Moving slowly forwards – Eversheds seals another Tyco-style deal

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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”

From Meerkats to Bulldogs: Direct Line Group latest insurer to enter legal services market

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Direct Line Group (DLG) looks set to become the next major insurance group to launch a new legal services venture, in partnership with Parabis Law, after applying to the Solicitors Regulation Authority to form an alternative business structure (ABS).

The retail general insurer has also added an interesting dimension to the debate over cuts to legal aid by announcing it plans to launch ‘competitive’ law firm DLG Legal Services at a time when most Britons are struggling to afford legal services. Continue reading “From Meerkats to Bulldogs: Direct Line Group latest insurer to enter legal services market”

Lawyers On Demand launches new pay-as-you-go model as demand increases for flexible staffing

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As senior private practice and in-house lawyers increasingly turn to flexible staffing options to manage their costs, Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP) Lawyers on Demand (LoD) has extended its offering in the marketplace by adding a pay-as-you go, remote services model.

The new service, LoD on Call, will operate alongside the firm’s existing secondment model, now rebranded LoD on Site, which launched in 2007 and spun out from BLP in June 2012. Both are aimed at helping corporates and law firms to cost effectively manage the inevitable peaks and troughs in workflow. Continue reading “Lawyers On Demand launches new pay-as-you-go model as demand increases for flexible staffing”

Sort of offshoring – Ashurst to create new Glasgow unit to lower costs as City leaders push for value

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Major law firms continue to appropriate ideas from legal process outsourcing with Ashurst today (12 June) announcing a venture to create a 150-strong unit in Glasgow to support its practice.

The venture, which will launch later this year, will cover back office support and volume legal work, initially covering areas like document review in litigation and corporate. Continue reading “Sort of offshoring – Ashurst to create new Glasgow unit to lower costs as City leaders push for value”

CMS to reduce scope of Integreon outsourcing agreement

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CMS Cameron McKenna is to scale back its staff outsourcing agreement with Integreon just three years into its ten-year contract.

The news comes four days after Osborne Clarke confirmed it will dramatically reduce its own use of the outsourcing provider.

Duncan Weston, CMS managing partner, today (28 March) confirmed that the firm is considering turning to an alternative provider for facility services currently provided by Integreon but would not provide any detail of how many staff would be affected or the name of the third party provider.

Continue reading “CMS to reduce scope of Integreon outsourcing agreement”

Pinsents launches flexi-lawyer service for clients

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Pinsent Masons is set to launch a contract lawyer service that will provide clients with access to lawyers on a temporary basis as and when they are needed.

‘Vario’ will offer in-house teams a group of freelance lawyers with a variety of experience to cover anything from fixed-term projects to maternity leave. The move follows clients’ increased demand for flexible lawyers and addresses the core issues of resource, cost and skills that often affect the in-house legal teams.

Pinsents partner Alison Bond, who heads Vario, said: ‘Clients are increasingly asking for access to flexible resources. However, we wanted to take the idea a step further and launch the next generation of this type of service. Continue reading “Pinsents launches flexi-lawyer service for clients”

Is it a Law Firm?

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Times they are a-changing. Meet the international law firms with hardly any offices, no trainees, and the bare minimum of overheads. Clients are waking up to a very real alternative.

When Ryan Stafford, general counsel (GC) and vice president at $700m-turnover US manufacturer Littelfuse, was looking for a team at short notice to handle a transaction in Scandinavia and the Baltics, he wasn’t afraid to think big. He wanted a firm that could move fast, with people on the ground around the world, and a single contact point that he could speak to pretty quick. The usual suspects dropped the ball.

Continue reading “Is it a Law Firm?”

Piece of the action

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The legal sector has been warily assessing the possibility of outsourcing some services for several years. But with Slaughters now investigating the viability of LPOs, suddenly everyone is taking serious notice

As recently as a year ago, the prospect of Slaughter and May outsourcing legal services overseas seemed as likely as a US president winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet, as a new decade dawns, President Obama has his medal and legal process outsourcing (LPO), and notably offshoring, is being weighed up by leading law firms and corporate counsel alike.

Continue reading “Piece of the action”