Paris Autumn

The Passport: Paris is a white-hot litigation market

Welcome to The Passport, your regular round-up of all the most important stories to come from the European legal market. In this edition, litigators have been moving en masse in Paris this year and we take a look into one of the bigger moves; Denmark’s Plesner passed the psychologically impactful DKK1bn mark for the first […]

Forsters swipes former Winckworth senior partner and team

Forsters has hired a team from Winckworth Sherwood, including former senior partner and head of employment Jo Keddie. Joining on 2 April, Keddie will lead its employment and partnerships practice. She will move with colleagues Danielle Crawford and Daniel Parker, who will join the team as counsel and senior associate, respectively. Forsters said that the […]

Shearman’s EMEA head to leave firm

Ward McKimm, Shearman & Sterling’s European and Middle East regional managing partner, is leaving the firm less than two months before its Allen & Overy tie-up goes live. A statement from Shearman and McKimm read: “Shearman & Sterling and Ward McKimm jointly confirm that, after a nearly-30 year career as a leading high-yield and leveraged […]

Waiting

Associates, your time will come

Demand for partner laterals in London is at an all-time high. A recent report by Edwards Gibson reveals a staggering 101 partner moves in the first two months of 2024 alone. This marks a 7 per cent surge from last year’s figures and a 9 per cent increase over the five and 10-year averages. Despite […]

2024’s newest silks: Why we chose a career in law

A solicitor-turned-barrister and the Bar’s newest doctor KC; The Lawyer speaks to six of the Bar’s newest silks. The group was announced as KCs-in-waiting earlier this year, with 95 barristers in total getting the nod. Among the 95 were Crucible Law’s Clea Topolski – who having been called in 2014 – is the most junior of the set. […]

Waiting

Associates, your time will come

Demand for partner laterals in London is at an all-time high. A recent report by Edwards Gibson reveals a staggering 101 partner moves in the first two months of 2024 alone. This marks a 7 per cent surge from last year’s figures and a 9 per cent increase over the five and 10-year averages. Despite […]

Rising headcount, people, rise

These three US firms transformed over 2023

As The Lawyer prepares to analyse the annual performance of US firms in the UK market, we can reflect on a transformative year. At the start of 2023, Milbank secured its deal with Dickson Minto’s London office, while Shearman and Allen & Overy weren’t even a thing. Paul Weiss also had no English law capability. […]

Analysis

2024’s newest silks: Why we chose a career in law

A solicitor-turned-barrister and the Bar’s newest doctor KC; The Lawyer speaks to six of the Bar’s newest silks. The group was announced as KCs-in-waiting earlier this year, with 95 barristers in total getting the nod. Among the 95 were Crucible Law’s Clea Topolski – who having been called in 2014 – is the most junior of the set. […]

Ministry of Justice

Legal industry clashes over Government’s vow to reverse PACCAR

Litigation funders, defendant lawyers and claimant lawyers are divided over Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk KC’s plans to introduce a new law to reverse the Supreme Court’s PACCAR ruling last July, which ruled many litigation funding agreements (LFAs) unenforceable. The Government said it is also considering options for a wider review of the sector and how third-party litigation […]

Latest Lateral Hires

10 Upper Bank Street Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance PE partner exits for Paul Weiss

Paul Weiss is continuing its London office expansion, hiring another private equity partner from Clifford Chance. Oliver Marcuse is set to join the US firm, just months after former magic circle colleague Chris Sullivan made the same move. Marcuse was promoted to the firm’s partnership in 2022, having spent his career at Clifford Chance. Secondments […]

Latest Opinion

What Mr Bates and the Post Office can teach us about climate change

“You might think you’re thinking your own thoughts. You’re not. You’re thinking your culture’s thoughts.” Jiddu Krishnamurti We need to talk about our culture’s thoughts. These have been called different things: the dominant world view; our metanarrative; the hegemonic paradigm. Whatever the terminology, it comes down to the prevailing way of thinking, the story we […]

In-house

Jo Nayler

Ki Insurance recruits new GC

The general counsel at Crown Agents Bank has moved to Ki Insurance after just five months. Joanna Nayler made the move from the cross-border payments and FX services provider to become GC and compliance director at the insurance firm as of March 2024. Ki Insurance is a digital insurance company, driven by algorithmically powered underwriting. […]

Kelly Young, Marie Curie

Marie Curie’s GC on strategy, budgets and working with CMS

For Kelly Young, incumbent general counsel and company secretary at Marie Curie, the charity feels more like a corporation than any other entity. Marie Curie is the largest funder of palliative care in the country, and its business lines include 160 shops, 450 doctors, clinical services and licensing intellectual property from garden supplies to stationery. […]

Latest Litigation Tracker News

Argentina

Claim spotter: Argentinian oil case hits UK court, while Barclays targets Russia’s largest private bank

Multibillion-dollar Argentinian oil case lands in UK court Petersen Energia, the energy arm of a major Argentine banking group, secured a victory in a US court last September, with a $16bn judgment against the Argentinian government. Now, the legal battle has moved to the Commercial Court in the UK, as Petersen pursues further claims against […]

Mercedes Benz

In court this week: Dieselgate, Clydes and counter-terrorism powers

Wealthy businessman sues former legal advisers Heading to the Commerical Court today (11 March) for five days is the professional negligence case brought by businessman Riad Al Sadik against Clyde & Co, two barristers from XXIV Old Buildings and Harney Westwood & Riegels. Al Sadik, a wealthy businessman who lives in Dubai, invested $136m in […]

Talent

Paralegal Academy - June 2023 cohort

The JLD blog: Celebrating the unsung heroes of law

There’s a popular saying in the cultural zeitgeist that not all heroes wear capes. There’s an addendum that should be added to that within the confines of the legal industry that not all heroes are qualified solicitors, Partners or industry leaders- in fact, arguably the largest contingent of unsung heroes are paralegals. Paralegals often form […]