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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”

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Ropes & Gray lands marquee role in GSK Chinese bribery investigation

Even in an age in which corporate investigations have become some of the most sought after work for legal advisers, Ropes & Gray has secured a notable role with the US law firm instructed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to lead an investigation into claims that some staff in the pharma giant’s Chinese operations engaged in bribery.

Chinese authorities have arrested four GSK executives, including senior Chinese legal counsel Zhao Hongyan, amid allegations that GSK staff have attempted to bribe doctors to use the company’s medication. Continue reading “Ropes & Gray lands marquee role in GSK Chinese bribery investigation”

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Asia Round-up: Singapore in focus for Minter Ellison, Sidley Austin and Taylor Wessing

The decline in Singapore M&A has seemingly done little to dampen the enthusiasm of international firms to launch or build their practices in the region.

Sidley Austin – which despite having been in Singapore since 1982, has just 10 lawyers in the region and to date has not had the same impact as top-tier banking & finance and corporate Magic Circle rivals Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance and Linklaters Singapore – has benefited from Vinson & Elkins recent decision to close its office in Shanghai, by hiring energy partner Tju Liang Chua. Continue reading “Asia Round-up: Singapore in focus for Minter Ellison, Sidley Austin and Taylor Wessing”

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Moving slowly forwards – Eversheds seals another Tyco-style deal

While single service retainers appear unlikely to become a broad fixture of the legal market, Eversheds continues to push on with the model having sealed a multimillion-pound deal with valve manufacturer and Tyco spin-off Pentair Flow Control to take over all its routine legal work in the EMEA region.

In a two-year, fixed-fee contract, the UK top 10 law firm has secured the right to carry out all routine litigation, certain intellectual property (IP) and commercial work and some premium work including major litigation, M&A and antitrust work. Pentair merged with Tyco Flow Controls after the three-way split of Tyco in October last year. Continue reading “Moving slowly forwards – Eversheds seals another Tyco-style deal”

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Deal watch: M&A activity picks up as A&O, Linklaters and Hogan Lovells secure key roles

With Q1 2013 reported as one of the slowest starts to the year M&A-wise for a decade, the deal market appears to be gaining momentum with a handful of Global 100 firms in action in high-profile and high-value transactions recently.

Linklaters is advising the recently formed Glencore Xstrata on the disposal of its Las Bambas copper mine in Peru for around $5bn – a condition of the $64bn union between Glencore and Xstrata that was imposed by Chinese regulators. Continue reading “Deal watch: M&A activity picks up as A&O, Linklaters and Hogan Lovells secure key roles”

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One trick pony – BLP to retain MLS in wake of partner departures

‘Two people leaving doesn’t mean the whole business collapses,’ says Neville Eisenberg, Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP) managing partner of 14 years, of the latest departures to hit the firm and, in particular, its Managed Legal Services (MLS) division.

MLS, which has struggled to make any headway in its model of absorbing in-house teams and effectively taking over the running of their legal function, has lost Patrick Somers, Thames Water’s relationship partner who helped to lead the project, as it also emerged that the firm’s star lateral hire Andrew Bamber, an acquisition finance partner who joined from Allen & Overy in 2009, has left the firm. Continue reading “One trick pony – BLP to retain MLS in wake of partner departures”

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Guest post: ‘Culture’ wins yet another victory over business judgment (or how to actually have a law firm strategy)

Here’s Scenario One: you’re in an executive committee or practice group or departmental meeting at your law firm, and the question arises for discussion why one or a handful of your partners are engaging in activities which, from the firm’s overall perspective, are clearly marginal: the activities could be pursuing a particular client or lobbying to hire a lateral or continuing to devote all their energies to growing the marginal practice area. Continue reading “Guest post: ‘Culture’ wins yet another victory over business judgment (or how to actually have a law firm strategy)”

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Financial results 2013: Scottish elite numbers make grim reading as Maclay reveals results

Following Dundas & Wilson’s announcement last week that its revenues and profits had tumbled dramatically for the second year running, the latest figures from Scotland’s two other elite firms shows it is not alone in suffering from poor financial performance.

Maclay Murray & Spens (MMS) has managed to outdo the beleaguered Dundas in terms of underperformance, with revenues down 13% to £40.9m from £46.9m last year, while profits have dropped by 24% to £9.7m, equating to a fall in PEP of £59,000 to £211,000 – down 22%. These figures are marginally worse than Dundas, which saw revenues dip 11% and profits fall 21%. Continue reading “Financial results 2013: Scottish elite numbers make grim reading as Maclay reveals results”

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Kirkland’s trophy hire – Robert Khuzami to join the firm in Washington

If securing senior US regulatory agency lawyers can be compared to a highly competitive game of cards, then Kirkland & Ellis has just called poker with the hire of Wall Street’s top federal enforcer Robert Khuzami.

