Magic Circle in the US: Running to stand still

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Magic Circle in the US: Running to stand still

‘There are more than 40 US law firms that are more profitable than the Magic Circle. The Magic Circle firms are, in US profit terms, very much middle-of-the-road players.’

Maurice Allen, founder of consultancy LTN & Partners, who has been a partner at Clifford Chance (CC), White & Case, Weil, Freshfields and Ropes & Gray, is under no illusions about the scale of the challenge facing the Magic Circle firms in the US. Top US firms continue to increase their profitability, while UK firms struggle to stand alongside them. Continue reading “Magic Circle in the US: Running to stand still”

Coronavirus impact widens as Links and Eversheds become latest City firms to send staff home

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Coronavirus impact widens as Links and Eversheds become latest City firms to send staff home

Linklaters has followed its City rivals in asking staff to work from home due to the quickening spread of COVID-19. 

The firm today (17 March) moved to a full remote working arrangement for its 1,200-lawyer Silk Street headquarters.  Continue reading “Coronavirus impact widens as Links and Eversheds become latest City firms to send staff home”

Magic Circle trio ask City staff to work from home as coronavirus crisis deepens

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Magic Circle trio ask City staff to work from home as coronavirus crisis deepens

Allen & Overy (A&O), Slaughter and May and Clifford Chance have asked City staff to work from home in a bid to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

The moves come as the UK’s infection rate today [16 March] rose to 1,395 cases, 35 of which have proved fatal. Continue reading “Magic Circle trio ask City staff to work from home as coronavirus crisis deepens”

The vision thing – Sizing up the big issues set to shape law through the 2020s

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The vision thing – Sizing up the big issues set to shape law through the 2020s

The last decade emerged with the shockwaves of the banking crisis still making themselves felt on the profession. Having just made a series of job cuts in major markets the like of which had never been seen in the legal industry, the mood was infused by uncertainty, the brutal realities of austerity and the sudden emergence of more demanding clients.

There was little time for a serious debate about how the profession would evolve through the 2010s, a decade that went on to rob London’s legal elite of its reputation for causal dominance. It was also a period that attracted forecasts of dramatic change and modernisation in law that continually fell short of reality, despite the introduction of the Legal Services Act. Continue reading “The vision thing – Sizing up the big issues set to shape law through the 2020s”

Linklaters leads Magic Circle pack amid solid 2018/19 trading but uncertainty looms over the City elite

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Linklaters leads Magic Circle pack amid solid 2018/19 trading but uncertainty looms over the City elite

Lawyers are a pessimistic bunch by nature and, with the big four Magic Circle firms posting another year of solid but unspectacular revenue and profit per equity partner (PEP) growth, the consensus view is that 2018/19 could have been a lot worse.

Amid a wider slowing of the UK economy and Europe’s deal markets in the face of Brexit and a range of cross-border headwinds, the City’s big four international players posted another year of the moderate results that have defined their post-banking-crisis form. Continue reading “Linklaters leads Magic Circle pack amid solid 2018/19 trading but uncertainty looms over the City elite”

City paywars: a history lesson – Freshfields hikes hark back to era of Magic Circle domination

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City paywars: a history lesson – Freshfields hikes hark back to era of Magic Circle domination

The news this week that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was to push through the highest real-terms pay rises by a major City firm for a decade is a significant moment for the London legal market.

The decision to hike its associate pay scale, raising its benchmark rate for newly-qualified solicitors from £85,000 to £100,000 is a bold and expensive step for the City giant. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest such a move, which will put Freshfields well ahead of its Magic Circle peers, comes at an annual cost of more than £10m. Continue reading “City paywars: a history lesson – Freshfields hikes hark back to era of Magic Circle domination”

Stars and stripes in their eyes – assessing the US ambitions of A&O and Freshfields

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Stars and stripes in their eyes – assessing the US ambitions of A&O and Freshfields

Nathalie Tidman looks at the struggle for the City elite as US players dominate home and away

‘People like me, making the switch from the Magic Circle to a US firm – a Kirkland, a Latham, a White & Case – did so because being a powerhouse in the US is critical to becoming a truly global law firm.’ Continue reading “Stars and stripes in their eyes – assessing the US ambitions of A&O and Freshfields”

Magic Circle duo goes full throttle on Aston Martin’s landmark London listing

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Magic Circle duo goes full throttle on Aston Martin’s landmark London listing

City heavyweights Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have taken the driving seat on the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of Aston Martin, a float reportedly valuing the luxury car maker at £5bn.

Slaughters won the mandate advising Aston Martin with a corporate team led by Nilufer von Bismarck and including Roland Turnill and Filippo de Falco. The firm is working alongside Aston Martin’s general counsel (GC) Michael Marecki, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is advising on US law, led by London-based partner Gil Strauss. Continue reading “Magic Circle duo goes full throttle on Aston Martin’s landmark London listing”

Magic Circle scrambles as UK construction giant Carillion falls into liquidation

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Magic Circle scrambles as UK construction giant Carillion falls into liquidation

A heavyweight line-up of Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Dentons, Clifford Chance (CC) and Linklaters have mobilised as construction giant Carillion files for liquidation in one of the largest UK insolvencies for years.

Dentons’ restructuring partners Nigel Barnett and Neil Griffiths are advising the liquidator, the Official Receiver, which the government will be providing with funding required to continue to carry out the company’s public services. Continue reading “Magic Circle scrambles as UK construction giant Carillion falls into liquidation”