Shell legal director Peter Rees is switching litigation control away from external counsel to a unified global team of in-housers Royal Dutch Shell is no stranger to legal challenges. With a top line of $467bn (£290bn), operations in around 70 nations and estimated production levels of oil and gas equivalent to 3 million barrels a […]
Remember the depths of the economic gloom back in 2009, when barely a week went by without a law firm announcing big redundancies? Merger activity plummeted, the real estate market ground to a halt and, while there were plenty of predictions of a slew of disputes, there just wasn’t the money around to pay the litigators. […]
As Clydes makes its China move, free trade zones clear way for deeper law firm links Clyde & Co did a ground-breaking deal in China last week. Through its Hong Kong arm the firm has established a joint venture with Chongqing-based West Link under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa). China […]
If Berwin Leighton Paisner is to halt the stream of senior partner departures, it needs to make up its mind about its true focus and channel resources accordingly. By Kate Beioley Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP) string of high-profile departures came to a head last week with the exit of finance head Matthew Kellett, prompting a […]
US merger signals fast-grow diet: are Dentons’ eyes too big for its tummy? Months after SNR Denton, Salans and Fraser Milner Casgrain merged to form Dentons, the firm is casting a hungry eye back to the US. A bit like squaffling down two quarter-pounders with fries and 20 Chicken McNuggets before returning to the menu, […]
OC gives private client practice a kick up the cut-glass as ‘traditional’ team hits the road Private client work has taken some stick over the years, not always seen as the sexiest of practice areas. Traditionally focused on wills, agriculture and landed estates, it is hard to see where the practice would fit into a […]
Garrigues results show another fall, but not as great as in recent years For Europe, Garrigues’ September-August financial year is a bit of an anomaly – most European firms run with a calendar financial year. Garrigues’ mid-year year-end means its financial results are often a bellwether of what is going on in Iberia, and for […]
What was your first-ever job? Dressing up as Mr Wimpy handing out balloons. Pay: £5 plus lunch. What’s your favourite restaurant? Lounge 10 in Manchester. They have a fortune-teller and my life has five different endings, seemingly depending on my hairstyle and outfit when I see her. If you weren’t a lawyer what would you […]
Clifford Chance’s finance operation is a complex beast, divided into two groups with some overlap. On the one hand there is the global financial group which includes lending and acquisition finance, derivatives, financial regulatory advice, insolvency and restructuring, real estate finance, project finance and asset finance. This group is headed by Mark Campbell. Then there […]
DLA Piper, HSF and DWF benefit from consolidation, while Freshfields’ global view makes it leader of the RPP pack, with a cool £4.5m. By Hannah Gannagé-Stewart It is no surprise that litigators have been on a roll since the financial crash. Periods of economic downturn are the playground of contentious law and have been for […]
Move of the week Withers has recruited partner Julie Teal to the firm’s London real estate group. Teal is a construction law specialist and joins the firm from construction practice Fenwick Elliott. Withers’ real estate group also continues its expansion with the hire of associates David Holland, who will join the rural real estate team […]
Financial incentives should be introduced for whistleblowers if we really want to encourage them The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 was well-intentioned and noble in its aims. It was introduced as a private member’s bill with strong cross-party support plus the support of industry and the professions in light of disasters and scandals such as […]