Constituting the first technology IPO of the year, Travers Smith and Herbert Smith Freehills have both landed key roles advising Britain’s largest online rail booking company thetrainline.com as it prepares to float on the London Stock Exchange later this year.
Investing in London: Reed Smith promotes seven in the City in 24-strong partnership round
Pittsburgh-headquartered Reed Smith has made its London office the centre of its promotions round by making up seven London lawyers to partner, four more than any other office.
‘An investment in Europe’: Latham & Watkins to open nearshoring office in Manchester
US firm Latham & Watkins has announced internally that it will open a business services office in Manchester during the first half of 2015.
Diversifying the group: Stephenson Harwood appoints a non-shipping head of finance
Stephenson Harwood has named restructuring and insolvency partner Sue Moore (pictured) as the new head of its global finance practice group as current head Mark Russell steps down after 18 years.
A £55m settlement: Hogan Lovells and Leigh Day shake on Shell payout to Nigerian village
Royal Dutch Shell, advised by Hogan Lovells, will pay £55m to 15,600 Nigerian fishermen after a three-year legal battle over two oil spills.
One up, one out: Simmons promotes finance partner as it loses another to Squire Patton Boggs
Squire Patton Boggs has hired Simmons & Simmons‘ acquisition finance partner John Hayward as it sets out to expand its roster of banking and private equity clients. Meanwhile, Simmons made a New Year promotion to its partnership.
Targeting London: Fried Frank hires O’Melveny & Myers private equity partner
US firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has enhanced its private equity practice in London with the hire of partner Daniel Oates from O’Melveny & Myers.
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Accounts revealed: Allen & Overy profits jump £35m as it cuts staff costs
Allen & Overy (A&O) is the latest Magic Circle firm to release its LLP accounts for the 2013/14 financial year, posting a 7% profit-before-tax increase from £497m to £532m, while average profits per full partner were up 6.7% to £1.12m.
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Presidential appointment: ICC picks Alexis Mourre to head International Court of Arbitration
Alexis Mourre, a founding partner of French disputes boutique Castaldi Mourre & Partners, is set to replace John Beechey as president of the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration.
Moving back: Jim Learner re-joins Kirkland & Ellis in the City
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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