Welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the UK litigation market. The vista of climate change litigation is back on the horizon after a blunt intervention by a former Supreme Court justice criticised the High Court this week. We also look at how RPC’s media team is building on […]
Four City firms are set to to defend clients in the ‘loyalty penalty’ class action filed last November in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) against Vodafone, EE, Three and O2. Former Citizens Advice executive Justin Gutmann, represented by Charles Lyndon, filed the £3bn claim, which alleges that the companies used their market dominance to overcharge […]
Kirkland leads in the battle of the smartphones US-based smartphone manufacturer Motorola filed a fresh patents claim against Swedish telecoms company Ericsson last Monday (12 February) as mobile phone disputes continue to dominate the patents space. Motorola is joined as a claimant by its parent company Lenovo, which have sought representation from Kirkland & Ellis. […]
A debarred defendant has offered to fund the ex-CEO of London Capital & Finance (LCF) Michael Thomson in one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases of 2024 as various asset freezing orders have left him struggling to pay his legal costs. The suit is between LCF and eight defendants allegedly involved in a “Ponzi scheme”, […]
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the UK litigation market. The vista of climate change litigation is back on the horizon after a blunt intervention by a former Supreme Court justice criticised the High Court this week. We also look at how RPC’s media team is building on […]
Four City firms are set to to defend clients in the ‘loyalty penalty’ class action filed last November in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) against Vodafone, EE, Three and O2. Former Citizens Advice executive Justin Gutmann, represented by Charles Lyndon, filed the £3bn claim, which alleges that the companies used their market dominance to overcharge […]
Kirkland leads in the battle of the smartphones US-based smartphone manufacturer Motorola filed a fresh patents claim against Swedish telecoms company Ericsson last Monday (12 February) as mobile phone disputes continue to dominate the patents space. Motorola is joined as a claimant by its parent company Lenovo, which have sought representation from Kirkland & Ellis. […]
A debarred defendant has offered to fund the ex-CEO of London Capital & Finance (LCF) Michael Thomson in one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases of 2024 as various asset freezing orders have left him struggling to pay his legal costs. The suit is between LCF and eight defendants allegedly involved in a “Ponzi scheme”, […]
Top 20 London Capital & Finance case kicks off After a three-week delay, another of The Lawyer’s top 20 cases of 2024 is finally going to court today (19 February). The administrators of London Capital & Finance (LCF) are taking eight defendants, including former executives, to what is due to be a 20-week-long trial. An […]
We’re all watching eagerly for the changes coming at Allen & Overy on 1 May as its merger with Shearman & Sterling finally goes live. But Addleshaws has its own significant change that day. Next Wednesday, Andrew Johnston will officially kick off his tenure as managing partner with longstanding incumbent John Joyce stepping aside. Addleshaws […]
There’s no doubt that firms are using non-UK growth to power their global figures. Of the 35 Top 50 firms for which The Lawyer has historical global revenue data, all but four saw higher growth outside the UK in the five years since 2019. Included in this group is Herbert Smith Freehillls (HSF), where London remains […]
Which law firms are private equity houses looking to invest in? The answer, if the conversations we’re having with managing partners are anything to go by, is ‘pretty much all of them’. Most regional firms of note have had speculative approaches at some time in the last five years or so, as private equity gradually […]
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 […]
White & Case has hired a partner from Linklaters’ corporate practice in the latest move from the magic circle firm. Savi Hebbur joins White & Case’s London office. He acts on M&A deals and is also set to expand the firm’s India country practice. White & Case global M&A head John Reiss said: “Indian companies remain […]
On Monday, an explosive trial between IBM UK and Swiss software developer LzLabs is set to commence for nine weeks, with Quinn Emanuel and Clifford Chance going head-to-head for their respective clients. Quinn Emanuel-backed IBM brought the lawsuit in 2021, alleging it is “inconceivable” that LzLabs could have developed its rival technology – which can […]
Northern firm Ward Hadaway is actively exploring mergers and expansion opportunities in England as it targets £100m revenue by 2034. The firm generated approximately £48m in the 2023/24 financial year, which means it is looking to grow approximately 100 per cent within a decade. A shorter term target of reaching £75m by 2029 has also […]
Linklaters and Slaughter and May are leading on BHP’s mega-offer for rival mining company Anglo American. It emerged this morning that Australian giant BHP had put forward an unsolicited proposal to Anglo American If the deal went ahead, it would be valued at around £31bn. Linklaters is on call for Anglo American as it discusses […]
The ex-general counsel of Haleon has announced that he has joined energy and chemicals business Aramco, which is based in Saudi Arabia. Bjarne Tellman was hired by GSK four years ago to prepare the company for the creation of Haleon, one of the UK’s largest corporate demergers in 20 years. The purpose of the demerger […]