Khuzami (pictured, who, incidentally, has a Wikipedia listing running into several pages) joins as a partner in the top 10 Global 100 firm’s global government, regulatory and internal investigations practice group after leading the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) enforcement division for four years. Continue reading “Kirkland’s trophy hire – Robert Khuzami to join the firm in Washington”

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Resurgence in debt and equity capital markets sees Allen & Overy claim top spot for issuer and manager roles

Allen & Overy (A&O) has topped Thomson Reuters’ table of legal advisers on global debt and equity capital markets work for the first half of 2013, landing roles on 456 deals.

The Magic Circle firm came out in first place for both manager and issuer roles, advising on 350 and 106 deals respectively.

Clifford Chance, which held the top spot this time last year for issuer roles, has fallen into second position followed by US rivals Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in third, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in fourth and Sidley Austin in fifth. Linklaters came in joint eighth position, down from fifth place at the half year in 2012, however for manager roles it claimed second place, advising on 234 deals. Continue reading “Resurgence in debt and equity capital markets sees Allen & Overy claim top spot for issuer and manager roles”

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In-house Round-up: Swiss Re GC to DAC, Co-op’s Gulliford to Pannone, FACT appoints first GC and Auction.com takes on senior legal team

If it had seemed that the flow of UK hires between private practice and in-house was very much one-sided in the corporates’ favour a recent run of high profile moves has gone some way to evening out the score.

Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) co-founder Jonathan Gulliford has joined Pannone Affinity as a consultant as part of an ongoing growth drive at the Manchester firm’s white label legal arm. Continue reading “In-house Round-up: Swiss Re GC to DAC, Co-op’s Gulliford to Pannone, FACT appoints first GC and Auction.com takes on senior legal team”

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European expansion – Osborne Clarke continues international drive with Paris launch

At the start of 2012 Osborne Clarke (OC) had little in the way of a direct international presence but the top 40 UK firm has continued its assault on Europe with a Paris launch, marking its fourth office opening in just over a year.

The office, which opened last Monday (15 July), is headed by Legal 500 recommended IT lawyer Béatrice Delmas-Linel, who joins the firm after four years as a partner at De Gaulle Flaurence, prior to which she was associate general counsel at Microsoft and before that managing partner at top-tier employment firm August & Debouzy. Continue reading “European expansion – Osborne Clarke continues international drive with Paris launch”

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Comparing apples with, err, pears: Dentons’ financials show slight increase in revenue as Withers and Travers reveal numbers

If the financial results of 2013 are useful for one thing, it will be to remind us of the sheer volume of transcontinental mergers, nearly-ran mergers, and the growth in popularity of the Swiss verein model.

The tail end of the financial reporting season has seen Dentons post its first, broadly flat set of results since the three-way merger of SNR Denton, Salans and Fraser Milner Casgrain, while Withers and Travers Smith (which stands out all the more for its fierce independence) have both seen a small increase in turnover. Continue reading “Comparing apples with, err, pears: Dentons’ financials show slight increase in revenue as Withers and Travers reveal numbers”

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Why the Serious Fraud Office should now be left to get on with its knitting

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is an organisation under pressure. Pressure from MPs over the severance packages of former executives, pressure after its annual report this week revealed that it has taken on and won fewer trials, and pressure to redefine itself within a highly politicised arena where it is an easy scapegoat for any number of financial ills.

First, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday published its 10th report in relation to the SFO’s redundancy and severance arrangements, finding that former director Richard Alderman had undermined the reputation of the SFO while he was director between 2008-2012. Continue reading “Why the Serious Fraud Office should now be left to get on with its knitting”

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Turns out not all publicity is good as law firm admits it revealed JK Rowling’s secret crime novel side-line

Media law firms have long received a profile far outranking their small size thanks to their close proximity to celebrity clients and headline-friendly stories. For once, that brand visibility has disastrously back-fired as it emerged this week that entertainment boutique Russells Solicitors was responsible for revealing the fact that its client JK Rowling had penned the crime novel The Cuckoo’s Calling under a pseudonym.

Commercial and corporate partner Chris Gossage disclosed the crime novelist’s true identity to his wife’s best friend Judith Callegari. It is understood that Callegari then disclosed the information to a Sunday Times journalist through Twitter earlier this month. Continue reading “Turns out not all publicity is good as law firm admits it revealed JK Rowling’s secret crime novel side-line”

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Financial results 2013: Dundas & Wilson fails to halt the slide as profits fall 21%

It was once Scotland’s most revered firm but Dundas & Wilson continues to experience misery heaped upon misery, rounding off a second  annus horribilis by announcing a successive double-digit drop in turnover today (19 July).

Turnover was down 11% at the end 2012/13 to £48.7m from £54.5m, with profit down 21% to £12.8m from £16.2m the previous year. Profits per equity partner have also fallen significantly, down to £164,000 from £210,000 – a fall of 22%. Continue reading “Financial results 2013: Dundas & Wilson fails to halt the slide as profits fall 21%”