Arbitration boutique Three Crowns has hired its first female partner, Carmen Martinez Lopez, from Covington & Burling as the firm boosts its arbitration capabilities, especially in the Latin American and Spanish-language markets.
H1 2014/15: ‘We don’t want to grow simply to be bigger’ – Taylor Wessing reveals 7.3% UK revenue increase
Taylor Wessing has today (4 December) announced its half-year financial results, posting a 7.3% rise in revenue for H1 2014/15 in the UK alongside a 5.5% increase internationally.
Dealwatch: HSF, Debevoise, Weil, and Freshfields double down on Sky Bet sale
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) continues to cash in on its ever strengthening relationship with Sky as the digital giant goes through a major overhaul of its operations, this time advising on the company’s £800m sale of a stake in Sky Bet to private equity group CVC Capital Partners, which instructed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
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Reputation management: Kingsley Napley taps Mishcon for media litigator Harris
Kingsley Napley continues to enhance its dispute resolution offering with the hire of high profile media litigator and Mishcon de Reya partner, Charlotte Harris.
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News in brief – December 2014
KING & WOOD MALLESONS HIRES HEAVYWEIGHT EVERSHEDS TRIO
KWM last month hired former Eversheds senior partner Cornelius Medvei alongside former international head of real estate William Naunton and former London head of tax Clive Jones. The trio will lead expansion plans for the firm’s structured real estate team.
Regional Insight 2015
Insight report on cyber security – Anatomy of a breach
With breaches impossible to stop, companies are focusing on managing the huge risks of a major cyber incident. We teamed up with PwC to gauge the client response.
In cyber security circles, it has already become a hoary cliché to claim that there are two types of companies: those that have been breached and those that have yet to discover they have been breached. This rang particularly true this year when JPMorgan revealed that 76 million households and eight million small businesses were exposed to its data breach over the summer.
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Guest post: money or culture? What culture really means to law firms
Circling in the wings around almost any discussion of management and leadership issues in law firms, sometimes touted as a virtue above all others and sometimes only alluded to with caution, as one might a wraith, is the issue of a firm’s ‘culture’.
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£1.25bn in revenue: Linklaters top earner brings home £2.4m as profits rise 7%
Recently filed accounts at Companies House have shown the highest paid member of the Linklaters partnership took home £2.4m at the end the last financial year, £100,000 more than in 2013.
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Broadening ‘the public’s choice’: Bar Standards Board to regulate businesses from 2015
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has received approval from the Legal Services Board (LSB) for its application to regulate businesses that are authorised to carry out and provide reserved legal activities.
Adviser review: Firms vie for spots as Deutsche Bank assesses its global legal panel
German banking goliath Deutsche Bank has opened a review of its global legal panel with it set to conclude by the end of January 2015.
H1 2014/15: ‘Early stages’ – Stephenson Harwood’s revenues up 12% in first half
Stephenson Harwood has posted a 12% increase in turnover to £64m for the first half of the financial year 2014/15 compared to £57m in the same period in 2013, with the firm’s new Dubai office seeing a rise in revenues.
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Taxing times: Lawyers’ reactions to the Autumn Statement
After his Autumn Statement, which may be UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s last if the Conservative party fails to be elected in next year’s general election, tax practitioners across the City have been besieged by calls from funds managers and banks nervous about the government’s proposals while real estate lawyers are facing a late night.
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Dealwatch: Magic Circle lead on £5.2bn Aviva takeover of Friends Life
In one of the biggest deals the UK insurance sector has seen in years, Aviva‘s acquisition of Friends Life for £5.2bn has also gifted Magic Circle trio Linklaters, Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance with leading advisory roles.
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Guest post: judicial review at bay – playing ping pong with the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill
Judicial review has been described by Liberty as ‘a crucial tool which allows ordinary people to challenge decisions by the authorities – either because they’re unlawful, irrational, or made in the wrong way’. This tool has come under attack from the Government. In this post, I look at the House of Commons debate on 1 December when House of Lords amendments to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill were considered. Continue reading “Guest post: judicial review at bay – playing ping pong with the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill”
Bar shuffles: Matrix hires media silk Millar from Doughty Street
High-profile silk Gavin Millar QC is set to join Matrix Chambers from Doughty Street in a bid to enhance its media, employment and sports law teams.
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Leadership: managing partner candidates emerge as Freshfields elections loom
With next year being David Aitman’s final period as global managing partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, two partners are emerging as standout candidates to take on the management of one of the world’s largest and powerful law firms.
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‘We are offering something new’: EY latest Big Four giant granted ABS licence
EY has become the latest accountancy giant granted an alternative business structure (ABS) licence by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, in a bid to provide ‘integrated, multidisciplinary’ legal services across England and Wales.
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Building a base: Akin Gump launches London trainee scheme
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is launching its first trainee scheme outside of the US in a move that will see it expand the programme established by the London office of Bingham McCutchen it recently consumed.
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Hiring spree continues as Skadden takes Freshfields non-contentious insurance head
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has continued its recent City hiring spree, recruiting Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s non-contentious insurance practice head Robert Stirling as a corporate partner.