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.
Continue reading “H1 2014/15: ‘Early stages’ – Stephenson Harwood’s revenues up 12% in first half”
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.
Continue reading “Taxing times: Lawyers’ reactions to the Autumn Statement”
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.
Continue reading “Dealwatch: Magic Circle lead on £5.2bn Aviva takeover of Friends Life”
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”
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.
Continue reading “Bar shuffles: Matrix hires media silk Millar from Doughty Street”
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.
Continue reading “Leadership: managing partner candidates emerge as Freshfields elections loom”
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.
Continue reading “‘We are offering something new’: EY latest Big Four giant granted ABS licence”
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.
Continue reading “Building a base: Akin Gump launches London trainee scheme”
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.
Baker & McKenzie has lured a partner from rival global behemoth DLA Piper for the second time in a month, this time taking a finance partner in Johannesburg.
Continue reading “Baker & McKenzie turns to DLA again to add partner in Johannesburg”
Unsurprisingly for a high-profile claim against a global investment bank, litigation heavyweights Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Herbert Smith Freehills find themselves squaring up to each other today (1 December). Continue reading “Hunting titans: Quinn and HSF take lead as former Goldman Sachs bankers and UBS face off”
Clifford Chance has recruited a five-strong team from beleaguered US firm Bingham McCutchen to its Washington DC office, led by partners Robert Gross and William Cejudo, in a bid to enhance its US structured finance and real estate finance offering.
Slaughter and May has increased the size of its annual bonuses, with associates qualified for more than four and a half years set to receive an additional 15% on top of their salary.
Dallas-bred Locke Lord and Boston’s Edwards Wildman Palmer have rubber-stamped their high-profile union, today (1 December) announcing that their respective partnerships have approved a combination from 10 January 2015, a move which will generate gross revenues of $675m and a headcount of 1,000 lawyers.
Continue reading “Worst-kept secret: Locke Lord and Edwards Wildman approve combination”
New York-headquartered Proskauer Rose is set to double its office space in London with a move into the Heron Tower from its current base at 10 Bishops Square.
Following on from the high profile Tchenguiz brothers’ lawsuit against the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in July this year, Vincent Tchenguiz has filed a further claim, this time for £2.2bn against five parties who allegedly conspired to instigate the failed investigation led by the SFO into the Tchenguiz brothers, Consensus Business Group (CBC) and the Tchenguiz Family Trust (TFT).
With the ill-advised Jack Daniels and coke I had forced on me at the back end of the British Legal Awards still making itself felt, the week is rapidly drawing to a close, so it’s time for The Friday Edit, our informal take on the notable legal events that happened since Monday. For subscriber content, click here for full access to Legal Business or email ‘[email protected]’ for more information.
Continue reading “The Friday Edit: Bear markets, going postal and every little £263m helps”
Leading set Thirty Nine Essex Street has yesterday (26 November) announced a major appointment, with Peter Hurst, former Senior Costs Judge of England and Wales at the Royal Courts of Justice, joining as an arbitrator and mediator.
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is the latest to dip into the dwindling partnership at Edwards Wildman Palmer’s London office as it has emerged that commercial litigation partner, Antonio Suarez-Martinez, is leaving the firm for the corporate’s legal team.
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has today (27 November) published its decision on the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) professional indemnity insurance (PII) application, and has refused a proposed reduction in the minimum level of PII cover from the current level of £2m to £500,000.
