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Financial results 2013: Burness Paull (minus the Williamsons) outstrips Scottish rivals with post-merger results

In the first few months since its eye-catching merger at the beginning of December last year, Burness Paull has climbed the ranks to post revenue and profit growth that contrasts starkly with the fortunes of the traditionally elite Scottish firms in recent years.

The 57-partner firm, formed following the union of Burness in Edinburgh and Glasgow and Aberdeen’s Paull & Williamsons, recorded a turnover of £38.7m, up 59% on legacy firm Burness’ turnover last year of £24.3m. The firm has also rebranded as Burness Paull, dropping the Williamsons part of its post-merger name. Continue reading “Financial results 2013: Burness Paull (minus the Williamsons) outstrips Scottish rivals with post-merger results”

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Real estate round up: Hogan Lovells, BLP and Nabarro show credentials while Mishcons makes key hire

Unsurprisingly, what little major real estate work that is around has found its way to the usual trio of law firms – Berwin Leighton Paisner, Hogan Lovells and Nabarro. And while the usual suspects continued to do what they do best, 2012 Legal Business real estate team of the year, Mishcon de Reya, has strengthened its team with a key lateral hire.

Hogan Lovells is representing fellow international firm CMS Cameron McKenna over plans to move its entire London operation to the newly developed Cannon Place site above Cannon Street station, where it has agreed to take a 25-year lease, when it vacates its existing premises at Mitre House in 2015. The scheme is a joint venture between international real estate firm Hines and Network Rail. Continue reading “Real estate round up: Hogan Lovells, BLP and Nabarro show credentials while Mishcons makes key hire”

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Asia round-up: Bakers ushers in new Singapore head as MoFo and Taylor Wessing plot regional growth

Aside from the big Asia Pacific news this week of SJ Berwin’s tie-up with King & Wood Mallesons, other major players are expanding in the region or re-freshing their leadership teams.

Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow, the Singapore arm of Bakers, has appointed a new managing partner. Andy Leck is to replace Edmund Leow, who has been appointed as a Judicial Commissioner in the Supreme Court of Singapore. Leow will leave the global law firm on 31 August to take on his new role. Continue reading “Asia round-up: Bakers ushers in new Singapore head as MoFo and Taylor Wessing plot regional growth”

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Vision of the future? Former eBay dispute resolution team heads to Europe

An online dispute resolution (ODR) technology business spun out of eBay is setting up in the UK after receiving a $5m investment from venture capitalists.

Silicon Valley-based Modria, which provides technical solutions for the resolution of around 60 million disputes a year, will be launching its European arm following investment led by early-stage IT venture capital firm Foundry Group. Continue reading “Vision of the future? Former eBay dispute resolution team heads to Europe”

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Deal watch: Student Loans Company invites law firm tenders for £40bn debt portfolio sale

The Government’s plan to take the Student Loans Company debt off its balance sheet has moved up a gear as firms have formally been invited to tender for the role as legal advisor in the sale of the company’s £40bn loan portfolio.

Announced last Friday (26 July), the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has invited tenders for legal advice on the monetisation of the SLC’s loans portfolio, which at the end of the 2012/13 financial year was valued at approximately £45bn. The precise structure of the monetisation is still being considered but it is likely to be either through a sale to the private sector or a securitisation. Invited firms have until 23 August to submit their bids. Continue reading “Deal watch: Student Loans Company invites law firm tenders for £40bn debt portfolio sale”

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Bar round-up: Essex Court and Outer Temple Chambers boost their ranks

It’s been a good summer so far for Essex Court Chambers and Outer Temple Chambers, with Daniel Oudkerk QC recently moving from 11 King’s Bench Walk to Essex Court, while David Russell QC and Robin Barclay have joined Outer Temple.

Oudkerk QC took silk in 2010 and focuses on employment disputes and commercial work, having acted for the successful claimants in the landmark conspiracy and team poaching litigation Tullett Prebon v BGC, as well as for the Swiss IDB ContiCap in an Unfair Competition Act claim. Continue reading “Bar round-up: Essex Court and Outer Temple Chambers boost their ranks”

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Retention round up: UK firms score top marks on trainee job offers

Despite the wave of redundancies and poor financials of late, firms are still posting high retention rates of junior lawyers who can almost all breathe a sigh of relief this coming September. However, not every firm has been as generous this year as they were last summer – a sign that supply is still outstripping demand in many areas.

