Clyde & Co is to open a Madrid office following the appointment of a four-partner insurance team from DAC Beachcroft’s local office.
The team of nine lawyers, including insurance partners Ignacio Figuerol, Ricardo Garrido, Pablo Guillen and Miguel Relano, have resigned to establish the office for Clyde & Co, extending the firm’s international footprint to 29 locations across Europe, America and Asia.
Continue reading “Clyde & Co to open Madrid office with DAC Beachcroft insurance team”
Of the long list of changes I had in mind for Legal Business when I agreed to join the title as editor in chief, perhaps the biggest was a root-and-branch overhaul of the magazine’s online presence. In beta form, at least, you are looking at our first major step in achieving that aim with the launch today of a totally new and much improved website. Continue reading “The beta goes on – Legal Business gets a brand new site”
Europe may be stuck in the doldrums and the UK property market mired in a five-year slump but no one seems to have told West End boutique Forsters, which posted a revenue rise of 16% in its latest financial year.
Total fee income at the 120-lawyer firm grew to £32.5m for the 2012/13 year, up from £28m, while profits increased 11%. Profits per equity partner (PEP) rose 6% to £431,000 from £392,000 in 2012, while earnings per partner grew 3% to £308,000.
Hogan Lovells’ corporate team has received a welcome profile-raiser after advising Apple on its record-breaking $17bn bond issue.
Stuart Stein, Hogan Lovells’ global co-head of corporate, is advising the technology giant alongside corporate and securities partners Eve Howard and Gregory Parisi, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on Tuesday (30 April). Apple’s legal fees and expenses were not disclosed.
Continue reading “Hogan Lovells gets brand boost Apple-style with $17bn bond role”
Taylor Wessing (TW) bolstered its strong IP credentials last month, recruiting the head of Harbottle & Lewis’ IP group Mark Owen into its City TMT team.
The arrival of Owen will add further strength to TW’s leading soft IP practice. The former Clifford Chance lawyer has advised significant media and entertainment clients on copyright, designs, trade mark, database rights and data privacy issues for the last 25 years.
Continue reading “Taylor Wessing snares Harbottles IP head Owen”
Nabarro has promoted eight lawyers to its partnership, with the majority of appointments in the firm’s City office.
The promotions, effective from 1 May, are split across the construction, real estate, tax, corporate and disputes practices.
Five London lawyers were promoted in this latest round, namely construction lawyer Alistair McGrigor, real estate specialist Chris Oakley, tax lawyer Kirsten Prichard Jones, disputes associate Andrew Taplin and real estate disputes lawyer Nick Wood.
Continue reading “Nabarro’s talent programme reaps eight partner promotions”
Three insurance companies announced significant moves into the legal services market in April after sealing alternative business structure (ABS) joint ventures with law firms.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) granted Admiral, Ageas and RAC ABS licences to extend their services beyond insurance to provide legal services for customers making no-fault personal injury claims.
Continue reading “Insurance giants move into legal services market”
Unusually for a firm that has averaged 10% growth over the last five years and posted a 22% leap in profit per lawyer in 2011/12, national firm Hill Dickinson has announced a review of its UK business today (30 April), which could lead to redundancies.
The firm, which employs more than 1,400 people including 190 partners, confirmed it would be reviewing its range of services and geographical reach, which it anticipates will lead to the restructuring of a number of unspecified teams. Continue reading “Hill Dickinson to review its business to maintain profitability”
TLT has been named as the BBC’s sole provider advising on property legal services across its estate in England and Wales.
Legal Business understands that the tender saw TLT up against heavyweight property firms including Hogan Lovells and Nabarro. The broadcaster’s incumbent property adviser was Bond Pearce.
TLT’s 17-strong real estate team, which operates across the firm’s Bristol and City offices, includes head of real estate Andrew Glynn, property litigation partner Mark Routley, and partner Stephen Elliott who joined TLT’s City office from Hogan Lovells in 2011.
Continue reading “TLT beats heavyweight players to win BBC property role”
As partnerships continue to take a cautious approach to profit distribution, SJ Berwin has confirmed that it has released profits that it withheld in February.
