Eversheds has become the latest firm to enter the Northern Irish legal market with the launch of an outpost in Belfast covering general commercial and public sector legal work.
Continue reading “Eversheds enters Northern Irish legal market with Belfast launch”
Part of a wider changing of the guard, Slaughter and May is preparing to elect a new senior partner following partners being informed that incumbent Chris Saul (pictured) is to step down from the position and retire from the Magic Circle firm.
Stewarts Law has recorded double digit revenue growth of 14% to £53m for the 2014/15 financial year while Watson Farley & Williams announced it had consolidated the strong financial performance it achieved last year with a 7% increase in revenue from £117m to £125m.
LB100 firms Ashurst and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have both landed leading roles advising on the recent £112m takeover bid by Italy’s Ferrero International for British confectioner Thorntons, after the latter suffered falling profits and the resignation of its chief executive.
We’re now well into the Am Law 100 season. My former colleagues at The American Lawyer have published their biggest issue of their year, the annual scorecard of the 100 top-grossing US law firms. This much-anticipated report has managed to survive three decades of criticism and consternation and remains the financial benchmark in the US legal market.
After a three-way contest, the front-runners Edward Braham (pictured) and Christopher Pugh have won Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s leadership election with Braham set to serve as senior partner while Pugh will sit alongside Cologne-based Stephan Eilers as joint-managing partner.
Pinsent Masons, saying it is seeing increasing benefits from its 2012 McGrigors merger and its growing international offering, is the latest law firm to reveal a strong performance for the 2014/15 financial year with profits per equity partner (PEP) growing by a third and double digit revenue growth.
Continue reading “PEP soars at Pinsent Masons as turnover grows 12% to £362m”
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.
