Bankers stand head and shoulders above lawyers in the M&A fee stakes but growing deal complexity means the gap is closing If there is one example that best explains why banks charge so much more than lawyers on M&A it is William Hill and GVC Holdings’ acquisition of Sportingbet (see box). Exhibit one of our […]
The move of Ziva Robertson from personal wealth stalwart Withers to US giant McDermott Will & Emery is a sign of things to come in the private client sector. Milo O’Connor of Hudson Legal says: “The private client landscape is changing beyond all recognition. A few years ago there was a feeling that you had […]
Upstart insurance ABS Parabis outperforms mothership BLM When lawyer Tim Oliver quit Berrymans Lace Mawer (BLM) at the turn of the century to launch his own firm he could not have foreseen that the start-up Plexus Law would eclipse BLM’s revenues within a decade. Last week Parabis unveiled turnover of £139m, 80 per cent of […]
Mark Valentine has been the business development director of Mayer Brown for nearly two years. He was previously head of marketing, clients and sales at BDO and spent eight years as a business development consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. What are the key elements of your role? To build and, more importantly, sustain a BD and marketing […]
Here’s the bad news for law firm corporate heads: when it comes to M&A, lawyers are still nowhere near bankers in terms of fees as percentage of the deal. Here’s the good news: the gap is closing. There’s always been reluctance on the part of clients to allow lawyers value billing on M&A, but that […]
Premier Foods counsel help in business turnaround, then set up academy The in-house lawyers at Premier Foods, the British food maker behind Mr Kipling, Hovis bread and Ambrosia creamed rice, prove you can have your cake and eventually eat it. Last year was no easy ride for Premier’s five-strong legal team. Faced with helping Premier […]
SMEs may need help getting to grips with the Bribery Act, but they ignore it at their peril Transparency International’s Global Corruption Survey 2013 reports that 27 per cent of respondents paid bribes to public officials in the past 12 months. In the UK, this was 5 per cent – a five-fold increase since 2010. […]
Firm takes smart approach to billing and client engagement In these cash-strapped times, anything that adds a little extra is worth investing in. Or at least that’s been the attitude of Farrer & Co over the past year. The firm, which recently announced it had broken through the magic £50m revenue barrier, is harnessing the […]
BPP bid for university status nears end of ordeal by quango, but could still stall Speculation is mounting over the fate of BPP’s bid for university title, with nearly seven months having slipped by since the institution applied to become the country’s second private law school to bag the enhanced status. The application has been […]
What was your first-ever job? Manager of a skateboard park. What was your worst experience as a pupil? Going to court on my first appearance to get an unless order on behalf of clients and coming back with one against them. Where’s the best place to go if you want to find out what’s really […]
Sunday Times ‘Underworld Kings’ libel ruling shows court will consider evidence, however it is obtained The success of the Sunday Times in its defence of a claim brought by David Hunt over its article ‘Underworld Kings cash in on Taxpayer Land Fund’, illustrates the dangers implicit in fighting criminal allegations in the context of a […]
Aviation (1)British Airways plc (2) International Consolidated Airlines Group SA v (1) Sindicato Espanol de Pilotos de Lineas Aereas; (2) The International Federation of Airline Pilots Association. 2013 WL 2976153. QBD (Comm). Field J. 20 June 2013 A claim by British Airways and its parent company that strikes of Spanish airline pilots organised by a […]