I enjoyed the recent debate triggered by reports of the US lawsuit accusing DLA Piper of over billing. As expected the comments included a few laments about lawyers’ strange habit of charging clients for inputs in the form of billable hours – strange in the sense that when we buy a quart of milk we expect to pay for milk, not bushels of livestock feed and hours of dairy workers’ time. Continue reading “Guest post: In defence of the billable hour – a contrarian perspective”
Old normal update – Linklaters outpaces Slaughters to hike starting associate pay by £2,500
A further reminder comes this week that despite much talk of the pressure on the legal market (see Comment: Things I would have said about the future of law if I hadn’t forgotten my notes), leading City players continue to be highly profitable with Linklaters announcing on Tuesday (7 May) that it is raising its salary bands for associates. Continue reading “Old normal update – Linklaters outpaces Slaughters to hike starting associate pay by £2,500”
Latham picks up three-partner Shearman team for Düsseldorf launch
Latham & Watkins is to further expand its German corporate capability with the launch of a Düsseldorf office after hiring a three-partner team from US rival Shearman & Sterling. Continue reading “Latham picks up three-partner Shearman team for Düsseldorf launch”
Wragges to cut up to 30 jobs in BPO venture
In a move that stands out against the recent backlash towards business process outsourcing, Wragge & Co is to cut up to 30 full-time equivalent support roles following an agreement with Intelligent Office.
A consultation has been launched with affected PAs, secretaries and other administrative staff following a comprehensive review of the firm’s back office functions, which was launched at the start of the year.
Continue reading “Wragges to cut up to 30 jobs in BPO venture”
Comment: Things I would have said about the future of law if I hadn’t forgotten my notes
I was recently asked to speak on a panel debate for Georgetown Law at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s City office to discuss the big issues facing the profession. As the panel’s host, Freshfields managing partner Ted Burke, sent the speakers some outline topics and questions beforehand, I sketched out some points to help order my thoughts.
In-house moves: Glencore and RSA announce senior appointments
Glencore Xstrata has promoted former Glencore general counsel (GC) Richard Marshall as its overall head of legal in the wake of its $66bn merger.
Marshall joined Glencore in 2005, having worked at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft. He moved to the firm’s London office from the Sydney office of Mallesons Stephen Jacques where he had been a partner since 1984.
Continue reading “In-house moves: Glencore and RSA announce senior appointments”
ABS rising – Slater and Gordon and Plexus announce four law firm acquisitions in a day
Both sides of the volume insurance market saw significant Legal Services Act-themed developments today as two of the most touted investor-backed law outfits announced four proposed acquisitions in a single day.
Plexus Law today (7 May) confirmed it is to merge with insurance dispute resolution practice Greenwoods, creating a £90m defendant insurance litigation business. Plexus is the defendant arm of the Parabis Group, the legal outfit that last year sold a majority stake in its business to buyout house Duke Street in a move expected to fund a war chest for expansion.
Legal education – either free or very expensive as BPP to train job-hungry grads for nothing
Law schools have been dogged by controversy in recent years on both sides of the Atlantic but one of the UK’s major providers has a novel response: giving education away for free.
BPP Law School this week confirmed that it is to offer a free qualification worth up to £16,500 to any of its legal practice course (LPC) graduates who fail to secure a job in the legal sector within six months of graduating.
Guest post: A Halsbury’s for the people and the battle against legal complexity
The Cabinet Office and the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel have published a very interesting report criticising the complexity and quality of legislation and suggesting a much greater willingness to do something about it through an initiative dubbed Good Law.
This section gives a flavour:
Continue reading “Guest post: A Halsbury’s for the people and the battle against legal complexity”
Global London advances – Latham secures third senior City recruit of the year
Latham & Watkins has recruited high-profile Norton Rose derivatives and structured finance partner Dean Naumowicz as the US giant makes its third senior City hire of the year. Continue reading “Global London advances – Latham secures third senior City recruit of the year”
Recent spate of lateral hires a blip in a quiet year so far
Despite the City lateral hire market recently showing few signs of returning to its pre-credit crunch peak, yesterday (1 May) saw a string of key partner hires announced by Allen & Overy (A&O), DLA Piper, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Olswang.
A&O announced the hire of Fried Frank partner Alasdair Balfour to join its City antitrust group, while DLA Piper expanded its London corporate group with the hire of Berwin Leighton Paisner partner Rob Salter and Kirkland & Ellis partner Anu Balasubramanian.
