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Monday, 21 May 2012

The Lawyer
29 May 2006

  • Eversheds: good, but must do better

    29-May-2006

    Eversheds is celebrating its best-ever financial results, with profit per equity partner (PEP) reaching £420,000 - a massive 20 per cent increase from last year. Meanwhile, turnover is up by 6 per cent to £320m. Chief executive David Gray was in ebullient mood over the results, promising that the firm would invest to drive growth onwards and upwards.

  • 11 Old and 11 New become 'Radcliffe'

    29-May-2006

    11 Old Square and 11 New Square will rename themselves Radcliffe Chambers when they merge on 5 June. The set is to be named after Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the first person to become a Law Lord without first being a High Court or Court of Appeal judge. Radcliffe was a former member of 11 New Square and was a tenant there when present head of chambers Hedley Martin joined the set.

  • 2 Harcourt lures four from 3 Raymond

    29-May-2006

    Public law set 2 Harcourt Buildings has raided 3 Raymond Buildings for a four-barrister team, strengthening its licensing and regulatory expertise. Kevin de Haan QC, together with senior juniors Gerald Gouriet, Mark Harris and James Rankin, join 2 Harcourt along with public law and licensing specialist Harry Spurr from Bristol set St John's Chambers. The news comes as 2 Harcourt prepares to move into new premises at Francis Taylor Building.

  • A farewell to its charms

    29-May-2006

    Last week's press conference on the Legal Services Bill took place in the usual dull press room at the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) headquarters Selborne House.But it was to be the last time the assembled hacks, DCA flunkies and Lord Falconer would meet there, as it is due to be handed over to Vera Baird QC MP as her new office in her new DCA

  • A leap into the unknown

    29-May-2006

    The entire legal landscape of England and Wales is set to change under new legislation unveiled by the Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer last week (24 May).

  • A&O new boy secures charterhouse deal

    29-May-2006

    Allen & Overy's new private equity partner Derek Baird had a lot to celebrate last week. Within three weeks of arriving at One New Change, Baird has completed a follow-on deal for key client Charterhouse Capital Partners. The private equity house, which instructed Baird regularly during his time at his former firm Lovells, turned to him on its disposal of baby care products business Avent. Baird advised Charterhouse when it bought Avent last year. Avent, which manufactures ...

  • A&O scoops Arcelor steel saga role

    30-May-2006

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has scooped a mandate advising Russia’s Severstal on its proposed merger with Arcelor to create the world’s biggest steelmaker.

  • A&O to revitalise banking with secondment shift

    29-May-2006

    Allen & Overy (A&O) is revamping its assistant secondment programme for financial institutions as it moves to rejuvenate its banking department.

  • Addleshaws study discovers employment issues are rife

    29-May-2006

    A survey of large companies carried out by Addleshaw Goddard has revealed that more than half had faced a major employment issue within the past three years.

  • Addleshaws, camerons bag hotel group sale

    29-May-2006

    Addleshaw Goddard and CMS Cameron McKenna acted in the £110m sale of WA Shearings' hotel portfolio to Moorfield Group. WA Shearings is a holiday company specialising in trips for the over-50s, with offices across the North West. Moorfield is a London-based property developer that was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996, but was privatised in a management buyout in 2001. It bought the hotels in a sale-and-leaseback transaction. Addleshaws advised WA Shearings, led ...

  • Advent drops Lovells after Weil raid

    29-May-2006

    The fallout from Lovells' loss of private equity star Marco Compagnoni to Weil Gotshal & Manges earlier this year continues, with news that the firm has been dropped from Advent International's legal panel.

  • AJA takes legal aid fight to Parliament

    29-May-2006

    A host of lawyers descended on Parliament last week (24 May) to lobby MPs for better access to justice and better civil legal aid.

  • Applebys and Bailhache merge to create offshore powerhouse

    1-Jun-2006

    Offshore law firms Appleby Spurling Hunter and Bailhache Labesse will merge on September 1 creating a firm with six offices and more than 600 employees.

