The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has not raided a single property in the past financial year, according to statistics obtained by Pinsent Masons. In the 2011-12 financial year the SFO, which investigates and prosecutes fraud and corruption, failed to raid a single property – a conclusion reached by looking at the number of applications it […]
Rejig your firm’s pension scheme to ensure survival and gain structural benefits The implosion of US firm Dewey & LeBoeuf, blamed on a legacy of costly mergers and controversial bonus schemes, may not be a mirror image of practice in the wider UK legal market, but a growing number of firms are facing mounting financial […]
Deferred prosecution agreements, common in the US, could soon be a feature of UK litigation The latest figures suggest fraud and corruption costs the economy more than £70bn per year. Investigations and trials are expensive at a time when law enforcers have to slash budgets. Deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) are a pragmatic way of bringing […]
New rules governing China’s arbitration body should open it up to international parties Foreign parties have long viewed arbitration before the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (Cietac) with trepidation. One of the main reasons for this was the fact that Cietac’s rules – one of the defining characteristics of an arbitration service provider […]
The Beecroft report is not a dynamic list of recommendations to steer UK businesses to increased efficiency The new ‘furore’ over further leaks from the Beecroft Report that led to its release four days earlier than planned seems a little overblown. It is essentially the same report, completed in October 2011, a draft of which […]
Failed Innovator One claimants steeled for indemnity costs claim by Collyer Bristow Less than a year ago Collyer Bristow warned the High Court that it was on the brink of financial meltdown thanks to alleged negligence by its insurance broker Lockton International and, separately, the £50m Innovator One negligence claim it was fighting. The firm […]
Statistics show Korean legal spend is booming. So why are UK firms missing out? US law firms have been jostling to be the first to launch a Seoul office ever since the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (Korus FTA) of 2007. Since 6 March, the first day US firms and lawyers were able to file […]
Private eyes should be regulated, partners tell Commons committee The relationship between law firms and private investigators (PIs) came under scrutiny last week after the issue was initially raised in the Leveson Inquiry. Giving evidence before the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, Farrer & Co partner Julian Pike, Grosvenor Law partner Dan Morrison and […]
Specialist lawyers reject Beecroft ’sack on sight’ report, branding it unbalanced Such is the rate of employment law reform that the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) Annual Conference last week included a session called, ’What next – repeal Magna Carta?’ Employment lawyers are open-mouthed at the latest addition to the reform programme, venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft’s […]
Taylor Wessing has added Neale Downes to its global finance team as a partner in Dubai. Move of the week: He follows partners Elisabeth Gaunt from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Ross Caldwell from Dundas & Wilson, both London-based. Downes has left Trowers & Hamlins’ Bahrain office, where he was a partner and head of […]
The top associates are lining up for recognition at The Lawyer Awards 2012. We name the rising stars in the legal firmament In the five months since The Lawyer overhauled the design of its weekly print copy and introduced several new features to the magazine, we have been profiling a range of firms through the […]
Offshore is always a popular area, and never more so than in the current legal climate. “Offshore firms have consistently hired in the past 12 months across litigation, corporate, finance and funds,” comments James Franklin of Robert Walters. Although firms are recruiting for all kinds of experience, certain levels are particularly in demand right now, […]