Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Slaughter and May have taken lead roles on French Energy company EDF’s investment for Hinkley Point C nuclear project. HSF has advised long-standing client EDF on the agreement of the contract to build the UK’s first nuclear power plant for a generation – with the development of two European Pressurised […]
Roll over long-lunch panel reviews – the procurement department is now central to the process, so you’d better get used to it It used to be so simple. Perhaps a lunch or even a spot of supper down the club; a quiet chat between chaps in an environment replete with the whiff of panelled oak […]
Let’s be realistic: those procurement people aren’t going away, and we need to learn to live with them. The discipline of procurement has engendered remarkable hostility among many lawyers; its first wave was all about process rather than strategic relationships. But peace is breaking out. An increasing number of general counsel are reporting fruitful interactions […]
Four-borough legal link shows public sector is forward-thinking. Next stop, ABS If a problem shared is a problem halved, local authority legal teams have it about right. In response to the biggest public sector cutbacks in a generation, legal teams at neighbouring authorities are turning to each other for support. But can a problem be […]
David Aitman likely to be adaptable in a changing legal environment How to describe David Aitman? New global managing partner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer? Concert-standard pianist? Keen gardener? All true, but none that useful in predicting the change in tone when he takes over from incumbent Ted Burke in 2014. How about “measured”, “thoughtful”, “cerebral”? […]
Bar divided over publication of Supreme Court arguments on the web Should the UK Supreme Court follow in the steps of the US and put written cases online? That was the question on Twitter last month, when the UK Supreme Court wrote that it was “exploring” the possibility of putting skeleton arguments on the internet. […]
The international legal bandwagon is on a roll in Africa, but perils await the unwary It’s official. The legal rush to Africa is under way. Forget Asia – the hot airline tickets now are to Casablanca, Cape Town or Lagos. Last week, Eversheds became the latest firm to launch an initiative designed to open the […]
Decisive action when facing closure will at worst avoid a chaotic wind-down and at best net a turnaround By all accounts the recent deadline for law firms to renew professional indemnity (PI) insurance cover passed in a frantic scramble, with many unsuccessful smaller regional firms now on the brink of closure. This unwelcome situation comes […]
You’d have had to have been hiding under a rock to miss the Battle of Balcombe – hoards of environmentalists kicking up a storm over fracking in a small Sussex village. In fact, shale gas extraction, mining, oil and gas have all been hot topics in recent months, and each has its own environmental repercussions. […]
Those firms for whom personal injury is no longer viable should not wait to put a get-out plan in place April Fools’ Day aside, 1 April 2013 was an innocuous date in Joe Public’s calendar but for personal injury lawyers in England and Wales it brought in changes that would change the legal landscape forever. […]
Leadership, organisation and funding in a fast-changing market were the themes of our recent law firm management event Never before have law firms faced so much disruption. With mergers and ABSs, outsourcing and disaggregation, private practice business models are in the spotlight. But how to manage change successfully? In the past two years The Lawyer […]
Newly elected Norway prime minister Solway has promised measures that will kickstart a flat infrastructure sector There has been a great deal of speculation about the opportunities that may arise for the international infrastructure sector as a result of Norway’s recent parliamentary election. Following the result Erna Solberg, leader of Norway’s Conservative Party, becomes prime […]