Former Kirkland & Ellis London head Jim Learner is returning as a partner in Kirkland’s corporate practice to the City office he helped launch 20 years ago.
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‘A fresh perspective’: Taylor Wessing hires Eversheds GC and new IT director
Taylor Wessing has kick started the new year with two key recruits, hiring Eversheds‘ general counsel (GC) Angela Robertson as director of risk and GC, and Kevin Harris as its new IT director.
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Dealwatch: Mayer Brown, Macfarlanes and Gateley act on City Link administration
Mayer Brown, Macfarlanes and Gateley are all acting on the administration of parcel delivery company City Link following its collapse on Christmas Eve.
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‘We are deeply saddened’: Dechert disputes star Antony Dutton dies
Antony Dutton, a leading disputes partner who had been at Dechert since January 2012, died suddenly in early January.
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Guest post: Checkbook recruiting – will Kirkland’s strategy pay off?
From the Kirkland & Ellis site, under the topic Laterals Overview (I quote in full, emphasis supplied): ‘At Kirkland, the quality and experience of our lawyers are among our greatest strengths. We are committed to making a substantial investment in our lateral hires by fostering an environment in which they are seamlessly integrated into our Firm culture.’
File this in ‘Dep’t of Understatement.’
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‘Closer ties’: Kennedys enters formal agreement with Chinese firm
Kennedys has entered into a co-operation agreement with Chinese law firm AnJie as it further boosts its presence in Asia.
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Accounts revealed: Berwin Leighton Paisner profits rise 26% after headcount cutback
Accounts filed at Companies House have revealed Berwin Leighton Paisner made a strong financial recovery in 2013/14, with profit after tax rising 26% to £66.3m for the financial year, up from £52.4m in 2012/13, as the firm captured a greater volume of work and trimmed the size of its workforce.
New Year promotions: Hogan Lovells makes five up in London amid 24-strong promotions round
Hogan Lovells has today (5 January) become one of the first LB100 firms to announce its New Year promotions with 24 associates made up to partner, including five in London within the finance, disputes and corporate practices.
A job with a Vue: Cinema chain appoints new group general counsel
Multiplex cinema operator Vue Entertainment International has appointed Euan Sutton as group general counsel, replacing Anne Whalley who left in September 2014 after holding the position for over eleven years.
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Revolving Doors: Global 100 firms focus on international hires
Approaching the holiday season, Asia, Europe and the US emerged as hubs for partner moves with Herbert Smith Freehills losing a prominent partner in Japan to Morrison & Foerster – which also acquired a German partner from in-house. In New York, Dentons made a rare lateral from Baker & McKenzie while Norton Rose Fulbright also hired from in-house.
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The 2014 edit – My favourite Legal Business pieces of the year
Having joined Legal Business as editor-in-chief in early 2013 with a brief to update and expand the title, we have since made a substantial number of changes and investments, many of which we had the time to either unveil or develop through 2014. That meant expanded coverage of in-house counsel and continuing to build out the title’s online platform, both its website and iPad edition, which is freely available to subscribing law firms. More than 30,000 people also get our email briefing, which is sent out at least four times a week. This push has had a dramatic impact on our online readership, increasing our daily audience ten-fold since we re-launched the site in April 2013. I’m expecting to build on that substantially again in 2015.
In the meantime, I’m signing off with a look back at our favourite pieces and projects of the year.
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Expanding the ranks: Ministry of Defence picks ten firms for revised major projects panel
After a tender earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence has finalised its revised major projects panel with ten firms making it on to the expanded roster.
Guest post: litigants in person, never mind the quality – it’s length that counts
At the same time as the MoJ has published Liz Trinder led research on litigants in person in private family law cases (disclosure, I was a member of the team) the MoJ have published the curiously described, Experimental Statistics: analysis of estimated hearing duration in Private Law cases, England and Wales, Ministry of Justice Ad-hoc statistics bulletin. I think the word experimental is accidental, confusingly hinting at some new methodology or, in research times, an experimental design. Neither are present here.
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H1 2014/15: Clydes maintains revenue growth with 5% boost at half year
Clyde & Co has posted a 5.3% increase to £178m in turnover for the first half of 2014/15 financial year as the firm has kept up its international ambitions with several office launches.
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Russian success: Hogan Lovells, CC, Linklaters and A&O land spots on VEB legal panel
Magic circle trio Clifford Chance (CC), Linklaters, and Allen & Overy (A&O) have all been gifted places on the extensive legal panel of Russian state-owned bank Vnesheconombank (VEB), alongside a host of other international firms including Hogan Lovells, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, White & Case, Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF), and Baker & McKenzie.
Dealwatch: Linklaters, CC and Travers Smith line-up on insurance broker A-plan sale
Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Travers Smith have all secured roles as private equity house Equistone Partners Europe sold its majority stake in A-Plan Insurance to HgCapital.
Targeting Australia: Withers establishes presence with local tax firm BLW and corporate boutique alliance
Private-client focused firm Withers has launched a presence in Australia, creating Withers SBL through an alliance with tax practice Balazs Lazanas & Welch (BLW) and corporate boutique SBL Shmith, as it continues its strategy of ‘expanding into key markets for high net worth clients’.
Disputes reboot: Norton Rose Fulbright targets India and construction following practice review
Having faced ongoing market criticism for losing multiple disputes partners from its City base in recent years, top ten LB100 firm Norton Rose Fulbright has developed a new strategy for the practice on an international scale in a bid to support growth outside the London office.
The ‘big move’: Shepherd and Wedderburn avoids compulsory redundancies as it finalises Tods Murray integration
Shepherd and Wedderburn has managed to avoid making compulsory redundancies as it looks to complete the integration of Tods Murray, which it acquired earlier this year, into one office.
180,000 documents: Mishcon brings Israeli billionaire’s judicial review against SFO and Theresa May
Mishcon de Reya’s executive partner James Libson has brought a judicial review against the British Home Secretary Theresa May and the UK Serious Fraud Office for assisting the Guinean government’s probe into Beny Steinmetz’s BSG Resources over bribery and corruption in the country.