  • ASB rejigs management top-tier

    29-May-2006

    South East firm ASB Law has overhauled its management structure following the departure of its chief executive earlier this year. At a recent partner conference, lawyers voted to introduce the role of managing partner and hire a new finance director, who together with the senior partner will form a management team. Last week (24 May) the firm elected head of commercial litigation Andrew Clinton as managing partner for a two-year term. Senior partner Russell Bell has been re-elected ...

  • Bakers, Norton and Trowers threatened with Bahrain suit

    2-Jun-2006

    Baker & McKenzie, Norton Rose and Trowers and Hamlins have become embroiled in a licensing scandal in Bahrain, following a revolt by the country’s domestic legal community.

  • Barclays in-houser joins TLT

    2-Jun-2006

    South West firm TLT has snared one of Barclays Bank's senior in-house lawyers at for its banking and asset finance team.

  • Bird & Bird soars high on back of European growth

    29-May-2006

    Bird & Bird has had a record year, boosting both turnover and profit per equity partner (PEP) by 20 per cent.

  • Browne Jacobson breaks through £30m barrier

    29-May-2006

    Meanwhile, Browne Jacobson's turnover broke £30m for the first time this year.

  • Carrying the Cannes

    29-May-2006

    Tulkinghorn has regularly reported stories about lawyers who might justifiably claim to have the best job in the world (think Manches' Alex Carter-Silk and his work for Elle 'The Body' MacPherson). Last Friday (19 May) he had cause to pen another such tale.

  • Changing groom

    29-May-2006

    Bar Council chair Stephen Hockman QC welcomes the Legal Services Bill. And he's looking forward to barristers competing with solicitors

  • Childs: my vision for Clifford Chance

    29-May-2006

    Clifford Chance managing partner David Childs has set a series of ambitious objectives for the magic circle firm as average profit per equity partner (PEP) is projected to shoot up by nearly 25 per cent.

  • Cigarette fighter

    29-May-2006

    A magic circle catastrophe was narrowly averted recently, and one of Tulkinghorn's spies was on hand to witness the near carnage.

  • Clarke Willmott takes over Heatons office

    29-May-2006

    In other news, Clarke Willmott has taken over the Birmingham office of Heatons, leaving the latter with just three partners in its Manchester office (The Lawyer, 3 April).

  • Clifford Chance turnover breaks £1bn mark

    30-May-2006

    Clifford Chance is predicting revenues to break through the £1bn mark for the 2005-06 financial year, while average profits per equity partner (PEP) are expected to reach more than £810,000.

  • Cobbetts predicts static PEP

    29-May-2006

    Cobbetts is predicting no change in profitability due to a slower than anticipated consolidation of its recent growth spurt. Cobbetts managing partner Michael Shaw said average profit per equity partner (PEP) is likely to remain static at around £190,000, despite a 7 per cent turnover rise to £53.7m. Cobbetts carried out a series of mergers in2004 and 2005 with firms including Lee Crowder in Birmingham and Fox Brooks Marshall and Wilbraham in Leeds. The firm has added 90 partners ...

  • Discretionary onus

    29-May-2006

    Employers must be aware of the extent of their duty to adjust for disabled employees or risk falling foul of the Disability Discrimination Act. By Jane Mann and Charis Martyn

  • DWS reaps restructuring rewards

    29-May-2006

    Denton Wilde Sapte has boosted its average profit per equity partner (PEP) by an astonishing 37 per cent, due mainly to a restructuring of the firm's property portfolio and the closure of its Asian offices. PEP has climbed £101,000 to £375,000. This includes a £45,000 boost from the restructuring of the firm's London property portfolio. In November 2005 the firm signed a new 20-year contract without a break clause with landlord British Land for its offices at 1 Fleet Place, London. ...

  • DWS's hush-hush push

    29-May-2006

    Evidence backing up the rumours of Denton Wilde Sapte's (DWS) back-door policy is beginning to emerge. The firm appears to be striking up confidentiality agreements with law firms poaching its partners in exchange for shortened notice periods. (Perhaps others could try this with Norton Rose?)