The latest is Magic Circle firm Linklaters which yesterday (31 July) announced a retention figure of 87%, equating to 47 offers (of which all were accepted) out of 54 trainees. This figure is up considerably on last summer, where the rate fell to 79%. Continue reading “Retention round up: UK firms score top marks on trainee job offers”

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Good girl gets mad: Rihanna wins t-shirt tiff against Topshop

In a case where the profile of the parties far outshone the legal substance and had many media outlets overexcited, global popstar Rihanna yesterday ( 31 July) won a High Court battle against high street retailer Topshop over the unauthorised use of her ‘brand’. The £5m case has resulted in untold lovely column inches and hopefully hefty fees for the two firms involved, Reed Smith and Mishcon de Reya.

Suing parent company Arcadia Group, the Barbadian songstress, whose real name is Robin Fenty, filed the claim after Topshop sold t-shirts with her face printed on without permission. Continue reading “Good girl gets mad: Rihanna wins t-shirt tiff against Topshop”

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Latham, Sidley and Skadden lead the US pack in Legal 500 research

Often hailed as one of the greatest US success stories of the last 25 years, new research underlines the elevated position Latham & Watkins has attained in the world’s largest legal market.

The Legal 500 United States 2013 edition shows Latham as the highest ranked law firm judged by the total number of recommendations, putting the Los Angeles-bred giant ahead of a string of top Wall Street firms.

The 600-partner firm received recommendations in 55 practice areas. Recommendations are calculated by the research team of The Legal 500 based on client and peer feedback and the submissions of the firms themselves, and take into account multiple factors including track record in winning cases, the complexity of deals and innovation. Latham received 20 top-tier recommendations, including listings in areas such as capital markets (equity offerings and high-yield debt offerings), project finance (lenders and sponsors), energy (renewable and transactions) and telecoms and broadcast (regulatory and transactional).

Continue reading “Latham, Sidley and Skadden lead the US pack in Legal 500 research”

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What’s in a name? SJ Berwin and King & Wood Mallesons seal union

Forming a ground-breaking union between a leading City firm and an Asia powerhouse, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) partners confirmed this morning (31 July) that the Hong Kong-headquartered firm would merge with the UK’s SJ Berwin.

KWM partners in Australia and China voted simultaneously in favour of the merger at 1pm Hong Kong time and 3pm Sydney time in person, while SJ Berwin partners have voted electronically over the last five days. The merger will go live on 1 November, creating a firm with combined revenues over $1bn and 2,223 lawyers, including 553 partners.

KWM operates three separate partnerships in China, Hong Kong and Australia and although the Chinese partnership was given a longer time to consider the deal, all votes were in by today’s deadline. Continue reading “What’s in a name? SJ Berwin and King & Wood Mallesons seal union”

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Deal watch: Latham and Wachtell lead on largest public deal of the year

In what remains a gloomy cross-border deal market, US leaders Latham & Watkins and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have secured lead roles on the largest public merger of the year so far – the tie-up of Omnicom and Publicis Groupe. The Franco-US union creates a company with a combined market capitalisation of €26.5bn, forging the largest advertising group in the world. The combined company, which will be listed in New York and Paris, will have more than 130,000 staff.

The deal is likely to attract the attention of antitrust regulators in the US and Europe, uniting the second and third largest advertising groups in the world to overtake the UK-based WPP. Continue reading “Deal watch: Latham and Wachtell lead on largest public deal of the year”

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Redundancy watch: DWF, Hill Dickinson and Taylor Wessing all confirm job cuts

The stream of UK law firm job cuts continues apace as DWF, Hill Dickinson and Taylor Wessing have today (30 July) confirmed that recent redundancy consultations have resulted multiple job losses.

DWF, having completed five mergers in less than 18 months and with a remarkable 84% increase in turnover to £188m, has become one of the most closely watched national practices in the legal market of late. The expansion has led to some significant streamlining of the business however and the firm has confirmed to Legal Business it has cut 38 staff from its ranks following redundancy consultations that began in May. Continue reading “Redundancy watch: DWF, Hill Dickinson and Taylor Wessing all confirm job cuts”

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Do you need to think about tougher tax rules for your partnership? Er, probably

Does abuse of tax rules for partnership require a major clampdown by the taxman? That’s the £300m question and the reason that the majority of large law firm partnerships in the UK are now facing an overhaul of the tax treatment of partners and retained earnings.

