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.
‘Unlawful’ guidance: Freshfields acts for Red Cross as CoA rules against exceptional funding advice
The UK government has come under fire again over legal aid as the Court of Appeal (CoA) slammed how guidance for funding legal aid in immigration cases was unlawful.
Adviser review: Eversheds and Hill Dickinson win spots on Metro Bank’s lending and securities panel
Eversheds and Hill Dickinson have been newly appointed to Metro Bank’s lending and securities panel alongside 12 others, following the bank’s first review since 2012.
Dealwatch: Freshfields, CC and NRF called in on BT’s £12.5bn purchase of EE
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Clifford Chance and Norton Rose Fulbright have won roles as telecoms giant BT plumps to acquire Britain’s largest mobile network group EE for £12.5bn.
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Revolving Doors: NRF makes a key finance hire in the City, Eversheds bets on Scottish real estate and Dentons hires a team in Paris
Last week saw Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) and Duane Morris grow their capital markets and employment teams in the City respectively, while Eversheds looked north of the border with an addition in its Edinburgh office. Meanwhile, Dentons hired a 5-lawyer team from Dechert in Paris.
Investing in the City: Gibson Dunn scores with Kirkland’s Gillespie
The last year has seen Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher make a substantial push hiring heavyweight players in London with debt finance veteran Stephen Gillespie becoming the latest addition to the team, quitting Kirkland & Ellis after eight and a half years to join the firm.
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Targeting Europe: Marco Compagnoni elected to Weil’s management committee
Private equity guru Marco Compagnoni (pictured) has been selected to fill the vacant management committee spot at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, boosting European representation on the body as the firm increasingly builds its presence in the region.
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Guest post: ‘Individuals matter’ – A conversation with Deutsche Bank’s Asia Pacific GC Joe Longo
Last month I had the pleasure of being on a panel in Europe with Joe Longo, the general counsel for Asia-Pacific of Deutsche Bank. Joe had some particularly thought-provoking and hard-headed observations about the changing dynamics between law firms and clients. I thought it would be worth drawing Joe out a bit more extensively than was possible on our panel, so we found time recently to chat across the 12-hour time zone difference (Joe in Hong Kong, me in New York).
16 years in the role: Neville Eisenberg to step down as BLP managing partner
Berwin Leighton Paisner’s longstanding managing partner Neville Eisenberg (pictured) is set to step down from the role after 16 years in the post.
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Comment: Legal Business celebrates 25 years and the profession as well
So, what mattered to you? Twenty five years since Legal Business launched to chronicle the dramatic changes in the legal profession much has changed and yet stays the same. Still, if you were going to launch the first publication to focus on the UK’s commercial legal sector, you couldn’t have picked a better time than 1990.
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Back and forth: SFO wins document appeal against Tchenguiz brother
After being hit with a £4.5m settlement in the Tchenguiz battle, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has fired back and won an appeal against Robert Tchenguiz and two other companies’ application for the collateral use of certain documents.
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The Friday Edit: Nostalgia, greed and DLA – celebrating 25 years of Legal Business and other animals
With Legal Business gearing up for its Christmas lunch, it’s once again time to look back on the notable events of the week – and 25 years in this case – with The Friday Edit, our informal take on current legal happenings. For subscriber content, click here for full access to Legal Business or email ‘[email protected]’ for more information. Corporate subscribers can also access our premium reporting firm-wide online and via our iPad edition as well as print copies.