  • East Anglia

    29-May-2006

    East Anglian law firms do not always get same profile as the rest of the South East, but with such a close proximity to London and a strong local industry, the legal market is in a good position to compete with its geographical neighbour.

  • Employment

    29-May-2006

    In recent years employers have had to become ever more wise to the obligations imposed by employment legislation. Savvy employees are using the law to bring claims for discrimination on grounds of sex, age, race, disability and, imminently, age.

  • Euronext turns to Cleary, Bredin Prat and Stibbe for merger talks

    29-May-2006

    Bredin Prat, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Stibbe have joined forces to represent Euronext, which has been at the centre of a multibillion-dollar bidding war by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Deutsche Börse.

  • FA brings legal work in-house to slash costs

    29-May-2006

    The Football Association's (FA) in-house legal team has revamped the way it handles sponsorship contracts, bringing all the work in-house and moving to cut its external legal spend by half.

  • Firm profile: Anthony Collins

    29-May-2006

    Birmingham-based firm Anthony Collins has seen steady growth since its management reshuffle two years ago, culminating in a 6 per cent rise in turnover last year to reach £10m.

  • Firms reveal German partner promotions

    29-May-2006

    It Is that time of year again when hardworking and ambitious senior associates wait to see if they have impressed their bosses and can join the partnership.

  • Fladgates enjoys 10 per cent revenue rise

    29-May-2006

    West End firm Fladgate Fielder is expecting to post profit per equity partner (PEP) in excess of £500,000 for 2006 once the firm's accounts have been audited.

  • Forget Argentina and Brazil - this is the real World Cup-winning team

    29-May-2006

    Ben Moshinsky looks at the key players in the mission to protect Fifa's World Cup IP

  • Freshfields bags key Bank of China IPO role

    29-May-2006

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has scooped a mandate to advise on the $9.8bn (£5.21bn) Bank of China IPO - the world's biggest share listing for six years.

  • Freshfields helps the homeless with job training programme

    29-May-2006

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is working with Business in the Community as part of a mentor programme to help homeless people find employment.

  • Freshfields PEP jumps 19 per cent to hit £830,000

    31-May-2006

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s average profit per equity partner (PEP) is expected to jump by a whopping 19 per cent for the last financial year.

  • Freshfields sees Goldman et al through APB offer

    29-May-2006

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has landed the lead advisory role for a Goldman Sachs-led consortium on its £2.4bn bid for Associated British Ports (ABP).

  • Freshfields set to ditch all-equity partnership

    29-May-2006

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is moving ahead with radical plans to ditch its much-cherished all-equity partnership model.

  • German market undergoes mass defections

    29-May-2006

    If the past few months are anything to go by, it is almost selbstverständlich now for lawyers in Germany to leave as a group rather than as individuals. The Lovells exits are not the only mass walkouts in the German legal market over the past few months.

  • Gide launches in Hong Kong

    30-May-2006

    Gide Loyrette Nouel is launching an office in Hong Kong in an effort to build on its extensive Asian capability.

  • Gide misses out on airports privatisation

    2-Jun-2006

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier and Linklaters have scooped the lead roles on the partial privatisation of the French state-owned airport operator Aéroports de Paris (ADP).

  • Gleiss helps kill off 'locust' tag

    29-May-2006

    Private equity houses have famously been described as locusts (Heuschrecken) in Germany, but it looks as if Gleiss Lutz could have acted on the deal that will change this perception.

  • Happier endings

    29-May-2006

    East Anglia has become the first place in the UK to embrace collaborative law - a new way to keep divorce settlements out of the courts. By Roger Bamber

  • HBJ Gateley Wareing's turnover soars post-merger

    29-May-2006

    HBJ Gateley Wareing was also riding high after its turnover soared to £31m off the back of its Anglo-Scottish merger at the beginning of the year (The Lawyer, 22 May).

