10 October 2011

Work Life Quiz: John Cavanagh QC, 11 KBW

What was your first-ever job? Residential social worker at St Philips Approved School, Airdrie, Scotland. What was your worst ­experience as a trainee? I once proudly informed a startled employment ­tribunal at the start of a hearing on a very dull time limit point that the case concerned a “premature ejaculation”. Where’s the best place […]

Latham overtakes global rivals in France

Latham & Watkins has surpassed Clifford Chance and Linklaters to become the biggest international firm in Paris, with an ­estimated turnover of e95.6m (£83.7m) for the last financial year. Figures newly released by French legal publication Juristes Associés show the US firm as the sixth biggest firm in France just ahead of Clifford Chance, which […]

BP Collins

BP Collins chief operating officer Karl Wingfieldhas a vision for the firm – to be a key player in the Thames Valley market. He does not believe it can achieve that without consolidation though, and ­finding an ­appropriate merger partner has not been without its problems. Firm: BP CollinsChief operating officer: Karl WingfieldTurnover: £7.5mNumber of […]

Norton Rose Canada tie-up promises global push

Two Canadian mergers in the space of a year says a lot about a firm’s plans for North America. Norton Rose’s combination with Calgary-based Macleod Dixon goes live on 1 January 2012, just six months after the UK firm completed another merger with Montreal-headquartered Ogilvy Renault. The deal sees Norton Rose OR, as the Canadian […]

Peter Charlton
4

Talent migrates from UK firms in HK for Yankee dollars

As the big UK firms have flocked to Australia seeking new growth opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region, there has been a gold-rush mentality among US firms keen to capitalise on Hong Kong’s importance as an Asian financial hub. The influx of US entrants to Hong Kong – along with existing US players’ newly launched Hong […]

Duncan Weston
1

Camerons associates score Swiss MBA slots

CMS Cameron McKenna has awarded three ­associates places at the IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland as part of its associate appraisal scheme. London associates Adrian Bell and Dominic Harris and Bucharest senior associate Horia Draghici won places on the ’Building on Talent’ course, a foundation programme for the school’s Executive MBA. They begin the […]

Co-op cements ties with sets in Bristol

The Co-operative Legal Services has strengthened relationships with Bristol-based sets, signing new terms of agreement with Guildhall Chambers and 3 Paper Buildings. The high street giant has made no secret of its plans to embrace opportunities presented by the Legal Services Act, which came into force last week (6 October). The company has been on […]

Links plugs employment team gap

Linklaters has reshaped its employment and employee incentives practice following the departure of global practice head Janet Cooper. Cooper, an employee incentives specialist, handed in her resignation last year, but has left the firm in the past month to launch ­virtual HR law firm Tapestry. Tapestry is formed out of the share scheme practices of Cooper […]

Smells like team spirit

Part of the fascination of reading all the tributes to Steve Jobs last week was wondering how much of his leadership style could be translated into a context outside the consumer and creative industries. On balance, a bit more imagination about the end-user wouldn’t go amiss in the law, although I doubt a cult of […]

Clifford Chance finally exhausts £26m special fund

A pot of nearly £26m used to finance Clifford Chance’s partnership restructuring has at last run out, eight years after it was made available. The firm said it spent the reserves on “exceptional costs”, including the overhaul of the partnership in the downturn, during which it slashed partner numbers, capping the cuts at 15 per cent […]

Linklaters sends Middleditch to HK to shore up Asia

Linklaters has turned to the strategy of deploying senior relationship partners to emerging markets, sending three seasoned corporate rainmakers to Asia. Global M&A co-head Matthew Middleditch, who manages the firm’s relationship with RBS, will transfer to the Hong Kong office from January. He will initially spend the bulk of his time in Asia, but after […]