Tax specialists and legal finance directors are currently sizing up proposals from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to change the treatment of members and retained earnings in limited liability partnerships (LLPs). Continue reading “Do you need to think about tougher tax rules for your partnership? Er, probably”

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Amid a punishing regional market, Challinors becomes latest to call in the administrators

It’s not as if anyone needs reminding that the legal market remains challenging, and doubly so for regional advisers. But driving home that point this month, Midlands-based Challinors has become the latest sizeable practice to call in the administrators after the failure earlier this year of Cobbetts and Scots practice Semple Fraser.

The Birmingham-headquartered adviser, which offers services in areas including disputes and private client, has filed a notice of intention to appoint Eric Walls and Wayne Harrison from KSA Group as administrators. Continue reading “Amid a punishing regional market, Challinors becomes latest to call in the administrators”

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Barristers free to conduct litigation as Bar watchdog ushers in new ‘risk-based’ conduct regime

While the post-Legal Services Act (LSA) shake-up moves far more slowly for barristers than their solicitor cousins, the Bar continues to modernise at its own pace with new conduct rules unveiled this month heralding significant reforms.

The Bar Standards Board last week unveiled its new code of conduct for barristers allowing self-employed advocates to conduct litigation for the first time and to form associations with non-barristers – two significant steps towards liberalising lawyer regulation. Continue reading “Barristers free to conduct litigation as Bar watchdog ushers in new ‘risk-based’ conduct regime”

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Financial results 2013: steady as she goes for Burges Salmon

It’s been another year of solid organic growth for stalwart Burges Salmon, with revenue, profit and profit per lawyer (PPL) all up 4% at the end of last financial year.

The UK top 50 firm posted its highest ever revenue figure of £73.7m, up from £71m at the end of financial year 2011/12, with net income up to £23.5m from £22.6m and PPL up to £76,000 from £73,000. Profits per equity partner are flat, at £420,000 this year. This follows a 7% increase in turnover during the previous financial year. Continue reading “Financial results 2013: steady as she goes for Burges Salmon”

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After mounting controversy Bar watchdogs face court challenge to procedures in high-stakes move

Regulators are never popular but the Bar’s watchdogs have seen sustained controversy finally escalate into a court challenge to their procedures.

The High Court earlier this month heard a claim for judicial review of the Bar’s regulatory procedures related to problems with the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and Bar disciplinary tribunals identified last year. Continue reading “After mounting controversy Bar watchdogs face court challenge to procedures in high-stakes move”

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Financial results 2013: LG’s revenue falls for a third year while Irwin Mitchell posts turnover and profit growth

Top 25-firm Irwin Mitchell has today (26 July) posted strong revenue and profit growth for the last financial year, while Lawrence Graham (LG) has posted declining turnover for the third year running.

In its latest results for 2012/13, Irwin Mitchell’s turnover was up by 9% to £200.2m from £183.7m for 2011/12. Profit for the group as a whole is £19.1m, up by 3.1% on the previous financial year. The firm’s profit per equity partner is £619,000 – a 9% increase from last year’s £569,000. Continue reading “Financial results 2013: LG’s revenue falls for a third year while Irwin Mitchell posts turnover and profit growth”

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Guest post: In the ABS landscape, it’s all about the brand – oh yes

‘Tesco Law’ is a phrase that, thankfully, is finally dying out as the reality of alternative business structures (ABSs) takes hold, but what it represents – big brands entering the legal market – has become truer than ever this month.

First there was Direct Line Group’s long-awaited announcement of its plans to set up a law firm  and then it emerged the Stobart Group has added an ABS to its barrister service. Continue reading “Guest post: In the ABS landscape, it’s all about the brand – oh yes”

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Financial results 2013: the good, the bad and the ugly as Howard Kennedy FSI, Clarke Willmott and Manches reveal results

The latest results for firms in the second half of LB100 are a mixed bag, as Howard Kennedy reports inflated revenues reflecting its recent merger with Finers Stephens Innocent, Clarke Willmott posts a fifth consecutive year of falling revenues and Manches unveils a sharp fall in turnover and profit.

Clarke Willmott’s revenues edged down 1% from £33.5m to £33.1m, while profits per equity partner (PEP) is down 14% to £141,000 from £163,000. Top of the equity is £152,000, compared to £110,000 at the bottom. Continue reading “Financial results 2013: the good, the bad and the ugly as Howard Kennedy FSI, Clarke Willmott and Manches reveal results”