by electing Wim Dejonghe (pictured), who is entering the last few weeks as managing partner, as its next senior partner.
Sir Nigel Knowles (pictured) will retire from DLA Piper at the end of June after nearly four decades at the firm, the vast majority of which he spent spearheading a rapid globalisation of the firm into one of the world’s largest.
Continue reading “DLA Piper’s Knowles to retire after 38 years at the firm”
Osborne Clarke and Mayer Brown have posted perfect spring retention figures this year, while White & Case’s rate dropped to 87%.
Hitachi Rail Europe has confirmed the hire of WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff’s director of legal Jane Mee as the transport firm develops its legal team.
US firm White & Case has reported flat revenues for 2015, ticking up 1%, while the firm improved partnership and fee earner headcounts.
Continue reading “US financials: White & Case in growth mode while revenues up 1%”
It is not a massive exaggeration to say that the Law Society will be fighting for its existence in the months to come. The government’s intention to make the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) entirely independent from the society will inevitably raise the question of whether what will then be purely a representative body should still be able to take a slice of the fees that solicitors pay for regulation.
Continue reading “Guest post: Legal lobby turf wars – what is the Law Society doing for you?”
Nearly six years on from its transatlantic union Hogan Lovells continues to post modest financial growth as its results today (16 February) showed revenue for the calendar year increased by 2.3% to $1.82bn in 2015 from $1.779bn in 2014 while profit per equity partner (PEP) increased by 2.7% to $1.250m from $1.217m.
Merger talks between Addleshaw Goddard and Maclay Murray & Spens to create a national practice with combined revenues of around £230m have been called off.
Continue reading “End of the affair: Addleshaws Scottish takeover called off”
In almost every field of legal work, privacy is regarded as a primary and legitimate concern to protect the interests of individuals and organisations.
In a busy week for City hires, Nabarro and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe have added to their ranks, while accounting firms EY and PwC have added to their legal arms with partner appointments.
