Russia is an attractive proposition for institutional investors at the moment, with a boom in bond issuances Capital markets has been a tricky area to be active in for the past few years, but in Russia at least things seem suddenly to have picked up and law firms are contemplating a full and interesting pipeline. […]
International firms are jostling for position with local players in a packed legal market, but the UK magic circle still dominates Best friendships have died in India, having outlived their usefulness. At their high-water mark in early 2011 there were at least five relationships between international firms and Indian outfits, including Allen & Overy (A&O) […]
UK associates may have to move out if they want to move up, as firms look to add strength in growing economies This year’s partner promotion season in the UK is just about done, and the picture is one of change for firms headquartered here. Overall, the number of new partners is down, a sign […]
Global GC Adam Rosman’s role at insurance broker Willis demands that he not only defends the business against current risk but that he spies any potential on the horizon Willis global general counsel Adam Rosman has just flown in to the City from Manhattan for a few days of meetings before jetting off again. Included […]
The general downward trend – at least in the UK – highlighted in this week’s partnership promotions feature didn’t obscure some major changes dotted throughout the annual rounds. No corporate partners made up at Travers; Ashurst now has more partners outside than inside the UK; and the first crop of Bond Dickinson freshers, with twice […]
Firm’s merit-based remuneration system sees it top the pay league Despite freezing its salary bands Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s new merit-based arrangement puts it well above UK peers by pay, even if the systems are not entirely comparable. It stills pays its career milestone (CM) foundation lawyers (NQs in non-Freshfields-speak) £65,000-£72,500 depending on performance and excluding […]
Cash call is simply to stabilise the partner distribution cycle, apparently Money always gets people in a bit of a tizz. Last week The Lawyer revealed that around 170 equity partners at Herbert Smith had been asked to contribute £2,000 per equity point to the firm (that’s £200,000 apiece for 65 plateau partners), in an […]
Early results give distorted picture of the health of the profession It is financials season again and first out of the blocks are those firms that can boast growth for the 2012/13 financial year. It is The Lawyer’s experience that the doom-makers will hold off as long as they can to volunteer their figures. So […]
The arrival of Texas firm Andrews Kurth in the UK proves how busy the oil and gas market has become. But the sector’s high level of activity has caught the eye of the European Commission The oil and gas markets took centre stage last week both in Brussels and in London. Dawn raids by the […]
Garrigues looks to South America for relief from home market gloom Latin America is a key growth region that many international firms have been trying to break into for some time. Arguably, the most successful have been the big Iberian firms, which have been leveraging their shared history, culture and language with counterparts in south […]
Auctioning internships is becoming more common, giving students from well-off backgrounds a significant leg-up into highly competitive professions, including the law It is a sorry sign of the times that today’s auction prizes don’t just include pedicure vouchers and monkey nuts but also unpaid work placements that can fetch bids of thousands of pounds. This […]
The Big Bang may have proffered the public greater choice, but there is a high price to pay Litigant in person (LIPs) creep has reached the High Court. There are now increasing numbers of litigants with cases of substantial value and complexity who are unable to fund legal representation. Often they do not qualify for […]