  • Hey press do!

    29-May-2006

    Kudos to Nabarro Nathanson for picking the ultra-cool Soho Hotel for its 'end-of-year' press party on Thursday 18 May.

  • International Firm Profile: Luce Forward

    29-May-2006

    After two and a half years as Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps' managing partner, Bob Bell is at a crossroads. His firm has reached a respectable size, is operating profitably and is well respected in its core practice areas of litigation, construction and insurance.

  • Katten London snares Sidley duo for new practice launch

    29-May-2006

    The London affiliate office of US firm Katten Muchin Rosenman has launched a real estate finance practice with the hire of two lawyers from Sidley Austin.

  • Kirkland sets one-year HK deadline

    29-May-2006

    Kirkland & Ellis is hoping to launch an office in Hong Kong within a year, although the ambitious plan is still subject to regulatory approval.

  • Landmark appoints new head

    29-May-2006

    Christopher Katkowski QC has become the second head of Landmark Chambers, four years after the merger that formed the specialist planning and environmental set.

  • Law Soc on course for revamped LPC

    29-May-2006

    The Law Society has completed the first stage of its controversial review of legal education and training and has set out the timetable for overhauling the LPC.

  • Law Soc, Bar Council stand firm over strike

    29-May-2006

    As the university lecturers' strike rages on, the Law Society and Bar Council have rejected law schools' demands to relax rules so that students unable to graduate can gain entry onto the LPC and BVC.

  • LeBoeuf raids Linklaters, DWS in City hiring spree

    29-May-2006

    LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae has continued its lateral hiring spree, adding two more London partners, making four this year and taking its London partnership number to 25.

  • Lester Aldridge gears up for managing partner election

    29-May-2006

    South East firm Lester Aldridge is preparing to elect a new managing partner following the decision by current incumbent Roger Woolley to step down after six years.

  • Lewis Silkin ramps up incentives team

    29-May-2006

    Lewis Silkin is building up its incentives team with a double hire of lawyers from big four accountancy firms Ernst & Young (E&Y) and Deloitte. Sara Cohen from E&Y becomes head of incentives following the recent departure of Guy Abbiss to Bird & Bird. Victoria Goode also joins Lewis Silkin as an incentives partners. Joint head of employment and incentives Michael Burd said the hires were part of the firm's strategy to develop the incentives team with domestic and international clients.

  • Lords' divorce settlement rulings leave room for debate

    29-May-2006

    In what represents the biggest change to divorce law since the decision of the House of Lords in White v White in October 2000, the Lords gave judgment last week in two very different cases, Alan and Melissa Miller - a short marriage of less than three years, but with a large amount of capital to be divided up - and Kenneth and Julia McFarlane - where the husband was a high-earning accountant and the wife gave up her high-earning career to be the homemaker.

  • Lovells' Berlin office faces uncertain future

    29-May-2006

    Losing a five-person team from one of your offices is something most managing partners would rather not have to deal with on their watch.

  • Maclays takes Lewis Silkin partner for IP push

    31-May-2006

    Maclay Murray & Spens has taken on Lewis Silkin partner Gillian Cordall for a push into London’s IP market.

  • Matrix to argue both sides of rail battle

    29-May-2006

    Matrix Chambers, Norton Rose and Richards Butler will steam into court later this year to fight over access rights to the East Coast Main Line.

  • Mayer Brown re-jigs management for securitisation push

    2-Jun-2006

    Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw has appointed new co-heads for its London securitisation department following the departure of high profile partner Mark Nicolaides.

  • Milberg outraged at kickback allegations

    29-May-2006

    New York class action powerhouse Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman last week found itself indicted by the US attorney in Los Angeles for allegedly paying referral fees to win clients.

  • Mishcons strengthens PEP figure by 28 per cent

    29-May-2006

    Mishcon de Reya saw its revenue rocket by more than 20 per cent last year, increasing from £24.2m to £29.1m.

