I am responsible for the provision of business support functions in Sidley’s network of international offices outside the US, working closely with management in the US and also local Office Managing Partners. Unlike many of my LGBTQ+ colleagues, I did not come out as a gay man until relatively late in life, at the age […]
Costa Coffee has appointed a new general counsel following the retirement of former GC Russell Fairhurst. Long-serving in-house lawyer Fairhurst had been GC at Costa since 2018, upon its sale from Whitbread to Coca Cola. He had been at Whitbread for 26 years, including serving as legal director and deputy company secretary for nearly 22 […]
Irwin Mitchell is disbanding its three divisions as part of a firmwide reorganisation. The firm’s personal injury, business legal services and private wealth divisions will now sit within two teams: client services and commercial growth. Speaking to The Lawyer, group CEO Andrew Tucker said that the shift is to ensure one client experience across the […]
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has added extra money to its firmwide bonuses for the financial year 2020/21, The Lawyer understands. Following the decision to unfreeze UK salaries last year, the firm had pledged to make additional catch-up payments as full compensation for the Covid-related move. Now, the magic circle firm has added another financial reward by […]
I am responsible for the provision of business support functions in Sidley’s network of international offices outside the US, working closely with management in the US and also local Office Managing Partners. Unlike many of my LGBTQ+ colleagues, I did not come out as a gay man until relatively late in life, at the age […]
Costa Coffee has appointed a new general counsel following the retirement of former GC Russell Fairhurst. Long-serving in-house lawyer Fairhurst had been GC at Costa since 2018, upon its sale from Whitbread to Coca Cola. He had been at Whitbread for 26 years, including serving as legal director and deputy company secretary for nearly 22 […]
Irwin Mitchell is disbanding its three divisions as part of a firmwide reorganisation. The firm’s personal injury, business legal services and private wealth divisions will now sit within two teams: client services and commercial growth. Speaking to The Lawyer, group CEO Andrew Tucker said that the shift is to ensure one client experience across the […]
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has added extra money to its firmwide bonuses for the financial year 2020/21, The Lawyer understands. Following the decision to unfreeze UK salaries last year, the firm had pledged to make additional catch-up payments as full compensation for the Covid-related move. Now, the magic circle firm has added another financial reward by […]
City firms are traditionally slow to react on controversial topics, but as a number of organisations withdraw their support for Stonewall’s Diversity Champions scheme, they may be forced to consider their position internally.
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Gowling WLG and Norton Rose Fulbright’s London offices will all be under water in a few decades. This trio shares idyllic views overlooking the Thames, but they will all be submerged in the river by the year 2100 as climate change-induced sea level rises occur. And this is based on the […]
Talent churn is accelerating among the junior ranks with today’s associates more mobile than the generations before them. The concept of long-term professional loyalty is fading as Gen Z rises. These lawyers ask not what they can do for you, but what your firm can do for them. This generational shift in working attitudes is […]
Hooray, big-ticket M&A is having a mini-revival and so are the firms that make so much of their money out of it. Already in 2024, major European M&A deals to have been announced include International Paper’s £5.8bn planned acquisition of London-listed packaging company DS Smith, which trumped another offer from rival Mondi. Other significant matters […]
On Tuesday last week (9 April), the SRA sought to quell a rising tide of discontent around the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). In its most recent SQE annual report, SRA chief executive Paul Philip said the public and profession could have “confidence” in this “rigorous assessment”. That confidence was short-lived. Yesterday (15 April), Philip was […]
For one firm, the pan-Nordic dream is dead. For another, it’s just begun. Hannes Snellman’s announcement that its Stockholm and Helsinki offices will be going their separate ways later this year represented the end of a strategic gamble that started 16 years ago. Back then, its leadership bet that opening in Stockholm (2008) and Copenhagen […]
Competition boutique Geradin Partners opens its doors in Paris today as the firm seeks to become a serious player in the French capital’s vibrant competition and litigation scenes. Opening on the same block as Freshfields in the heart of Paris’ 8e Arrondissement, Geradin has brought in competition litigator Marc Barennes from Bureau Brandeis with his […]
Car lease schemes for partners are rapidly dwindling in the wake of the electric vehicle (EV) salary sacrifice revolution, but Hill Dickinson is not one of them. Once a more common method for partners to enjoy part of their profit share, traditional car lease schemes have lost their lustre. The tax incentives that once made […]
The residents of the Barbican Centre’s Cromwell Tower organised a demonstration outside magic circle firm Linklaters on Tuesday to protest against its diesel generator, which was installed in late March.
BT has further shrunk its panel for the third review in a row having appointed a total of 11 firms to its roster. The panel will run for three years and includes 10 firms that have been reappointed from 2020. Those continuing their relationship with BT after the latest review are the likes of Allen […]
Dentons has promoted 12 lawyers to partner in the UK, Ireland and Middle East (UKIME) this year, including nine partners in London. Of the remaining three promotions, two were made in Glasgow and one was made in Abu Dhabi. Most of the promotions have been made in the projects team, with Claudia Thomas and Graham […]
