When Halliwells filed notice of its intention to appoint an administrator at the end of last month (TheLawyer .com, 25 June), Mike Ward, senior partner at HBJ Gateley Wareing, got straight on the phone to Shay Bannon and Dermot Power at BDO. The notice of intention to appoint an administrator was filed on the same […]
Eversheds will pay out a total of £2m in bonuses next month to all staff for the first time in two years. All secretaries, business services staff and non-partner fee-earners will receive a £1,000 flat bonus after the firm hit its profit target for the 2009-10 financial year. Eversheds’ profit margin fell from 21 per […]
Linklaters could be facing a major tax bill for its India-related work following a Mumbai Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) decision to apply a retrospective amendment to its Income Tax Act. The ITAT upheld the original view of the tax assessing officer that all of the magic circle firm’s income relating to India dating back […]
The Chinese government has taken a tougher stance on direct foreign investment, but this hasn’t stopped BVI or Cayman vehicles being the most efficacious medium for doing so. By Greg Knowles For many years now foreign direct investment into China has routinely been structured through holding companies incorporated in jurisdictions outside China, particularly in […]
London-based firm Wedlake Bell has posted the biggest rise in average profit per equity partner (PEP) of the 2009-10 financial year so far – an astonishing 120 per cent PEP has risen from £120,000 in 2008-09 to £244,000, dwarfing Shoosmiths’ 69.5 per cent rise to £256,000, the second-largest PEP hike seen this year. Wedlake, which has […]
Baker & McKenzie has been appointed as global IP counsel for manufacturing giant JCB. It is the first time the Staffordshire-based company, which posted a turnover of £1.35bn in 2009, has appointed a law firm to act as its global IP adviser. Baker & McKenzie will advise JCB in all IP matters apart from in […]
Despite it being summer, these are still dark days. Our story earlier this month (12 July) revealing a half-billion-pound reduction in the total revenue generated by the UK’s top 30 law firms underlined how hard they were hit in 2009-10. The truth is that things haven’t improved much. And now that August is almost upon […]
After more than 30 years as a lawyer for The Times, Alastair Brett left this month. Katy Dowell looks back at a glittering career and conjectures on why it all ended so abruptly The gossipmongers work hard in Fleet Street, so when news that The Times’ most senior lawyer Alastair Brett had left the paper […]
Several leading barristers’ chambers have reported 100 per cent retention rates for their newly qualified barristers as work levels for junior tenants soars. One Essex Court and Blackstone Chambers have managed to retain all four of their pupils and subsequently offered them tenancies. Elsewhere, sets that have smaller pupillage intakes, such as Essex Court Chambers, Wilberforce Chambers, 3 […]
Cambridge law firm Taylor Vinters has formed an alliance with Singapore technology specialist firm Keystone Law Corporation. The move comes shortly after the former’s London launch on 1 June. Taylor Vinters also has a relationship with another Singaporean firm, Engelin Teh Practice, which handles the firm’s litigation and arbitration issues in the country. According to […]
SAS Daniels has become the latest firm to promote a non-lawyer into its equity partner ranks. Chief operating officer (COO) Andrew Perry has taken over responsibility for the central management of all the firm’s offices across Cheshire. Perry joined the firm as business manager in 2003. “Equity status adds an even greater level of involvement […]
Hammonds is looking to shore up its German offering, with one eye on Frankfurt – but the firm may have a tough time attracting partners following the closure of its Munich office. Hammonds already has an office in Berlin and recently expanded there, bringing in two partners from Frankfurt. But the firm is still keen […]