Was it the half-term effect? Last week saw a series of substantial judgments handed down. Clifford Chance, Brick Court, Wilberforce, RPC and Watson Farley & Williams all secured favourable decisions, while it was more a week to forget for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, DLA Piper, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Covington & Burling. This week […]
With the first half-term of the year already upon us, there comes the inevitable pause in the courts. Yet while the caseload has temporarily diminished, the intrigue involved in them has not. One of this year’s most complex and bizarre Top 20 cases of 2019 kicks off on Monday for a 12-week Commercial Court hearing. […]
As far as hearings to kick off a week go, Linklaters‘ injunction hearing against former global head of business development and marketing Frank Mellish is a juicy way to start. The Lawyer broke the news that the magic circle firm had gained a temporary injunction against Mellish’s threat of publishing documents he said would expose […]
With January now in the rear-view mirror, the courts are properly back in full swing with litigants ramping up their efforts significantly. This week sees a host of fascinating cases with an African nation suing one of the world’s largest investment banks and an enormous follow-on damages claim seeking to get off the ground. Russian […]
Was it the half-term effect? Last week saw a series of substantial judgments handed down. Clifford Chance, Brick Court, Wilberforce, RPC and Watson Farley & Williams all secured favourable decisions, while it was more a week to forget for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, DLA Piper, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Covington & Burling. This week […]
With the first half-term of the year already upon us, there comes the inevitable pause in the courts. Yet while the caseload has temporarily diminished, the intrigue involved in them has not. One of this year’s most complex and bizarre Top 20 cases of 2019 kicks off on Monday for a 12-week Commercial Court hearing. […]
As far as hearings to kick off a week go, Linklaters‘ injunction hearing against former global head of business development and marketing Frank Mellish is a juicy way to start. The Lawyer broke the news that the magic circle firm had gained a temporary injunction against Mellish’s threat of publishing documents he said would expose […]
With January now in the rear-view mirror, the courts are properly back in full swing with litigants ramping up their efforts significantly. This week sees a host of fascinating cases with an African nation suing one of the world’s largest investment banks and an enormous follow-on damages claim seeking to get off the ground. Russian […]
Just over six months into his new role as chair of the firm, Richard Trobman has rounded off a strong set of financial results for Latham & Watkins with double-digit revenue growth for 2018. Trobman took on the firm’s top job last summer following the departure from the role of Bill Voge, who was forced […]
The Higher Education sector is in big trouble. As we reported last month, universities are struggling to fill places on their undergraduate courses – not least for law degrees. Many are in financial distress. Tuition fees for home students have been capped at £9,250 since 2017 and are falling well behind what is profitable, but […]
Associate retention is one of the biggest bugbears for law firm leaders, as competitive salaries and the promise of greater opportunities lure rising stars away. Added to this, a firm’s biggest cost is its people, but that didn’t stop Freshfields last year pledging to up its trainee intake from 90 to 100 from 2025. Should […]
Of the UK Top 50 firms, just 16 have no overseas offices, and of the remaining 34, more than half (19) were bigger outside the UK last year. Internationalisation is a hallmark of a Top 50 firm, but for many it is the UK that keeps the investment pipelines pumped. For firms with international offices, […]
The upcoming UK200 has welcomed its sixth employee ownership trust (EOT) member. Altrincham’s Myerson Solicitors joins Yorkshire’s Ison Harrison and the West Midlands’ Talbots Law in embracing employee ownership, having converted from a limited liability partnership (LLP) to a 100 per cent employee-owned company last week. The EOT model allows all employees to take a […]
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 […]
Kennedys has appointed its first chief knowledge officer, who has moved across to the UK insurance firm from US powerhouse Paul Hastings. Having previously developed Paul Hastings knowledge management strategy at a global level, Catherine Goodman will now be in charge of heading Kennedys knowledge strategy. Goodman was director of innovation and knowledge management at […]
A solicitor has been fined by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) after appearing on an antisemitic TV show that “took the form of a wide-ranging attack” upon Mishcon de Reya. Mohammed Akunjee, who has over 30,000 followers on X, has been fined £6,500 and ordered to pay £30,000 in costs after appearing in a TV […]
The long-awaited showdown between the Premier League and Manchester City has kicked off at an arbitration centre in London. Lord Pannick KC of Blackstone Chambers was the first barrister to appear, representing Manchester City, accompanied by Blackstone Chambers senior clerk Gary Oliver. Serle Court’s Philip Marshall KC and James Mather, also acting for City, arrived […]
A managing director and deputy general counsel at HSBC has left the bank after over 10 years to join Citigroup UK. The new Citi recruit is Philip Jockelson, who was head of corporate and structuring legal for almost five years at HSBC. Prior to that he was interim company secretary for 10 months, and associate […]
Latham & Watkins has lost another member of its Continental European transactional team, with a leveraged finance partner joining A&O Shearman in Paris. Michel Houdayer has made the move to A&O Shearman today (16 September). He was a Latham lifer, having joined the firm in 2002 and spent almost a decade in the partnership having […]