  • Mourants snares Stephen Ball for CEO role

    29-May-2006

    Kroll international general counsel Stephen Ball is joining Mourant de Feu & Jeune as chief executive officer (CEO) in the summer, ending the firm's nine-month search for its first externally recruited CEO.

  • Office in-fighting results in Mullerat dissolution

    29-May-2006

    Spanish independent Mullerat's co-managing partner Alberto Echarri revealed last week that it was two and a half years of in-fighting that led to the firm's dissolution.

  • Olswang, SJ Berwin earn their spurs

    29-May-2006

    Olswang and SJ Berwin advised on Tottenham Hotspur Football Club's £34m shirt sponsorship and business partnering with Mansion, the international gaming and entertainment group. The deal, one of the world's 10-largest club sponsorship agreements, will take effect from July and run for a minimum of four seasons. Mansion will also join the football club in a range of other commercial activities. These include the extension and expansion of the Tottenham brand into Asia and ...

  • Pay racket

    29-May-2006

    City organisations need to watch out. As the Equal Pay Act builds up steam high-earners may start looking at what their peers are taking home, with a tribunal hearing the likely outcome. By John Cavanagh QC

  • Pinsent Masons validates power of merger with soaring PEP

    29-May-2006

    Mergers can do wonders for your profitability if you play them right. Of all the law firms that boasted a growth in profit per equity partner (PEP) this year, not one came close to touching the 70 per cent leap posted by Pinsent Masons.

  • RB raids Hammonds disputes team

    2-Jun-2006

    Hammonds has lost a dispute resolution team to Richards Butler.

  • Russell Jones partner lands ELA chair role

    29-May-2006

    Russell Jones & Walker partner Barry Clarke has been elected as the next chairman of the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA), succeeding Linklaters' Raymond Jeffers. Clarke is head of Russel Jones' Cardiff employment team. He said he hoped to continue ELA's focus on employment law. ELA has more than 4,300 UK members, both solicitors and barristers, specialising in employment law.

  • Sharpe Pritchard fails in Agassi tax appeal

    29-May-2006

    Sharpe Pritchard has lost the final set of a battle with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over the amount of tax payable by tennis star Andre Agassi.

  • Shoosmiths snares Compass in-houser

    29-May-2006

    Joining the procession of relocating lawyers was in-house lawyer David Jackson, who moved to Shoosmiths' Birmingham office from global catering group Compass.

  • Sidley, Skadden, Jones Day top Fortune 1,000

    29-May-2006

    Sidley Austin, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Jones Day have retained their positions as the favoured counsel to the US's leading corporations, according to new research.

  • Simmons promotes largest partnership group in four years

    31-May-2006

    Simmons & Simmons has promoted 15 lawyers to its partnership with financial markets and corporate gaining the bulk of new partners.

  • Spanish firms join with Romanian boutique

    29-May-2006

    Two small Spanish law firms have made the first Iberian foray into the Romanian legal market via a three-way merger with a small Romanian firm.

  • Survey reveals stagnant salaries for Emea counsel

    29-May-2006

    A survey of general counsel salaries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, (Emea) has shocked industry insiders by revealing stagnation in salaries in most countries.

  • Taxman elected new senior partner at Travers

    31-May-2006

    Travers Smith has elected former managing partner Alasdair Douglas as its new senior partner, replacing the retiring Christopher Bell.

  • Taylor Wessing considers private equity injection

    29-May-2006

    Taylor Wessing has become the first firm to confirm that it is considering selling a stake in the business to a private equity house. The firm is looking to take advantage of the new legal landscape promised by the Legal Services Bill announced last week.

  • The benefits of a pro bono secondment

    29-May-2006

    Most leading lawyers obviously want to work with great clients doing first-class commercial work. Yet increasingly lawyers and trainees are interested in opportunities that take them beyond the day-to-day work of their career with their firm.

  • The lockstep quickstep

    29-May-2006

    The phrase 'lockstep review' appears to have become synonymous with Lovells. Not content with the changes introduced at the start of 2006, the City firm has embarked on yet another review. The Lovells lockstep currently runs from 24-60 points, with an increase of three points every year for 12 years.

