A 10-day trial is expected in a convoluted case concerning Pinsent Masons and a group of former clients, with the firm facing allegations of negligence. Sergiu Savocikin and Rita Savocikina are both listed as defendants in one strand of the High Court dispute, with the main set of proceedings triggered by Pinsents’ attempt to recoup […]
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) is targeting higher profitability with more thorough assessments of performance and practice targets in coming months, The Lawyer has learned. The firm is to carry out regular analysis around performance and profit margin targets set out by its heads of practices when it comes to client work. The goal is to […]
Latham & Watkins has signed up for a pre-let of its next London office, over a year after The Lawyer first reported on the US firm’s search of the development. The US firm has agreed for a minimum of 200,000sq ft of space at 1 Leadenhall from early 2026. In 2019, The Lawyer reported that […]
Hong Kong-headquartered conglomerate CK Hutchison has expanded its group general counsel ranks with the appointment of Clifford Chance corporate partner Frank Yuen. Yuen has joined CK Hutchison Holdings as a group general counsel and head of compliance, which is a newly-created role. He will work alongside head group general counsel Valentine Tsang and a number […]
A 10-day trial is expected in a convoluted case concerning Pinsent Masons and a group of former clients, with the firm facing allegations of negligence. Sergiu Savocikin and Rita Savocikina are both listed as defendants in one strand of the High Court dispute, with the main set of proceedings triggered by Pinsents’ attempt to recoup […]
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) is targeting higher profitability with more thorough assessments of performance and practice targets in coming months, The Lawyer has learned. The firm is to carry out regular analysis around performance and profit margin targets set out by its heads of practices when it comes to client work. The goal is to […]
Latham & Watkins has signed up for a pre-let of its next London office, over a year after The Lawyer first reported on the US firm’s search of the development. The US firm has agreed for a minimum of 200,000sq ft of space at 1 Leadenhall from early 2026. In 2019, The Lawyer reported that […]
Hong Kong-headquartered conglomerate CK Hutchison has expanded its group general counsel ranks with the appointment of Clifford Chance corporate partner Frank Yuen. Yuen has joined CK Hutchison Holdings as a group general counsel and head of compliance, which is a newly-created role. He will work alongside head group general counsel Valentine Tsang and a number […]
Mayer Brown is the latest firm to rethink its strategy in South East Asia, with its lead partner in Thailand joining a rival US outfit in the country. Local partner in charge Maythawee Sarathai has joined Hunton Andrews Kurth, as Mayer Brown closed its Bangkok operations. The Bangkok office was acquired by Mayer Brown following […]
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Gowling WLG and Norton Rose Fulbright’s London offices will all be under water in a few decades. This trio shares idyllic views overlooking the Thames, but they will all be submerged in the river by the year 2100 as climate change-induced sea level rises occur. And this is based on the […]
Talent churn is accelerating among the junior ranks with today’s associates more mobile than the generations before them. The concept of long-term professional loyalty is fading as Gen Z rises. These lawyers ask not what they can do for you, but what your firm can do for them. This generational shift in working attitudes is […]
Hooray, big-ticket M&A is having a mini-revival and so are the firms that make so much of their money out of it. Already in 2024, major European M&A deals to have been announced include International Paper’s £5.8bn planned acquisition of London-listed packaging company DS Smith, which trumped another offer from rival Mondi. Other significant matters […]
On Tuesday last week (9 April), the SRA sought to quell a rising tide of discontent around the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). In its most recent SQE annual report, SRA chief executive Paul Philip said the public and profession could have “confidence” in this “rigorous assessment”. That confidence was short-lived. Yesterday (15 April), Philip was […]
For one firm, the pan-Nordic dream is dead. For another, it’s just begun. Hannes Snellman’s announcement that its Stockholm and Helsinki offices will be going their separate ways later this year represented the end of a strategic gamble that started 16 years ago. Back then, its leadership bet that opening in Stockholm (2008) and Copenhagen […]
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has made up 23 lawyers to partner globally in its smallest round for three years. Last year, the magic circle promoted 30 to partnership worldwide, with 27 making the grade in 2022. There were 22 elevations in 2021. As a result, the London set is also slightly smaller than in previous years. […]
The Lawyer‘s Christian Smith, Catrin Griffiths, Richard Simmons, Katy Dowell and Charlotte Lear are joined by College of Legal Practice CEO Giles Proctor for this emergency episode of The Lawyer Podcast as they discuss the latest Solicitors Qualification Exam debacle: marking errors that led to 175 students being incorrectly told they had failed. What went […]
Fieldfisher is bolstering its German presence with a sizeable team from local firm SKW Schwartz and a handful of other hires, in an effort to expand its media, technology and IP offerings. The firm has hired eight lawyers from SKW Schwarz including partners Martin Diesbach, Elisabeth Noltenius and Julia Schafdecker, all of whom specialise in […]
Debevoise & Plimpton is hiring from Goodwin Procter as it adds a new partner to its London investment funds team. Shawn D’Aguiar is switching to a new US firm in London eight years after joining Goodwin from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM). He was part of a four-partner team move led by then funds head Michael […]
Barclays lost 44 lawyers in its legal team over 2023, almost four times the average number of leavers across the UK’s top banks. The banks with the second highest number of leavers is tied between HSBC and NatWest, with 12 lawyer exits each, according to indicative data. On the other end of the scale, Royal […]
