Europe

Updates and analysis from The Lawyer covering law firms from across Europe.

European News

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 […]

vodafone

Slaughters and Travers among firms advising on Vodafone’s €8bn Italian sale

Slaughter and May has represented long-time client Vodafone on the telecommunications giant’s latest sale of its Italian business to Swisscom. The Slaughters team was steered by corporate partners Victoria MacDuff and James Cook, along with associates Serena Hopkins, Anika Sethy and Iain Meiklejohn. The firm also fielded a sizeable team of tax, commercial and employment […]

Holland Amsterdam

A&O Shearman will be a European kingmaker

The Dutch legal market is uber conservative; it has witnessed little by way of disruption to force the kind of sweeping changes seen here in London. Amsterdam is not the city where firms can rack up mega fees; big-ticket M&A work is not done there as often as it is here. That said, if you’ve […]

Hiring surge ahead as Euro firms double down in London

A raft of Europe’s elite law firms are set to increase their lawyer headcount and office space in London as they sense greater opportunity in the capital than ever before. Research undertaken by The Lawyer for an upcoming report on the International Signal channel found that around one-third (11) of European 100 law firms with […]

“Bitter disillusionment”: CMS under fire from associates over salary freezes

CMS’s German arm is facing heavy criticism from a cross-section of its associates after new pay structures were announced, freezing salaries at the firm for all but first and second year associates. The associates’ complaints, published in German title Juve, outline deep discontent among the firm’s junior ranks after salary increases were announced for its […]

Fernando Vives, Garrigues

Garrigues becomes first European 100 firm to pass €450m milestone

Garrigues has become the first EU-headquartered firm to pass the €450m milestone after growing its topline by 2.5 per cent in 2023. The firm announced its revenue last year hit a record high of €454.3m, representing a modest increase on the €443.2m it posted in 2022. Most of Garrigues’ revenue was made in its native […]

Featured Briefings

IOSCO reaffirms its 2013 ETF Principles and consults on good practices

The IOSCO consultation report, published on 6 April 2022, represents the output of a five-year long collaboration between regulators of major global ETF domiciles focussed on two broad themes, namely the effective functioning of the primary market and appropriate disclosure to investors, and is set against the backdrop of significant ETF growth, in-depth market studies and stress events.

Putting justice to hazard: When does delay justify the dismissal of proceedings?

In recent months several applications to dismiss proceedings for want of prosecution on the grounds of delay came before the High Court. These judgments continue to illustrate that the success of an application to dismiss proceedings will depend on the particular facts of each case. A period of delay found to be prejudicial in one case may not be determinative of the point in subsequent cases of similar delay.

Ireland: Fitness and Probity regime – Changes to PCF roles

On 5 April 2022, the Central Bank of Ireland made further changes to its list of Pre-Approval Controlled Functions (PCFs) under its Fitness and Probity framework. These changes, introduced by amending regulations, are in addition to PCF role changes notified by the Central Bank in September 2022.

Western Europe

Central Europe

Eastern Europe