In a move that demonstrates consolidation is still very much on trend for national law firms, Irwin Mitchell’s continuation of its aggressive expansion policy by merging with the south-east based Thomas Eggar this month has garnered a mixed reaction from the market.
Continue reading “Market reaction: jury still out on Irwin Mitchell’s £40m takeover of Thomas Eggar”
US prosecutors have told a New York judge of new guilty plea deals offered to three senior Dewey & LeBoeuf executives after the criminal case over the biggest law firm bankruptcy in history collapsed recently.
The latest LLP filings at Companies House by Macfarlanes have shown the highest-paid member at the firm pocketed £2.04m in 2014/15, 33% more than in the previous financial year.
Continue reading “Macfarlanes’ top-earning partner pay leaps by a third, annual LLP accounts show”
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) general counsel John Collins has resigned just 11 months after becoming the top lawyer at the leading High Street bank.
Continue reading “Top RBS lawyer resigns as John Collins makes surprise defection to Santander”
Cravath Swaine & Moore has set the benchmark for US associate bonuses becoming the first major law firm to announce its end-of-year awards.
Continue reading “Cravath kicks off bonus season with associates in line for up to $100,000”
Addleshaw Goddard has added Squire Patton Boggs partner Giles Distin to its corporate finance practice as it aims to ramp up its City offering.
ITV has become the first company to offer a solicitor apprenticeship under the new Trailblazers Apprenticeship in Law initiative.
Olswang has set its sights on expansion in Asia, today (7 December) announcing non-exclusive associations with local firms in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Continue reading “Asia-Pacific: Olswang unveils non-exclusive tie-ups in Singapore and Hong Kong”
In tandem with its significant global expansion this year, Dentons is targeting greater volumes of cross-border deal work and has hired Berwin Leighton Paisner’s former corporate chief David Collins to head its global M&A push.
High Street retailer John Lewis Partnership (JLP) has cut its external legal panel to just four firms comprising Slaughter and May, Burges Salmon, Dentons and Eversheds, naming Slaughter and May as its main corporate adviser, following a review of its existing arrangements.
Linklaters has made a rare lateral hire to bring Shearman & Sterling private equity partner Ben Rodham back to the firm just three years after leaving the Magic Circle firm.
Continue reading “Rising star Rodham returns to Linklaters to boost private equity team”
Eighteen major law firms, including Linklaters, Macfarlanes, White & Case and Sullivan & Cromwell, have joined a new initiative to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds join the legal profession.
After spending the last 18 months investing in automated services for in-house teams, Riverview Law has created a virtual assistant to help legal teams make ‘quicker and better decisions’.
London provided the bulk of this year’s partner promotions at US law firm Shearman & Sterling, with more lawyers joining its partnership in the City than in the US.
Continue reading “Shearman invests in London as City promotions overtake New York”
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has announced plans to introduce a new unified exam for assessing trainee solicitors.
Continue reading “SRA proposes standardised final examination for all prospective solicitors”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has continued its recent push in the US with the hire of experienced Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom counsel David Almroth as a partner to boost its US finance practice.
General counsel have been vocal in recent years about persistent problems in law firms but what about in-house teams? Legal Business talks to clients and counsel about where GCs go wrong.
It’s not hard these days to find outlets and forums for general counsel (GCs) to highlight the excesses and poor behaviour that still persist among law firms. High rates, padded bills, unresponsive service and an inability to put themselves in the position of clients are all cited repeatedly in events, surveys and coverage of the views of in-house counsel.
Continue reading “Glass houses – everything wrong with in-house counsel”
In business as in life, if you want respect you have to start by expecting it and not putting up with its absence. Perhaps the ludicrous attempt to bully the commercial legal profession into taking on more pro bono with the threat of a levy on the UK’s largest law firms will make that point sink in.
For years the government has treated the commercial legal profession with neglect and disinterest unless it needed something, despite its status as a world-leader, major tax contributor and role in helping carry English law around the globe. Far too often the profession rolled over then queued up like a grateful child when the government wanted the great and good to pitch in for something. The policy wheeze by incoming justice secretary Michael Gove has only made explicit what has been obvious for years.
Continue reading “The moment of truth arises – will the profession stand up to Gove?”
Let’s get this out of the way up front. The least expected new entrant to the Global 100, Gowling WLG, is going to have to work very hard to avoid being the classic 2 + 2 = 4 union when its tie-up goes live in January. Yes, it’s hard to see much downside given the hand WLG was playing, after a necessary and credibly integrated union between Wragge & Co and Lawrence Graham last year. The Gowlings fit is close enough to be acceptable, if not beyond debate. But the relative lack of interaction between the UK and Canadian economies, and the awkward realities of a dual-hub structure mean it will be perilously easy to settle into two firms existing under the same brand, rather than becoming more than the sum of its parts.
Continue reading “The limits of culture – WLG needs more than common ground to fulfil its ambitions”
Allen & Overy (A&O)’s veteran leader David Morley remarked sometimes that in running a law firm, success or failure is less about the decisions you make and more the ability to communicate what you are doing and why. Though directed at his own firm, the observation speaks to much of what ailed Linklaters over the last four years as a chasm opened between its leadership and partnership.
In managing partner Simon Davies and senior partner Robert Elliott, Linklaters had intelligent and energetic leaders intent on taking tough decisions to reposition the firm after the banking crisis. What was forgotten during a series of restructurings was that the partnership needed to be brought along to achieve their purpose. A decision can be absolutely valid but still entirely wrong if you can’t get the majority of your partnership to believe in it, not just grudgingly rubberstamp it.
Continue reading “After Harvard Kool-Aid and lost years can Moore galvanise Linklaters?”
