Sidley Austin Brown & Wood has raided Hogan & Hartson’s Brussel’s office to launch a practice of its own. New York-based Sidley has hired the head of Hogan & Hartson’s Brussels trade practice, Richard Weiner, and Belgian qualified Laurent Reussmann, who will join as a partner. In addition, Sidley is relocating Maurits Lugard from the […]
Simmons & Simmons litigation partner Jane Howard is leaving the firm to join Reynolds Porter Chamberlain. Howard has specialised in professional liability at Simmons. She will pursue this further at Reynolds Porter, which is highly ranked for this type of work. Simmons senior partner Janet Gaymer said Howard’s decision was an understandable career move.
Osborne Clarke is losing its four Frankfurt partners to Taylor Wessing, forcing it to close the office after just two-and-a-half years. This is the second time the firm has lost its presence in the Frankfurt market. All of the partners were previously at Coudert Schürmann and covered corporate finance, private equity, banking and the financial […]
Simmons & Simmons’ Italian rainmaker Bruno Gattai has resigned from the firm and is expected to launch a practice for US firm Dewey Ballantine. Simmons’ senior partner Janet Gaymer said that Gattai had told partners some time ago that he was reconsidering his future with the firm, before finally resigning this week. “This has not […]
Patent and trademark attorneys Marks & Clerk has announced a triple merger with firms in London, Liverpool and St Albans. The UK’s largest patent and trademark firm has added 12 partners and 52 other personnel from Edward Evans Barker in London, Roystons in Liverpool and Sommerville & Rushton in St Albans. This expansion brings the […]
Former Coopers & Lybrand deputy chairman Richard Stone has joined Simmons & Simmons as a non-executive director on the board. He became deputy chairman of Coopers & Lybrand in 1995 and, after the 1998 merger with PriceWaterhouse, became a member of the global board of PricewaterhouseCoopers until December 2000. He is now a non-executive director […]
The coroner’s inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly was adjourned last week (13 August) by Lord Falconer until the end of the Hutton inquiry. This is despite requests by Kelly’s family that a burial order be made as soon as possible. Sir Louis Blom Cooper QC of Doughty Street Chambers, who has chaired […]
Former Dorsey & Whitney competition partner Pierre Bos has found a new home at Dutch firm Barents & Krans. Bos and fellow competition partner Maurice Byrne were the two partners who suffered when the US firm closed its Brussels office earlier this year. Prior to his time at Dorsey, Bos was head of the competition […]
The 15 local authorities in Southampton and the Isle of Wight have entered into a unique agreement to share legal staff. The scheme allows lawyers to be seconded to other authorities with a gap in expertise or to provide extra resource. The current head of the scheme is Grainne O’Rourke, the head of legal at […]
Westminster’s Bircham Dyson Bell has promoted partner Jesper Christensen as the head of the employment law group. Christensen, who joined Birchams in 1996 as a trainee, said: “I’m very pleased with my new role as head of the employment law group. It fulfills my ambition to play a leading role in promoting the firm’s employment […]
If you thought alternative fee arrangements were a thing of the past, think again. Jon Robins reports on a number of innovative schemes that challenge the concept of the hourly rate Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Equity-for-fees deals have all but been written off and buried, alongside all those other failed dreams of the doomed […]
Morgan Cole is set to downsize its London presence. The firm is understood to be planning to leave its Fleet Street office, where its lease is close to expiry, and has been investigating taking a floor in a Clerkenwell development. The firm vowed to finally crack the London market in February this year, but has […]