Iberian leader Uría Menéndez has elevated its offering in Latin America and acquired a 30% stake in the merger of its best friend firms and national heavyweights, Philippi and Prietocarrizosa, in a union the firm says is a ‘major milestone’ in its international strategy to consolidate its commitment in the region.
Comment: LB100 – Statistically speaking, you may not need a bigger boat
Last year, delivering our annual results issue, Legal Business remarked that the age of turbulence facing law firms since the 2008 banking crisis was far from over. And so it has proved. Despite all the talk of returning confidence, and clear evidence of recovery in the UK economy, it’s still choppy out there. Stripping out another year of consolidation, the numbers are a little better than 2013 but that’s about it.
Continue reading “Comment: LB100 – Statistically speaking, you may not need a bigger boat”
KWMSJB brings in arbitration partner to develop Russia and CIS disputes work
Just two years after joining Winston & Strawn’s international arbitration group from the legacy Norton Rose, London-based disputes lawyer Andrei Yakovlev has upped sticks to join King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin.
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Guest post: The Children Act – a look at Ian McEwan’s take on law and the justice system
Fiona Maye is sixty – and a judge in the Family Division of the High Court. Her husband’s about to leave her for a younger woman, she fears, as a case comes before her that will test both her values, and her judgement. A seventeen year old is refusing desperately needed treatment that would save his life, because his religion – his parents have brought him up to be a Jehovah’s Witness – doesn’t allow blood transfusions. The hospital wants her to order the treatment be carried out in spite of his, and his parents’, opposition. What follows will test both the law and the judge herself.
Davis Polk and Cleary advise on RBS float of Citizens as Alibaba US IPO generates $15.8m in legal fees
US firms Davis Polk & Wardwell and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are advising on Royal Bank of Scotland’s sale of its US subsidiary Citizens Financial Group.
Revolving doors: White & Case, DLA Piper, A&O and K&L Gates strengthen offices abroad
Last week saw an array of international lateral moves with Global 100 firms White & Case, DLA Piper, Allen & Overy (A&O) and K&L Gates adding to their Frankfurt, New York, Dubai and Brisbane offices respectively.
Baker & McKenzie takes Norton Rose Fulbright’s EMEA head of energy
Baker & McKenzie has brought in leading energy lawyer, Weero Koster, who headed Norton Rose Fulbright’s EMEA energy practice, to spearhead an energy drive in continental Europe.
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‘This is the future’ – A&O sees further growth of contract lawyer arm as it hires new head from Deloitte
Following the launch of its innovative contract lawyer business ‘Peerpoint’ last November, Allen & Overy has made a move to develop the high-end service further, today (5 September) announcing the hire of Richard Punt, the managing partner for clients and markets at accountancy giant Deloitte, as Peerpoint’s chief executive officer.
‘The question is do law firms have the guts to change or just wait for their own giant killer’ – LB’s head talks future of law with Lex 100
Alex Novarese, editor-in-chief of Legal Business, sat down with Lex 100 recently to discuss the current state of the legal industry and its potential future for those considering a career in law.
The Friday Edit: Interesting things that happened this week…in case you were doing something else
Welcome to a new and hastily-named feature on Legal Business’s blog in which we reflect on the week and highlight notable and interesting articles for readers shamefully doing other things than living on our website over the last four days. The format will likely evolve since I’m making it up as I go along.
Guest post: End of an era – the legacy of Des Hudson
Eight years is a long time at the helm of an organisation like the Law Society, and so as he departs Chancery Lane as its chief executive for the last time, Des Hudson takes a lot of baggage with him. But what is the legacy of a man who started off as a breath of fresh air after taking over from the unpopular Janet Paraskeva, and ended up on the wrong end of a vote of no confidence from the profession?
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Schadenfreude alert on High Street as Co-op’s legal services division slumps to £5.1m loss
The Co-operative group’s push into high street legal services continues to falter, with the unit making a £5.1m loss for the 26 weeks to 5 July.
Clifford Chance takes HSF partner in bid to boost its capital markets practice in Paris
Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance has hired longstanding Herbert Smith Freehills’ partner Alex Bafi, one of London’s high-profile US securities lawyers, as it expands its capital markets practice.
The early Bird & Bird catches the worm – firm prepares to practise Chinese law
Bird & Bird has put plans in place to gain entry to a pilot scheme in China that will allow international firms to practise Chinese law for the first time.
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Freshfields hires US M&A and leveraged finance heads in New York expansion
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has hired division heads for its M&A and leveraged finance practices in a drive to increase the firm’s US footprint and increase market share in cross-border deals.
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Clifford Chance takes corporate team from Willkie Farr two years after leaving Freshfields
Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance has made a private equity push in continental Europe with the hire of Willkie Farr & Gallagher partner Fabrice Cohen in Paris, who moves as part of a three-lawyer team.
Bingham’s City arm faces restructuring team exodus to Akin Gump
Bingham McCutchen is set to suffer the departure of a team of City partners from the firm’s trophy financial restructuring group to US rival Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld‘s London office.
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Boies Schiller hires WilmerHale’s Miles to boost London arbitration
US litigation powerhouse Boies Schiller & Flexner has hired long-serving arbitration partner Wendy Miles from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr to kick start a London arbitration practice.
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LB100: The Second Quartile – Close Hauled
It’s an unforgiving environment, but 2014 once again shows the well-captained mid-tier outfits sailing free.
‘I’m a great believer that you can always do better and however good a particular year was, you have to exceed that. And we are far from perfect.’ So says Simon Beswick, managing partner at Osborne Clarke (OC), one of the strongest performers in the Legal Business 100 (LB100) this year.
The Bristol-based firm saw turnover rise 26% in 2013/14 – the largest single increase in the LB100 – and has seen revenue rise by 69% since 2009.
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Converging on boom-time profits without a boom – the big four now and then
They say averages lie, though in my experience not as much as people, but producing an annual report with 2,000 data points as we do with this month’s LB100 means it can be hard even for professional anoraks such as myself to find the nuggets of meaning in the thickets of information.
Well, when in doubt I start with the market leaders, so I dug up the numbers on London’s big four in their peak of 2008 to compare against this year’s results to see how they have changed. Continue reading “Converging on boom-time profits without a boom – the big four now and then”