Acting for UK corporates is the biggest challenge for US outfits in the City, but for the meantime, they’re not breaking out of their lucrative PE bubble. This is in spite of firms such as White & Case and Latham & Watkins going out into the market and hiring big-name magic circle stars from public […]
Clifford Chance, Slaughter and May, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins and Ashurst are acting on the £4.8bn acquisition of Merlin Entertainments by a private equity consortium. The mega deal sees the five firms rally on the take private, which sees Merlin snapped up by a consortium made up of KIRKBI, the investment vehicle of […]
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Clifford Chance are among the legal advisers who will share approximately £14m in legal fees, as US giant CME Group completes the £4.3bn purchase of its UK trading and technology rival NEX Group. Skadden acted for longstanding client CME, and its team on this transaction was led by […]
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has taken the advisory role for private equity house CVC on its purchase of BBA Aviation’s aerospace manufacturing unit. The magic circle firm worked with CVC on the acquisition, which will see BBA Aviation part ways with its Ontics business after 13 years. The sale will enable BBA to focus on its […]
Ashurst has announced the hire of EY’s Fiona Ghosh as the latest recruit to its digital economy team in London. She moves from EY where she has been a partner and UK law leader for fintech and payments. Having held roles as head of fintech for AG and head of payments for Eversheds, she brings […]
In a loss for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer client Tesco, the Supreme Court has today (12 September) favoured the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) in its appeal against the supermarket giant’s “fire and rehire“ practices. The Supreme Court hearing took place in April 2024 and saw Old Square Chambers’ Oliver Segal KC and […]
Boodle Hatfield has revamped its soft skills training format from traditional hour-long business development sessions to short-burst group calls done over several weeks. The new programme, introduced by business development director Lucy Rao, covers topics including sales, networking, pitching and LinkedIn usage. Each topic is covered over three 15-minute Teams calls spread over two weeks. […]
Trowers & Hamlins’s trainee numbers fell slightly last year, while the firm is of one of many considering how to balance out intake numbers with new solicitor apprentices. The firm has 56 trainees in total, but its intake numbers dipped slightly in the last iteration as a result of SQE exam grades and subsequent resits. […]
The North West Legal Consortium (NWLC) has revamped its solicitors framework panel, bringing in eight new firms and dropping seven others. In total, 15 firms have been selected for the new panel, which is set to operate for four years between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2028. The eight newcomers are Brodies, Capsticks, Hill […]
This report contains: an overview of the UK corporate market in 2023 and the positive shift in mood among lawyers at top corporate practices ranking of the top 50 City firms based on UK corporate revenue, highlighting those achieving significant growth insight into firms’ strategic plans for its UK corporate group over the next five years
This report contains: A history of the dominance of the magic circle sets an analysis of the two challengers to the magic circle a breakdown of the sets’ activity at the commercial court over the years
This report includes: an analysis of 18 European 100 firms that have seen new managing partners since the start of 2023 a consultant’s top tips for an MP-t0-be an overview of the trends in the European 100 leadership selection
This dashboard: contains an overview of the claims at a selection of courts in the UK. allows you to compare activity at the courts in Q2 2024 against Q2 2023.
This dashboard: contains an overview of the judgments at a selection of courts in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai during Q2of 2024. allows you to compare activity at the courts in Q2 2024 against Q1 2023.
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Over the last decade, the UK’s Top 50 firms have trialled a variety of tactics to satisfy an incessant demand for revenue growth. Consolidation has been a feature of the decade, with ‘critical mass’ becoming a key term used by managing partners as they push forward their growth agendas. Internationalisation too is a hallmark of […]
A&O Shearman is looking to cut 10 per cent of its global partnership, but it’s doing so in a year in which its London recruitment team has been at its busiest. The firm has hired eight lateral partners in the City so far this year and last week’s announcement of “planned business changes” does little […]
Before financials season got fully underway, The Lawyer took a look at the firms most likely to hit the milestones of £2bn, £1bn and £500m. There were not many, highlighting the challenge for firms to grow bigger and profitably. Of the seven likelies, just two definitely managed it – Linklaters and Bird & Bird – […]
For years, particularly since 2016 and the vote for Brexit, much has been written about the odds of London’s decline as a world financial hub. Most of it has focused on deal and investment activity. But there’s another metric, one that amply underlines the sheer pulling power of the City and suggests that far from […]
“I’ve seen the future, and it’s porn, sharks and Nazis.” Twitter hadn’t even been founded at the time, but the above quote from the niche 2005 sitcom Bromwell High turned out to be unintendedly prophetic when considering the journey of one of the planet’s largest social media companies. Once ‘the world’s town square’, Twitter, latterly […]
A senior tax partner from Travers Smith is set to join Latham & Watkins’ practice after 18 years at the UK firm. Simon Skinner, who had been at Travers since 2006 and is a former head of the firm’s tax practice, joins the US firm’s London office with a background in corporate finance, PE and […]
Two firms in The Lawyer’s UK top 50 managed to increase revenue by more than 20 per cent over 2023/24, highlighting a buoyant year across the legal industry. Kennedys’ turnover rose by 22.5 per cent from £313.6m to £384.3m, while Burges Salmon, this year’s fastest-growing top 50 firm, saw its total revenue balloon by 27.1 per cent […]
Dickson Minto has made a rare dip into the recruitment market with the appointment of a real estate partner from Walker Morris. The former group head of Leeds-based Walker Morris’ real estate practice Jeremy Moore has joined Scotland’s Dickson Minto as a partner with immediate effect. Moore will be based out of Dickson Minto’s London […]
Womble Bond Dickinson is preparing to expand significantly in the US, with a merger confirmed with Phoenix firm Lewis Roca. The geography-driven deal, which aims to plug several strategic gaps in the larger firm’s office network, is set to go live at the start of next year. The merged firm will be known as Womble […]
After months of negotiations, The Spectator Magazine has been sold to hedge fund tycoon Paul Marshall, with four firms in action. White & Case led for Marshall and Old Queen Street Ventures (OQS Media) on the acquisition. The acquisition follows a receivership process undertaken last year by Lloyds Banking Group and the acquisition of a […]