Some might be surprised that it took this long, but the High Court is finally about to hear its first Twitter libel trial (see story). Not that Twitter’s first six years in operation have been short of legal scandal. Ryan Giggs found that his ’super injunction’ wasn’t worth toffee when Twitter user @injunctionsuper revealed him […]
A recent double merger added 10 to the partnership, replenishing the net losses of the past six years South-east firm Penningtons is in the middle of a transition period. At the start of the current financial year the firm merged with St Alban’s firm Wedlake Saint and Lincoln’s Inn firm Dawsons, picking up a total […]
As the downturn lingers, junior barristers are wary of outpricing their solicitor clients Back in the dark days of December 2008, five junior barristers arrived at court to argue the first case to consider the FSA’s client money rules, Re Global Trader Europe Ltd (in Liquidation) (2009). Fast forward to 2012 and on the very […]
For Esther Felton, head of legal at insurance company QBE European Operations, seismic regulatory and market changes are both a challenge and an opportunity Esther Felton QBE European Operations Title: QBE European Operations (EO) head of legalIndustry: Insurance Reporting to: Chief financial and chief operating officer David WinkettTurnover: QBE Insurance Group, £8.8bn to year-end 2010; […]
Freshfields has created yet another corporate management role Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s introduction of a London M&A head was met with an unanimous response: yet another management position for the Fleet Street firm? The role – shared by Simon Marchant and Ben Spiers – brings the number of London corporate partners with management roles to an […]
Can Toolkit for the professions break the ’who you know’ culture? As a talking point, social mobility within the legal profession has really hit its stride. In 2011 Allen & Overy senior partner David Morley’s equal opportunities initiative Prime won buy-in from 23 competitor firms, while in January 10 firms signed up to Deputy Prime […]
For a market that has experienced some of the worst of the global financial crisis – with Moody’s recently slashing its credit rating to A3 – there continues to be a surprising amount of interest in Spain from UK law firms. Way back in the 1980s and 1990s, many UK firms opened offices there. Clifford […]
Firm faces High Court questions after failing to disclose client details Addleshaw Goddard could be asked to explain to the High Court why it did not disclose full contact details for its client, Kazakh billionaire Mukhtar Ablyazov, following a court order earlier this month. The court gave the firm until 17 February to disclose “all […]
Move from core practice area matches competitors’ strategies Real estate teams are always going to take a hit at a time when fee pressure is at the core of firms’ problems, but Linklaters seems to have wielded the largest axe. Sources said the property team has been one of the big victims of the […]
During an autumn lunch with a magic circle managing partner I was party to a bit of a confession: aside from King & Wood, his knowledge of Chinese firms was seriously lacking. Chances are he was being a little disingenuous, but he had a point: when it comes to the Chinese legal market, ignorance, it […]
The value of a firm’s brand is tough to put a figure on, but a system used by other industries claims to be able to do just that. Now, get out your calculators. Punch in the revenue you expect your firm to bring in next year. Press the memory button, or if you are […]
More shipping companies are using US Chapter 11 filings, but the trend could run aground soon Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code has become the debtor-friendly bankruptcy regime of choice for international shipping companies in distress, whether or not they have a substantial connection with the US. The bankruptcy courts there have shown a […]