Mark Heaney, who heads Bird & Bird’s highly regarded electronics sector group, is leaving for US firm Baker Botts at the end of the year.
Diversity: Norton Rose Fulbright sets 30% female partner target for 2020
Norton Rose Fulbright has set a target for its female partnership globally, aiming for 30% representation by 2020.
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‘Second major addition to the European disputes practice in as many months’: Skadden hires Dechert’s London arbitration head
US firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has enhanced its respected disputes practice having today (18 November) announced the hire of Dechert’s London arbitration head, Daniel Gal.
Troubled markets: Allen & Overy lays off four Moscow associates as firms face sanctions fallout
The US and EU sanctions in Russia are taking their toll on some of the international firms located in the country with Allen & Overy’s (A&O) Moscow office offering redundancy packages at associate level.
RBS Litigation: Bird & Bird loses major instruction on RBS Group Action to Fladgate
A major blow has been dealt to Bird & Bird as it has emerged that the firm has lost its advisory role on the highly complex Royal Bank of Scotland shareholder dispute, a significant instruction which has subsequently been given to Fladgate.
2,000 lawyers across 28 offices: Bingham loses out on rescue merger as Morgan Lewis acquires 227 partners
Following much touted speculation of the potential merger between US firms Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and Bingham McCutchen, Morgan Lewis has decided to cherry pick 227 partners.
Bringing a ‘new dimension’: King & Spalding hires Linklaters securities partner
Linklaters’ partner Tom O’Neill has swapped Silk Street for Old Broad Street with King & Spalding making a double hire to anchor its capital markets practice in Europe.
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‘Naturally delighted’: Jeremy Hoyland re-elected as Simmons & Simmons managing partner
Simmons & Simmons’ partnership re-elected Jeremy Hoyland as managing partner after an uncontested election, seeing him begin a second four-year term on 1 May 2015.
The Student View: Norton Rose Fulbright’s Jonathan Ball on forensics, IP and his route to law
Jonathan Ball of Norton Rose Fulbright initially worked as a scientist before becoming a lawyer, and is now an Intellectual Property and Technology disputes partner. Here, Jonathan discusses his career and the nature of his work and offers some helpful tips for students and professionals from other careers who are interested in a career in law.
H1 2014/15: ‘The way we’d planned it’ – RPC half year revenue rises by 16%
City law firm RPC has recorded a 16% rise in its first half-year revenue from £38.7m in the same period last year to £46m. The firm said the rise, covering the period May to October, was a ‘direct result’ of its investment strategy and was spread across most of its practice areas and offices.
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‘A testament to our strategic direction’: Naunton and Jones ditch real estate boutique dream to join King & Wood Mallesons
Senior Eversheds partners William Naunton and Clive Jones, who handed in their resignations at the start of this year with plans of launching a City boutique for high-end real estate work, will join King & Wood Mallesons in the New Year.
The Friday Edit: Property is hot once more and the dangers of upsetting Susan
We’re halfway through November and it’s Friday, so here’s our regular look back at some of the stories that have drawn everyone’s attention over the last five days. For access to subscriber content, click here for full access to Legal Business or contact [email protected].
Also, a friendly reminder that the deadline for submissions for the 2015 Legal Business Awards is this Monday (17 November).
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Comment: Magic Circle real estate withdrawal isn’t a myth, but it’s not that simple
In a 2011 piece on the decimated real estate market in the City, we noted that few senior property partners were in their mid-40s, due to the fact that law firms largely ceased hiring junior real estate lawyers following the early ’90s crash. It looks like history will repeat itself in roughly 15 years’ time: post-credit crunch, the most established real estate practices went into hibernation. Some started to disintegrate. Either way, if you were a trainee interested in real estate around 2010, pickings were slim.
A major instruction: DLA Piper instructed by Vodafone for Spanish tax fraud investigation
DLA Piper lawyers from London and Madrid have been called in by Vodafone to investigate allegations of tax fraud at Spanish cable operator Ono, which the telecoms giant acquired in July for €7.2bn.
Partner exits pile up: Edwards Wildman loses leading Hong Kong insurance partner to Simmons & Simmons
Having been plagued with a series of partner departures from London, Edwards Wildman Palmer has now taken a hit to its Hong Kong offering with the departure of insurance partner Martin Lister, who established the office in 2006, to Simmons & Simmons. Simmons, meanwhile, has also expanded its Africa group with the appointment of Paul Bugingo from Dentons, where he served as co-chairman of the firm’s Africa committee.
‘Rather impersonal’: Financial Services Compensation Scheme set to create first legal panel
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the UK’s statutory compensation scheme for customers of authorised financial services firms, is currently undergoing a tender process to create its first ever legal panel.
‘Inspired by common law’: EU damages Directive opens door for competition disputes but steers clear of class actions
Monday (10 November) saw the EU Council of Ministers formally adopt the European Commission’s Directive on antitrust damages, a move to standardise multiple aspects of competition litigation across the EU and one which City competition lawyers believe will generate an uptick in potential cases.
Media attention: Latham & Watkins hires six-partner team from O’Melveny & Myers
US firm Latham & Watkins continues its aggressive hiring strategy with the recruitment of a six-partner team from O’Melveny & Myers, including the firm’s entertainment, sports and media group head Joseph Calabrese and high profile London-based partner Libby Savill.
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Clifford Chance leads for Barclays in ongoing Forex investigation as regulators levy £2bn fine on five banks
Five banks have been collectively fined £2bn by UK and US regulators for failing to stop traders from trying to manipulate the foreign exchange market, in what constitutes the first settlement in a global investigation and the largest-ever imposed by the FCA.
Comment: Join our club – law firms’ obsession with the in crowd is beyond parody
As I reach my middle years I find much to admire and celebrate about the legal profession, and lawyers in general. This column is not going to be about any of that stuff. Instead, we turn to a facet of the typical lawyer’s character that does them no credit: the obsession with joining a crowd, or rather a club that the lawyer believes says something ego-stroking about them.
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