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Not so private client – Speechly Bircham and Withers call off high-profile merger bid

Merger talks between private client law firms Speechly Bircham and Withers have been abandoned, the firms announced today (23 May).

A joint statement from the firms said: ‘Following detailed discussions between the management and partnerships of Withers and Speechly Bircham, both sides have now concluded that a merger would not be in the best interests of both firms and have agreed not to pursue this further. The talks have enhanced the respect that both firms have for each other.’ Continue reading “Not so private client – Speechly Bircham and Withers call off high-profile merger bid”

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Headline Deals: Ashurst takes lead for Commerzbank and Morrisons

Ashurst is leading on two headline deals announced this week as Germany’s Commerzbank enters talks to sell a £4bn UK loan portfolio and Wm Morrisons signed a potentially market changing agreement with online grocer Ocado.

The top 15 UK firm is advising longstanding client Commerzbank on the proposed sale of its Eurohypo UK operation to US bank Wells Fargo and private equity group Lone Star. If the deal goes ahead it is reported to be one of the largest disposals of real estate debt by a European bank since the start of the financial crisis. Continue reading “Headline Deals: Ashurst takes lead for Commerzbank and Morrisons”

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Closed shop: Law Society report shows sharp fall in training contracts

Entering the legal profession has become harder than ever, with the latest Law Society data revealing that the number of training contracts offered by law firms in England & Wales is at its lowest level since 1999.

The Law Society’s Annual Statistical Report reveals that the number of training contracts registered to July 2012 stood at 4,869; a 10.5% drop compared to the 5,441 registrations in 2011. The report also reveals that new solicitor admissions have seen nearly a 25% drop from 8,402 in 2011 to 6,330 in 2012. Continue reading “Closed shop: Law Society report shows sharp fall in training contracts”

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Italy: Hogan Lovells trio departs to Ernst & Young while Bonelli changes management

Hogan Lovells’ Rome office has lost partners Gianroberto de Giovanni, Massimiliano Marinozzi and Paolo Ricci to Ernst & Young.

The trio will join as partners of the Italian legal offering of the global audit firm in its Rome and Milan offices. Ricci will take over the leadership team in Italy, while de Giovanni and Marinozzi will head the corporate and dispute teams respectively. Continue reading “Italy: Hogan Lovells trio departs to Ernst & Young while Bonelli changes management”

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Redundancy watch: Trowers the latest top 50 firm to announce fee-earner job losses

Trowers & Hamlins has made four fee-earners and three secretarial staff redundant in the last three months, the firm confirmed today (22 May).

‘In light of continuing pressures on the UK legal market, we have streamlined a few of our practice areas so that they better reflect our business needs,’ the firm said in a statement. Continue reading “Redundancy watch: Trowers the latest top 50 firm to announce fee-earner job losses”

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Can you be sure of Shell? Coveted oil giant unveils new panel

Eleven firms, including Allen & Overy (A&O) and Baker & McKenzie, have been successful in winning a place on Shell’s new global legal panel, which was unveiled yesterday (22 May).

The tender, which kicked off in March, went out to 357 firms in 20 jurisdictions. The aim, according to legal director Peter Rees QC, was to find between two and five suitable firms for each practice area in each jurisdiction who would then be ‘pre-qualified’ for Shell legal work and who would compete with each other for significant mandates. Continue reading “Can you be sure of Shell? Coveted oil giant unveils new panel”

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A&O falls behind on associate pay table as it announces a freeze

Allen & Overy (A&O) has become the latest of the Magic Circle to reveal that it is holding its associate salaries at last year’s levels, meaning its associates will rank as the lowest paid of its rivals so far.

The firm will continue paying newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers £61,500; £1,500 less than Slaughter and May, £2,500 less than Linklaters and £3,500 less than Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Continue reading “A&O falls behind on associate pay table as it announces a freeze”

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Cadwalader focuses on Europe with London restructuring hires

US firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft is focusing its restructuring practice on Europe with the hire of partners Holly Neavill and Louisa Watt, who have joined the firm’s London office.

Neavill was previously a partner at Latham & Watkins London office, although she began her career in the US. She has worked on some high profile restructurings and distressed M&A deals, including advising the committee of bondholders in the restructuring of the publicly-listed Italian directories business SEAT Pagine Gialle last year. Continue reading “Cadwalader focuses on Europe with London restructuring hires”

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Guest post: Forget Dewey – what you need to be assessing on strategy and partner pay

Law firm managers who are planning large-scale, hubristic expansion-by-acquisition should study the Dewey & LeBoeuf morality play very closely. The rest of us should not. It’s a distraction that diverts attention from what matters closer to home.

Permit me to analogise: those of us who are dealing with the daily stresses and strains of keeping a marriage healthy could, I suppose, closely study the example of Tiger Woods as a way of understanding how marriages fail in a spectacular explosion of adultery. Continue reading “Guest post: Forget Dewey – what you need to be assessing on strategy and partner pay”

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Disruptive Models: ABS tally for 2013 reaches 2012 level as Shakespeares becomes latest to convert

The number of firms granted alternative business structure (ABS) status in 2013 has now hit the same level as for the whole of 2012, as Shakespeares last week became the latest mid-tier outfit to announce it has been granted a licence.

