US firm Reed Smith has hired Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP’s) chief knowledge director Lucy Dillon, a hire indicative of knowledge management increasingly becoming an integral part of a law firm’s arsenal.
Continue reading “C-suite hires: Reed Smith brings in BLP’s leading KM director Dillon and new CIO”
National firm DWF has launched a range of new client services as it seeks to overhaul its business model including a centralised legal support centre with paralegals, a consultancy and a contract lawyer service.
Intent on building out the firm’s private equity practice in London, Proskauer Rose has hired one of Baker & McKenzie’s highest earners in the City, EMEA co-head of private equity Bruno Bertrand-Delfau.
Following news yesterday (18 June) that 13 equity partners are exiting Olswang’s Berlin outpost, it has emerged that the entire 50-strong lawyer office is set to move en masse and is currently in talks with several international firms, including Morrison & Foerster and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Stephenson Harwood has posted a 20% rise in revenues to £145m for the 2014/15 financial year, boosted by receipts from several multi-year matters the firm said that discounting those payments still saw it achieve an underlying growth rate of 16%.
In a shameless shout-out for my own shop, I’m making up this opportunity to highlight what is already one of our favourite projects. Next week we’ll be holding our GC Power List Summer Reception at The Club at The Ivy.
Continue reading “GC Power List – the 2015 Summer Reception looms”
Olswang has announced that 13 German equity partners, specialising mainly in corporate and finance, will be leaving the firm later this year as it plans to hive off its Berlin office, leaving just a base in Munich.
Continue reading “13 partners to go in Germany as Olswang announces ‘decoupling’ of Berlin arm”
After flat turnover growth in recent years, Nabarro has recorded £126m in revenue for the 2014/15 financial year, an 8% rise on last year and its largest annual increase since 2008, alongside a 21% jump in profit per equity partner (PEP) to £576,000, constituting a double digit increase for a third consecutive year.
For most law firms, growth connotes success. Strategies to deliver the desired growth will usually rely on a steady, sometimes significant, stream of lateral partner hires. These new partners are perceived to be integral to the future success of a business – a supply of fresh talent which can expand different practice areas, enable a firm to enter new jurisdictions and access new clients.
City firm Mishcon de Reya has appointed external consultant duo, Alan Hodgart and Robbie Cowan, to help shape its 10-year strategy plan. With the review already well underway, proposals tabled include its merit-based pay structure with an emphasis on altering the way it rewards origination points.
After the landmark fines issued to banks over Libor and foreign exchange market manipulation, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) saw the total value of penalties triple to £1.47bn in 2014. However, the increase looks to set a high-water mark as enforcement agencies switch attention to individuals.
Bristol-headquartered TLT has continued a string of strong financial performances in recent years by growing turnover 8% in the 2014/15 financial year and posting revenues of £62.5m.
Continue reading “Financials 2014/15: TLT passes £60m in revenue with 8% growth”
This second quarter has seen Allen & Overy (A&O) launch a comprehensive review with external consultants drafted in to look at both its pay structure for junior lawyers and to compare the firm’s levels of pay against market rates.
Seeking to turn the City’s next big hedge funds into clients, Simmons & Simmons has entered the growing legal product market with a package to guide hedge fund managers through the increasing regulatory burden attached to creating and launching a financial firm.
Pinsent Masons has become the latest firm to benefit from the on-going travails of Clifford Chance’s (CC) German offering with intellectual property (IP) partner Marc Holtorf leaving the Magic Circle firm’s Munich offices while in London, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy hired asset finance partner Nick Swinburne.
Reduced to just one partner in Abu Dhabi, Herbert Smith Freehills is shutting the office and shifting its five-lawyer team to Dubai just six years after opening.
PwC Legal has expanded its German legal team with the hire of Mayer Brown banking and finance partner Jorg Wulfken in Frankfurt as the firm looks to build a ‘sizeable’ financial services offering outside of the US.
Continue reading “PwC Legal hires Mayer Brown’s former German chief in financial services drive”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has made a significant move to enhance its US practice with the hire of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s experienced corporate disputes specialist Linda Martin.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) has launched a three month consultation on creating a new arbitration scheme to settle defamation, privacy and other civil legal disputes with the press.
Continue reading “Press watchdog looks at new arbitration body to handle media claims”
Allen & Overy (A&O), Ashurst and Dickson Minto have won key roles on the off-market acquisition of Environmental Resources Management (ERM) by Canadian pension funds OMERS Private Equity and co-investor Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo).
