The deadline for HMRC’s new partnership tax rules is closing in. Is it too late for firms to plan a safe way through? When was the last time you heard about a law firm, chock-full of ferociously competitive individuals, deliberately trying its hardest to fail a test? It doesn’t happen often, that’s for sure. But the […]
For some reason the politics of King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin’s corporate department attracts extraordinary attention online from our readers. When private equity (PE) partner Ed Harris left for Hogan Lovells, the article garnered 89 comments and ended up being the ninth most-read story of the year on TheLawyer.com. When we reported last week […]
Freshfields, Norton Rose make it onto Stonewall gay-friendly employers listing It’s not often law firms can claim to be ahead of the curve, but this year’s Stonewall audit sees firms scrambling over each other to be more progressive in terms of diversity. The rankings reveal the UK’s 100 most gay-friendly employers, measuring efforts to tackle […]
Co-op in-housers work to forge legal roster system that suits bank and group Picking sides is generally something associated with the school playground, but not for The Co-operative Group general counsel Alistair Asher and his newly installed banking sidekick Brona McKeown. The pair were required to finalise the separation of the group and the bank’s […]
Oil giant likely to look within for replacement law boss after Rees walkout shocker The surprise departure of Shell legal director Peter Rees QC sent shockwaves through the sector last week as lawyers pondered the whys and wherefores of his sudden exit. Rees was credited with overhauling the FTSE 100 energy company’s legal department during […]
Mixed bag as many firms get back in the black, while one’s debt rises by 10,493% It’s LLP accounts filing season – most firms have until the end of this month to get their accounts audited and filed at Companies House. But even with a relatively small sample of accounts, some interesting trends are emerging. […]
While litigators look forward to a vintage year in court, we look back at what happened in the top cases of last year Only the most fiercely fought cases are heard by the High Court with many more litigants looking for a settlement to avoid the potential embarrassment and cost of court. Of The Lawyer’s […]
Move of the week Maitland Chambers’ silk Tom Leech QC has quit the bar to join Herbert Smith Freehills’ advocacy unit. He joins as the fourth partner in the department. Leech specialises in professional negligence and commercial, company and property litigation. Leech was called to the bar in 1988 and took silk in 2010. […]
Inward investment to Ireland is rising, just the tonic for its law firms Ever since the first Irish immigrants set sail for America in the 17th century, the US and Ireland have shared a close relationship – only accentuated in recent years when it emerged that President Barack Obama was descended, through his mother, from […]
International law firms are moving in to exploit the global hi-tech hub The Taipei 101 Tower is a landmark Taiwanere skyscraper, located in the commercial heart of the island’s capital city Taipei. It is well-known as Asia’s tallest building and for its dazzling New Year’s Eve fireworks displays. Increasingly, it also plays host to international […]
Guardian legal chief Gill Phillips balances protecting the newspaper from legal action across the globe with finding ways to get stories such as WikiLeaks out to the public “I have always been a Guardian reader,” says Gill Phillips, the paper’s director of editorial legal services. “When I started at Clifford Chance, I’d come up in […]
Restructuring firms anticipate a boom when UK interest rates get jacked up and from mandates coming from Asia The Bank of England’s hint that interest rates could rise soon has restructuring lawyers anticipating a busy 2014. “An upturn in the economy and a possible increase in interest rates means activity in the restructuring market is […]