  • The three degrees

    29-May-2006

    All readers will be more than familiar with law firm hierarchies, but even Tulkinghorn was not aware that at some firms it even extends to party invites.

  • The Work-Life Quiz by Tim Taylor

    29-May-2006

    Firm: SJ Berwin Position: Head of international arbitration Lives: Notting Hill, London Education: The King's School, Canterbury; St John's College, Oxford Work history: 1978: Joined Herbert Smith & Co as an articled clerk 1980: Qualified as a solicitor 1987: Joined SJ Berwin as an assistant solicitor 1988: Appointed to partnership 1996: Appointed head of litigation ...

  • Thomas Eggar, Cripps ride South East boom

    29-May-2006

    South East firms Cripps Harries Hall and Thomas Eggar have profited from the booming economy in the region with record turnover and profit per equity partner (PEP) figures.

  • Thring townsend wins stress settlement

    29-May-2006

    South West firm Thring Townsend has won an £850,000 settlement for a passenger suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the Ladbroke Grove train crash in October 1999. The personal injury case was unusual in that the damages award was made on the basis of future earnings for a postion that the client secured after the crash. The injured party, Oliver Weeks, had originally been offered a £12,000 settlement, a sum that was based partly on his salary while working ...

  • TLT announces massive profit growth

    29-May-2006

    TLT Solicitors has become the first of the Bristol-headquartered firms to announce its results, which have seen it generate double-digit fee income and profit growth.

  • Tubular swells

    29-May-2006

    Tulkinghorn jetted over to attend Bird & Bird's launch party for its Frankfurt office last Tuesday (23 May). A number of details caught his eye, in particular the bright-blue cocktails served in tall test tubes. Tulkinghorn tried one but remained none the wiser as to its contents.

  • Two real estate IPO mandates see Nabarros rack up £513m AIM tally

    29-May-2006

    Nabarro Nathanson has completed its fourteenth AIM flotation of 2006, with a combined value of £513m, following two successful IPOs completed last week.

  • Web week 29/05/06

    29-May-2006

    The Lawyer's Web Week is a weekly commentary on legal activity on the web. This includes an overview of the best of the week's blogs. If you want to direct us to useful links, email webweek@thelawyer. com.

  • Weil fends off court in Fendi malpractice suit

    29-May-2006

    Weil Gotshal & Manges has settled a long-running legal malpractice suit involving Italian fashion house Fendi just days before the matter was due to go to before a jury.

  • What a to-do

    29-May-2006

    Tulkinghorn often finds press releases rather dull, but for pure brain-searing banality nothing quite beats one hapless exponent's recent efforts. The unfortunate PR mistakenly sent Tulkinghorn her week's to-do list instead of a promised press release. Tulkinghorn eagerly opened the document in the hope of some shocking insight into the glamorous world of media relations. But it was not to be. Monday was spent "chasing Paul for image", which duly appeared on Tuesday "to be sent to legal ...

  • Who'll be the first to float?

    29-May-2006

    Last Wednesday (24 May) saw the biggest shake-up of the UK legal market for decades move a step closer. And the legislative process is moving unusually quickly: Lord Falconer commented that it was "just seven months" since the publication of the 'Future of Legal Services' white paper.

  • Wiggin signs David Davies as consultant

    29-May-2006

    Media boutique Wiggin has struck a rare deal that will see Football Association (FA) executive director and former TV presenter David Davies join the firm as a consultant.

  • William Bloomer: Heath Lambert

    29-May-2006

    Heath Lambert's head of legal William Bloomer has already presided over a raft of changes at the insurance broker, but with a merger looming his skills are going to be more invaluable than ever. By Joanne Harris

  • Wragges' revenue tops £100m mark

    29-May-2006

    The sound of crunching numbers has been echoing through the corridors of Midlands firms during the past month as the financial year drew to a close.

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