Continue reading “Recent spate of lateral hires a blip in a quiet year so far”
Asia round-up: DLA hits Jakarta while Stephenson Harwood expands in Singapore and Beijing
Despite concerns over a cooling eastern economy, UK advisers continue to invest in Asia with DLA Piper and Stephenson Harwood this week making major plays in the region.
DLA Piper has entered into a strategic alliance with Indonesian law firm Almaida Baely & Firmansyah (IAB&F), ramping up its already huge global footprint. Like most international advisers, DLA had previously largely serviced Indonesian work from its Singapore arm.
DLA and Simmons promote fewer partners as firms continue to favour Europe
DLA Piper and Simmons & Simmons are among the latest UK firms to announce a reduced number of partnership promotions, appointing 34 and seven lawyers respectively, down from 58 and 10 in 2012.
DLA’s appointments came largely across its US offices, where 19 lawyers were made up to the partnership, with a further seven in continental Europe, four in the UK and four in Australia.
Continue reading “DLA and Simmons promote fewer partners as firms continue to favour Europe”
Enter A&O, exit CC for Aviva’s top roster but insurance giant drives a hard bargain
Allen & Overy (A&O) has won a place on Aviva’s top corporate panel after a lengthy review that saw Clifford Chance (CC) lose its spot as plc adviser.
The move comes as Aviva also kick-started its UK and Europe panel selection process in mid-April, following an overhaul of its 280-staff global legal team.
The review of the plc panel was led by general counsel (GC) and company secretary Kirsty Cooper and Aviva Group GC Monica Risam (pictured).
‘The pace has been relentless’ – the man who led the SRA through its birth has had enough
Antony Townsend, the man who led the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) through its controversy-strewn separation from the Law Society, has today (2 May) confirmed that he is to leave the body.
Chief executive Townsend announced that he is stepping down later this year once a successor has been appointed. He commented: ‘I have headed up the SRA from its inception. The pace of change has been relentless; the challenges have been formidable.
Shock and Flaw – is Leveson workable?
Born of an inquiry into a scandal-hit industry and mired in controversy – the cross-party deal on press regulation promises to be the biggest shake-up of the media law landscape for decades. Legal Business asks if a workable deal can emerge from the headlines.
Laterally Latin – a sideways year for a hot market
After so much talk of the rise of Latin America since the 2008 banking crisis gripped Western economies, there is no doubt that 2012 felt like something of a disappointment.
The region’s powerhouse economy, Brazil, saw growth slow considerably, cooling the market that has by far the greatest regional pulling power for multinationals and international law firms. The result, in relative terms against a 2010 and 2011 dominated by record levels of inward investment and a string of big-ticket deals, was a low-key year for advisers.
Continue reading “Laterally Latin – a sideways year for a hot market”
Altered Images – will the real Mayer Brown stand up?
Once one of the most lauded transatlantic players, Mayer Brown has struggled to find its form over the last five years either globally or in the City. Legal Business asks if the firm knows what it wants to be in the Square Mile.
A little over four years ago Mayer Brown went through the latest in a series of reboots aimed at repositioning the firm. Back in 2009 that desire to begin a new chapter was understandable. Mayer Brown had recently weathered a turbulent period dominated by a partner restructuring, problems in its Chicago and New York arms and, of course, the fallout generated by the global banking crisis. The message the firm sought to articulate was that it was determined to reposition itself as a more performance-driven outfit, geared more strongly towards a globalising but increasingly competitive market.
Continue reading “Altered Images – will the real Mayer Brown stand up?”
The Last Word
On 1 April the Financial Services Authority (FSA) was replaced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). What are the implications for firms’ financial services practices?
It’s your profession – accept it, change it but be honest
There are plenty of editors who live on the conference circuit but I’ve never been one of them. Still, I did accept a spot on a recent Georgetown panel discussion hosted at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s London office to talk about the wider issues facing the profession. You know the kind of stuff: recession, diversity, Google Law.
As often happens on these occasions, I was struck by the strong emotions that are triggered if you dispassionately describe how the legal industry works. In this case the trigger was my argument that the law firm model and the tournament of partnership, in pure economic terms, functions perfectly fine while losing large numbers of female associates. Continue reading “It’s your profession – accept it, change it but be honest”