16 April 2007

DLA Piper swoops for Bingham hedge funds star

DLA Piper has poached Bingham McCutcheon banking and finance partner Sarah Coucher, marking the latest in a line of departures from the latter’s London finance practice. With experience in the hedge fund, distressed debt and special situations arenas, Coucher will join DLA Piper’s 10-strong London restructuring team to beef up its hedge fund expertise. DLA […]

Nats GC moves to LDA

The London Development Agency (LDA) has appointed a new general counsel from the National Air Traffic Services (Nats).

Lincolnshire’s finest win year-end honours

The first firm to publish its figures in this year’s financial reporting season has claimed a record turnover increase for 2006-07. Fee income at Lincolnshire firm Wilkin Chapman was up more than 13 per cent, taking turnover to above £11m. The firm saw particular growth in its debt recovery department and a successful marketing campaign […]

Government set to endure BAE judicial review

A judicial review of the Government’s decision to abandon a corruption investigation into BAE Systems could be launched, with full grounds to do so lodged yesterday. The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) and social justice movement The Corner House are seeking the review after the Government terminated the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation in December […]

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Lord Lofthouse pans SRA for lame approach to coalminers scandal

Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract has launched a scathing attack on the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) over its conduct when dealing with law firms that have profited unduly from the plight of sick coalminers. In his preliminary report into the conduct of solicitors handling miners’ claims, Lofthouse alleged that the Law Society, now the SRA, instead […]

Shearman projects star defects to Baker Botts

Shearman & Sterling’s London-based projects partner Nigel Thompson has left the firm for Baker Botts’ Dubai office, The Lawyer can reveal. Thompson, who has been a partner at Shearman since 2000, has already departed the US-headquartered firm, leaving just three partners dedicated to projects in London, including local managing partner Kenneth MacRitchie. By comparison, Thompson’s […]

McGrigors boosts turnover by a quarter

McGrigors has posted half-year results that reveal a 25 per cent growth in fee income compared with the same period last year. The results coincide with an increase in merger-related market rumours surrounding the Scottish-headquartered firm. Turnover at McGrigors grew to £29.6m for the first six months, a figure that, if matched in the second […]

Better late than never for Freshfields’ finance team

Like buses, promotions tend to all come at once. But never one to shy away from controversy, Freshfields bucked the trend by deciding to announce two promotions two weeks after the other 22. See story.

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Linklaters to escalate associate salary war

Linklatersis expected to heat up the pay war with an increase in its associate salaries of around 16 per cent, which is higher than its magic circle rivals’. No formal announcement has yet been made, but Linklaters is expected to boost its salaries for associates with one year PQE by 14 per cent to £69,000, […]

London bags two as Dundas promotes six

Scottish firm Dundas & Wilson has promoted six senior associates to the partnership. Four of these are based in Scotland, and two in London. In Glasgow the new partners are IP lawyer Carina Healey, who leads Dundas’s life sciences team; Claire Massie, who specialises in insolvency and turnaround; and real estate lawyer Darina Kerr. Planning […]

BAE admits using private eyes against CAAT

BAE Systems has admitted that it paid private investigators to gather information about a campaign group it is battling in court. The aerospace giant confessed that it paid £2,500 per month to LigneDeux Associates, a private investigation agency which passed information about Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) to BAE’s director of security, Mike McGinty. […]