Shakespeares was the 72nd firm to obtain a licence in 2013, the same number as obtained a licence in total in 2012 after the Solicitors Regulation Authority began accepting applications on 3 January. Continue reading “Disruptive Models: ABS tally for 2013 reaches 2012 level as Shakespeares becomes latest to convert”

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Travers Smith in surprise discrimination defeat

Top 50 City firm Travers Smith has suffered the rare public humiliation of losing a high profile discrimination case after a tribunal found the firm denied a former trainee a place in the firm because she had fallen pregnant.

The Central London Employment Tribunal found that Travers ‘contrived to prevent Katie Tantum from being offered a post as a newly qualified solicitor because of her pregnancy’, according to a statement by Tantum’s solicitors, Leigh Day & Co. Continue reading “Travers Smith in surprise discrimination defeat”

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Asia round-up: Bingham makes funds push in Tokyo while Eversheds launches in Beijing

The lateral hire market has been particularly active in Asia this week, with some of the most established international players in the region losing experienced partners.

The most notable move came in Japan, where US firm Bingham McCutchen has added seven White & Case lawyers to its investment funds team in Tokyo. Continue reading “Asia round-up: Bingham makes funds push in Tokyo while Eversheds launches in Beijing”

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Corporate stirrings: Cinven gifts Freshfields with IPO while HSF defends Severn Trent

A handful of major corporate mandates were unveiled this week as private equity house Cinven kicked off its £1.4bn proposed initial public offering (IPO) of annuity provider Partnership Assurance Group and Severn Trent rejected a preliminary takeover offer by an international consortium.

Amidst signs of renewed confidence in the IPO market, Cinven has instructed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer – led by corporate partners Mark Austin and Adrian Maguire – to advise on the float of Partnership Assurance, which Cinven acquired for €200m in 2008. Continue reading “Corporate stirrings: Cinven gifts Freshfields with IPO while HSF defends Severn Trent”

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Bar round-up: Bar Council appoints chief executive while 39 Essex Street to suspend pupillages

It’s been a busy week at Bar but not necessarily for the right reasons. While the Bar Council has appointed its first chief executive in two years, 39 Essex Street has announced it is to take a year out from recruiting pupils for following its merger with 4-5 Gray’s Inn last year. Meanwhile, controversial comments from Hardwicke Chambers’ Barbara Hewson have forced it to distance itself publicly from its own member. Continue reading “Bar round-up: Bar Council appoints chief executive while 39 Essex Street to suspend pupillages”

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Edwards Wildman joins the ranks of international firms in Istanbul

The increased importance of Turkey as strategic hub for international firms has been underlined with news that US firm Edwards Wildman Palmer is to open an office in Istanbul in association with local M&A and private equity boutique Ismen Law Firm.

The date of the opening will depend on regulatory approval by the Istanbul Bar Association but it will become the 600-lawyer firm’s the first office in the Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Northern Africa (CEEMENA) region. Continue reading “Edwards Wildman joins the ranks of international firms in Istanbul”

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Global London: Andrews Kurth becomes latest Texan in City gold rush

The appetite of Texan firms for the UK energy market shows no sign of abating with news that Houston-based Andrews Kurth is to follow neighbours Bracewell & Giuliani and Locke Lord into the City.

The Andrews Kurth launch is spearheaded by UK energy specialist Peter Roberts, who is leaving Ashurst two years after becoming partner. Continue reading “Global London: Andrews Kurth becomes latest Texan in City gold rush”

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Revolving Doors: Clutch of firms including Bird & Bird, Dentons and Sidley make key hires

The lateral hires market has over the past week continued to defy an overall drop in activity as Bird & Bird, DWF, Dentons, Sidley Austin and Baker & McKenzie all made strategic hires.

Late last week 234-partner Bird & Bird was joined by Field Fisher Waterhouse (FFW) franchising partners Graeme Payne and Victoria Hobbs – a not unexpected move after the recent hire of high profile FFW IP and IT head Mark Abell, with whom the duo worked on a number of mandates and were widely tipped to follow. Last year the pair advised luxury shirt brand Thomas Pink on a franchise deal leading to the opening of stores across India. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Clutch of firms including Bird & Bird, Dentons and Sidley make key hires”

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Shearman bolsters London private equity team with double Weil Gotshal partner hire

The brisk trade in private equity partners continues in the City with news today (15 March) that Shearman & Sterling has hired Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ experienced corporate partner Mark Soundy.

Soundy is joined by fellow Weil Gotshal partner Sarah Priestley, a corporate tax specialist focusing on private equity and hedge funds. Associate Simon Burrows will also move over from Weil to Shearman as partner. Continue reading “Shearman bolsters London private equity team with double Weil Gotshal partner hire”

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Quinn’s global master plan – elite disputes shop hits HK for third foreign launch of the year

Having only launched its first foreign office in 2008, US disputes leader Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan clearly now has the taste for foreign expansion. The latest stop on its global tour is Hong Kong, with the ultra-profitable litigation shop today (15 May) unveiling details of its long-awaited local launch, coming only days after it sealed a deal to enter the Australian legal market. Continue reading “Quinn’s global master plan – elite disputes shop hits HK for third foreign launch of the year”

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A gloomy week for legal job prospects as OC follows BLP to announce likely job cuts

Osborne Clarke (OC) is to make up to 13 fee-earners redundant as it begins a two-week consultation, the top 50 UK law firm announced today (15 May).

Managing partner Simon Beswick said that the 400-lawyer firm would be informing associates affected by the consultation today in response to what he said was ‘over-capacity’ in the business. Continue reading “A gloomy week for legal job prospects as OC follows BLP to announce likely job cuts”