The firm’s profit per equity partner (PEP) increased by 1% between 2011 and 2012 to £635,000 with revenues up 1% to £180.1m. According to the firm, the February distribution was held back as a matter of caution in light of a large tax bill in January.
The practice is becoming increasingly commonplace – in March, Field Fisher Waterhouse withheld their partner distribution, citing the firm’s investment plans as the reason for the delay. The firm saw its PEP drop by 16% in 2011/12 to £434,000 against a revenue increase of 4% to £97.6m.
Continue reading “SJ Berwin pays out delayed partner profits”
Slaughter and May today (30 April) became the first major City law firm to announce a review of its associate pay bands – triggering minor rises in the underlying rates its lawyers earn from trainee level to three years post-qualification.
Newly-qualified see salaries rise from £61,500 to £63,000; one year PQE pay rises £500 to £69,500; two year PQE from £76,500 to £78,000; three year PQE earn an extra £1,500 at £87,500. Trainee salaries are up by £1,000, increasing to £39,000 in year one and £44,000 in year two. The rises kick in from 1 May.
Partner promotions continue apace with Magic Circle firms Clifford Chance (CC) and Linklaters the latest to announce their numbers, the majority of which are in Europe.
CC welcomed 20 new lawyers to its partnership, with three-quarters of those promotions spread across Europe, while Linklaters promoted 24 partners, of which 19 were in Europe. Continue reading “Clifford Chance and Linklaters make most of their partner promotions in Europe”
A three-year battle to bring libel law into the 21st century came to a close yesterday (25 April) as the Defamation Bill received Royal Assent.
The Defamation Act 2013 will mean that companies and individuals bringing a libel claim are now required to show serious harm – including serious financial loss for a company – to establish a claim.
Continue reading “Libel law to be overhauled as Defamation Bill gets royal assent”
Commerzbank has today (26 April) lost its appeal in its high-profile four-year battle over unpaid bankers’ bonuses – one of the largest cases against a bank to run since the credit crunch.
Represented by Linklaters, Germany’s second largest bank will have to pay €52m to 104 London-based bankers, unless it obtains leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Continue reading “Commerzbank loses bankers’ bonuses appeal”
Taylor Wessing has more than doubled its partner promotions this year to 16, of which only one is in its City office.
City private client lawyer Kirstie McGuigan was made up to partner while the firm’s other promotions were spread across Munich (four), Berlin (two), Frankfurt (one), Dusseldorf (two), Hamburg (one), Budapest (one), Vienna (one), and Prague (two), Bratislava (one).
Continue reading “Taylor Wessing boosts partnership by 16 in latest promotion round”
Steve Davis, former chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf, has offered to pay over half a million dollars to settle claims against him following the firm’s collapse last year.
Davis has agreed to pay $511,145 in the form of a promissory note to the firm’s liquidation trust, after Dewey became the largest law firm in US history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last May.
Continue reading “Former Dewey chairman to pay $500k mismanagement settlement”
Allen & Overy has increased trainee pay rates bringing to an end a three-year freeze and has promoted 24 lawyers to the role of counsel.
The Magic Circle firm is the first to raise the stakes amongst its peers this year, with second-year trainee rates increasing by £800 to £44,000 – £200 less than the previous increase in May 2010, where pay packets grew from £42,200 to £43,200.
Continue reading “A&O introduces first trainee salary increase since 2010”
Third party financier Harbour Litigation Funding is to bankroll a claim against Barclays alleging the bank mis-used confidential information in its 2010 takeover of Tricorona.
The £164m claim is being brought by UK trading and investments firm CF Partners, which alleges that Barclays used confidential information it supplied to the bank when requesting funding for its own bid for Tricorona.
Continue reading “Harbour Litigation funds claimant in dispute with Barclays”
Mishcon de Reya has enhanced its real estate finance offering with the addition of former SJ Berwin partner Raji Bartlett.
Bartlett joined Mishcon as a consultant this week, having previously been a partner in the finance department at SJ Berwin for the last 16 years.
Norton Rose has promoted 33 lawyers to its global partnership ahead of its merger with US firm Fulbright & Jaworski in June.
That number represents only a marginal drop on last year, when Norton Rose promoted 36 lawyers to its partnership.
Continue reading “Norton Rose makes up 33 partners in latest promotions round”
