The Smith & Williamson law firm survey is back for its 27th year. For decades the survey has determined what factors are having a big impact on the legal profession. This has allowed analysis to look at year-on-year trends around confidence, financial management and strategy. Last year we discovered that: Despite the pandemic, 69 per […]
Looking at bonuses as a proportion of profits gives a better indication of law firms’ generosity.
Reed Smith’s global managing partner Sandy Thomas is to be the sole candidate in the firm’s next leadership election, meaning his third term is practically secured. Thomas was reappointed to the role until 2021 after an uncontested election, and history is set to repeat itself this summer. It is understood that he communicated his intention […]
The bulk of Ashurst‘s debt for the last financial year has already been paid back, The Lawyer has learned, with an £89m fee reimbursed to its lenders last summer. Ashurst increased its debt position from £20m to £131m last year, with the majority of finance taken from its revolving credit facility out of Covid-19-induced caution. […]
The Smith & Williamson law firm survey is back for its 27th year. For decades the survey has determined what factors are having a big impact on the legal profession. This has allowed analysis to look at year-on-year trends around confidence, financial management and strategy. Last year we discovered that: Despite the pandemic, 69 per […]
Looking at bonuses as a proportion of profits gives a better indication of law firms’ generosity.
Reed Smith’s global managing partner Sandy Thomas is to be the sole candidate in the firm’s next leadership election, meaning his third term is practically secured. Thomas was reappointed to the role until 2021 after an uncontested election, and history is set to repeat itself this summer. It is understood that he communicated his intention […]
The bulk of Ashurst‘s debt for the last financial year has already been paid back, The Lawyer has learned, with an £89m fee reimbursed to its lenders last summer. Ashurst increased its debt position from £20m to £131m last year, with the majority of finance taken from its revolving credit facility out of Covid-19-induced caution. […]
Goodwin Procter is continuing apace with its London lateral hiring spree, taking on its third Kirkland partner in less than two months. The firm has brought in partner David Irvine, who has spent two years at Kirkland. He previously worked for more than seven years in the London office of Weil Gotshal & Manges, first […]
The latest newly-qualified (NQ) salary rise from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer still managed to raise interest last week, despite the fact enormous pay hikes are the new normal these days and that even £150,000 isn’t unusual any more (as of last week, Quinn’s £180,000 tops the market alongside Gibson Dunn). But it is still significant because […]
European firms see more value in having a physical office in the Square Mile than they do in the Big Apple. Last week, Spanish firm Uría Menéndez became the latest to shut up shop in New York, having been there for 30 years. Uría was the final member of Slaughter and May’s fabled Best Friends […]
Thanks to Paul Weiss, Skadden and Kirkland & Ellis (but mainly Paul Weiss), Linklaters has a few empty chairs at Silk Street. One way a firm can replenish its ranks is through lateral hiring – enter Travers Smith corporate partner Richard Spedding – or internal promotions. Last month, a total of 14 lawyers were made up […]
Paul Weiss’ UK spending spree is far from over. Just a year ago, this firm was small fry among the US City titans. Cue an audacious carve-out of some of Kirkland & Ellis’ superstars last summer and everything changed. That initial raid (which included debt finance heavyweight Neel Sachdev and corporate star Roger Johnson) was […]
In October 2018, the journalist and critic of the Saudi Arabian regime Jamal Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The international reaction was swift. Dozens of major organisations, including HSBC, Ford and JP Morgan Chase, dropped out of the planned “Davos in the Desert” Saudi investment summit. “We are going […]
Simmons & Simmons represented Barclays Bank in an $150m anti-suit and anti-enforcement injunction against Russian state investment bank, VEB. VEB was founded in 1922 as the first international bank of the USSR, and since 2018 it has been chaired by the country’s former deputy prime minister under Putin, Igor Shuvalov. The bank was represented by […]
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has increased its salary for newly-qualified solicitors (NQs) to £180,000. The US disputes specialist’s other associate salaries will also rise when the move takes effect from June. A 1 PQE associate is set to be paid £195,000, while a 2 PQE associate will be on £220,000. For 6 PQE associates, […]
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has lost its UK head of competition, a year and a half after he joined the firm. Lambros Kilaniotis left the firm in April, having joined Quinn from RPC (where he was head of competition) in January 2023 to co-head Quinn’s UK competition practice with partner Kate Vernon. In a […]
The latest episode of The Lawyer Podcast is out now. Last week, all eyes were on A&O Shearman, a union hailing Big Law and its future. But in this week’s episode, we consider why so many solicitors are pursuing another future: opening their own firm. A survey from Censuswide on behalf of Harbour Litigation Funding […]
Hill Dickinson has secured another team hire, taking a group of six from Clyde & Co in Newcastle. Shipping partner Stephen Mackin has made the move along with five other colleagues. Mackin joined Clyde & Co in 2017, before which he spent nearly 25 years at Eversheds Sutherland. A former seafarer himself, Mackin specialises in […]
