Burford Capital is reinstating full dividends after experiencing the “best year in its history”, but the litigation funder’s profit levels have taken a dive. Dividends were scrapped in early 2020 due to uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, during which time the funder suffered from a slowdown in business, but they are now set to return at […]
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is set to resume its international secondment programme, having put it on hold since the first wave of the pandemic. Four trainees are to be sent on international secondment in March 2021, The Lawyer can reveal, while the firm’s policy will then remain under review until the next batch of secondments […]
Paul Hastings is to further expand its litigation practice in London, with the arrival of a partner from Covington & Burling. The firm is taking on partner Alex Leitch, who has spent six years at its US rival as co-chair of the London dispute resolution group. Leitch moved to Covington & Burling in 2015, when […]
Global profit per equity partner at Reed Smith increased by almost 16 per cent over 2020, as the firm gears up for management elections this year. The metric rose from $1.3m to $1.5m under the leadership of managing partner Sandy Thomas, whose role is up for elections during the summer. The spike towers over PEP […]
Burford Capital is reinstating full dividends after experiencing the “best year in its history”, but the litigation funder’s profit levels have taken a dive. Dividends were scrapped in early 2020 due to uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, during which time the funder suffered from a slowdown in business, but they are now set to return at […]
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is set to resume its international secondment programme, having put it on hold since the first wave of the pandemic. Four trainees are to be sent on international secondment in March 2021, The Lawyer can reveal, while the firm’s policy will then remain under review until the next batch of secondments […]
Paul Hastings is to further expand its litigation practice in London, with the arrival of a partner from Covington & Burling. The firm is taking on partner Alex Leitch, who has spent six years at its US rival as co-chair of the London dispute resolution group. Leitch moved to Covington & Burling in 2015, when […]
Global profit per equity partner at Reed Smith increased by almost 16 per cent over 2020, as the firm gears up for management elections this year. The metric rose from $1.3m to $1.5m under the leadership of managing partner Sandy Thomas, whose role is up for elections during the summer. The spike towers over PEP […]
DAC Beachcroft is cutting down the time it takes to onboard new clients with a revamped system, as the firm prepares for a more digital environment after the pandemic crisis. The firm is embarking on a pilot to automate the identification and verification steps included in its client acceptance process with the help of a […]
Barclays’ legal team was once among the most influential in the UK. That power has diminished over the last decade, yet the banking giant still packs a punch when it comes to talent management. Some 40 lawyers are understood to have left Barclays in the UK last year. There are cost-cutting measures at play here, […]
Keystone Law, the poster child for the platform firm, is likely to break the psychologically important £100m revenue barrier in 2025. The success of this firm has spawned a new market, which is challenging traditional firms on the talent front. More than 3,500 lawyers now work across a variety of fee-sharing outfits, research from Atlas […]
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 […]
Litigation funders will be keeping a close eye on an upcoming review into third-party funding regulation, proposed caps on returns, as well as litigation costs. The Civil Justice Council is looking to produce a full report by the summer of 2025. The review follows an increased focus on litigation funders and their role in disputes, […]
In its largest promotions round ever, Ashurst has elevated eight London lawyers to partner out of 30 worldwide. The firm has made up eight lawyers in London, as well as seven in Sydney. In total, 17 promotions were made in Ashurst’s Australian offices, meaning just five were made outside of either London or Australia. Loans […]
Frustrated Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) candidates are calling on the SRA to increase accessibility to the appeals process after a results error saw 175 candidates mistakenly told they had failed their exams. On Monday last week, the SRA announced that 175 candidates who sat SQE1 in January and were told they had failed on 14 […]
The administrators of collapsed firm Axiom Ince have filed a creditors’ bankruptcy petition against its former boss. Filed at the end of last week, the petition will seek to force Pragnesh Modhwadia’s bankruptcy, The Lawyer understands, applying to the court for his assets to be taken and sold to pay debts to the administrators. Pinsent Masons […]
Partnership promotions are continuing apace, with three City firms announcing a fresh new set of partners for 2024. Addleshaw Goddard has bumped up 26 lawyers this promotions round, which is the largest number of lawyers to make partner in one go in the firm’s history. The international firm’s partner count now stands at 429. Nine […]
