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Redundancy round continues as BLP latest to announce fee-earner cuts

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has become the latest major UK law firm to announce job cuts as firms increasingly examine their business models in light of a sustained slump in market activity.

The top-20 City firm announced today that is has entered a redundancy consultation affecting around 58 legal staff, 44 secretarial staff and some business services staff, with a target reduction in salary of 15% in the latter group. Continue reading “Redundancy round continues as BLP latest to announce fee-earner cuts”

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Comment: A star signing is one thing but who needs a lateral?

The worlds of business, politics and sport have since the 1970s fallen increasingly under the spell of the star individual and law has been anything but an exception. As partnership mitigates the heaviest excesses of the winner-takes-all compensation cultures seen in banking, sports and plc management, in law the star culture has manifested to a considerable extent via the partner recruitment market.

The emergence and massive expansion of this international bazaar for senior legal talent over the last 25 years has had a profound impact on the profession – often unhappily so. Continue reading “Comment: A star signing is one thing but who needs a lateral?”

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All change at Shell – legal head pushes through shake-up and puts final touches to global panel review

While the trend of in-house departments bolstering their internal capability and cutting reliance on external counsel is well established, Royal Dutch Shell’s legal head Peter Rees QC has taken the logic to the extreme.

Since replacing Beat Hess as the global energy group’s legal director in January 2011 Rees has pushed through major changes, restructuring Shell’s around 750-lawyer department and kicking off a far-reaching global panel review. Continue reading “All change at Shell – legal head pushes through shake-up and puts final touches to global panel review”

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DMH jumps aboard the Riverview Law bandwagon as ‘Tesco law’ challenger moves to widen service

Riverview Law will have addressed some of the criticisms of its fixed-fee legal services model with news today (13 May) that it has signed a strategic alliance with established south east law firm DMH Stallard.

A statement by Riverview Law – one of the touted and aggressively marketed of the ‘Tesco law’ challengers – said the alliance would cover a number of areas, including disputes, M&A and real estate. The alliance will see Riverview Law refer its customers to the 48-partner, 100-lawyer Brighton-based firm while allowing DMH Stallard to offer it clients the access to Riverview’s service lines. In the coming months, the two will combines to launch a range of fixed-fee services and products to the market.

Continue reading “DMH jumps aboard the Riverview Law bandwagon as ‘Tesco law’ challenger moves to widen service”

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Legacy Herbert Smith equity partners on hook for capital boost

Legacy Herbert Smith has become the latest UK firm to ask partners to bolster its capital levels, issuing a multi-million pound cash call in preparation for financial integration with Australia’s Freehills.

The call – thought to be worth up to around £20m – was issued in a memo sent weeks ago to all 170 equity partners. It is thought that the equity partners have been asked to contribute £2000 per equity point. Herbert Smith’s lockstep ladder runs from 43 to 100, meaning those at the top of equity, around 65, are liable to pay around £200,000 each.

Continue reading “Legacy Herbert Smith equity partners on hook for capital boost”

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Gold’s blend: Mishcons managing partner reflects on another year of trend-busting growth

It’s become a familiar fixture in the annual reporting season to see Mishcon de Reya announce annual growth rates that are the envy of its peers and the London law firm hasn’t disappointed.

This week, Mishcons confirmed a turnover increase of 14% to £83.5m for 2012/13 – an increase of £10m on last year’s £73.1m. Profits per equity partner at the 300-lawyer firm are expected to top £700,000, making it one of the most profitable firms outside the City top 10. Mishcons has now grown revenues by nearly 200% since 2006/07, a performance vastly ahead of the LB100 average.

Continue reading “Gold’s blend: Mishcons managing partner reflects on another year of trend-busting growth”

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Online controversy alert: Hardwicke disowns article by own barrister after attack on Yewtree sex investigation

Since the rise of social media gave professional lawyers a fast-expanding number of outlets in which to publish their views, there has been a protracted (and often turgid) debate on the liabilities and brand risk for law firms and chambers regarding the statements made by their lawyers.

But this has appeared to be largely about lawyers being lawyers – hunting for the potential pitfalls and liability in any situation – rather than there being much of a problem.

Continue reading “Online controversy alert: Hardwicke disowns article by own barrister after attack on Yewtree sex investigation”

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Asia round-up: Simmons, Linklaters and Clyde launch new outposts

As Europe shows little sign of clawing its way out of the economic doldrums high growth markets continue to dominate the agenda with the announcement that firms including Linklaters, Baker & McKenzie, Simmons & Simmons and Clyde & Co are to launch new offices in the Asia Pacific region.

Over the past week Simmons announced that it is opening its fifth Asian office in Singapore, while Clyde & Co totted up its eighth presence in the region by securing a licence in Beijing. Both Linklaters and Baker & McKenzie won approval to launch in Seoul, with the latter’s claim to ‘unrivalled breadth’ in the Asia Pacific region borne out by its now 15 offices. Continue reading “Asia round-up: Simmons, Linklaters and Clyde launch new outposts”

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Guest post: In defence of the billable hour – a contrarian perspective

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”

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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”

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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”

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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.

Continue reading “Comment: Things I would have said about the future of law if I hadn’t forgotten my notes”

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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”

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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.

Continue reading “ABS rising – Slater and Gordon and Plexus announce four law firm acquisitions in a day”

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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.

Continue reading “Legal education – either free or very expensive as BPP to train job-hungry grads for nothing”

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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”