12 December 2011

Matthew Duncan

Work Life Quiz: Matthew Duncan, Kingsley Napley

What was your first-ever job?   Cleaner and general ­dogsbody at a small leather factory. What was your worst ­experience as a trainee? Attending a post mortem and attempting to take notes while fighting extreme nausea. Where’s the best place to go if you want to find out what’s really going on in the office? […]

Martin Smith

ON THE MOVE

Cambridge-headquartered Hewitsons has announced a new head of commercial property in the shape of Martin Smith, who joined the firm in July this year. Smith has been in the sector for more than 20 years. Move of the week   He started his career with Gouldens (now Jones Day) before moving on to CMS Cameron […]

2011 Round-up – US: Asia Terrific

Australia is playing host to more UK firms, while partner moves, mergers and expansion have set the tone for the Asian market The expansion of UK firms in Australia continued its momentum, with Clifford Chance and DLA Piper ­completing mergers with local firms. Ashurst’s tie-up with Blake Dawson, which was announced in September, was another example of UK firms […]

2011 Round-up – US: Altered States

Asia and Houston were big blips on the radars of the major US players during 2011, although Howrey disappeared without trace The demise of litigation heavyweight Howrey dominated the headlines in the early part of 2011. For market watchers familiar with the end of other US firms in recent years, notably Heller Ehrmann, it was […]

Tony Angel

2011 Round-up – Laterals: Switch Watch

It was a busy year for partner moves, with private equity funds a particular focus. But all eyes are on DLA’s next move with the arrival of Tony Angel at the helm  In June Weil Gotshal & Manges raided Clifford Chance for a four-partner funds team comprising Ed Gander, Nigel Clark, Nick Benson and […]

2011 Round-up – Alternative business structures: Street legal

2011 is set to be the year of the high street-friendly alternative business structure, and the players are already jostling for position  The news that the SRA had been given approval to regulate alternative business structures (ABSs) earlier this month set the ball rolling for the first applications from January (The Lawyer.com, 1 December). The SRA […]

Rupert Murdoch

2011 Round-up – A year of trouble: No expense spared

2011 saw the SRA called in to investigate three high-profile cases of alleged expenses fraud, while negligence actions abounded and the phone-hacking scandal dominated the headlines  It is often the case that times of crisis expose financial wrongdoing – just look at Bernard Madoff’s investment scheme fraud, or the MPs and Lords expenses scandals […]

1

2011 Round-up – Financials: Slow ahead

Big revenue rises have been seen by a few of the top firms, but the more usual story is one of marginal recovery Despite some rocky economic times in 2010-11, law firms in general had an alright time of it during the past financial year. The best performer overall in turnover terms was Mishcon de […]

Bruce Dear, Eversheds

Would you repeat that please?

“There’s a saying here in Germany that it’s better to have a little bird in the hand than a big bird on the roof.” Says Christian Harmsen co-head of IP at (Little) Bird & (Big) Bird, where talk is obviously cheep. (Feature, 17 January) “Real estate’s never going to be ­successful because the corporate partners […]

Clare Canning

2011 Round-up – In-House moves: Pastures new

The in-house sector saw some major movement in 2011, with many private practitioners choosing in-house roles and vice-versa  It has been a busy year on the in-house circuit. In moving from private ­practice to in-house roles, Standard Bank Offshore got the ball rolling when it appointed Mourant Ozannes’ Lionel Woodward as its first legal head (18 […]

1

2011 Round-Up – Mergers: Bigger and better

The Clydes-BLG and Beachcroft-DAC deals are a smart reaction to a changing insurance landscape, while Canada, Australia and Asia all featured prominently For the UK legal ­market there were two mergers that really mattered in 2011: Clyde & Co and BLG, and Beachcroft and DAC. The symmetry of the two talks – both deals are predicated on creating […]