The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has rejigged its legal team as part of a wider restructuring. The changes follow James Darbyshire’s appointment as chief counsel in September, having initially taken on the role on an interim basis in April. At the time, a chief counsel team was created, which merged together legal and recoveries, company […]
Research carried out by The Lawyer suggests that the overwhelming majority of the UK’s second 100 law firms took advantage of the UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme during the first wave of lockdown this year. Every one of the 39 firms interviewed for the UK 200: The Independents report had used the furlough scheme […]
Linklaters is acting for Caffè Nero on the launch of its company voluntary arrangement (CVA). The coffee house chain has become the latest high-profile business casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic and has appointed KPMG as administrators. Linklaters restructuring and insolvency partner Richard Hodgson is leading for Caffè Nero, alongside managing associate Damien Gomez. The chain […]
Law firms can play a pivotal and rewarding role in helping clients achieve sustainable business transformation, but many are at a loss with where to start. Below are six ways to approach this important task.
In a recent High Court case, a taxpayer (Sports Direct) tried to resist disclosing advice on a tax structure provided by Deloitte. Instead of legal advice privilege, Sports Direct tried to rely on litigation privilege, arguing that the structure had been in place for the purpose of responding to the anticipated threat of litigation from the tax authorities. Jonny Mitchell outlines the case.
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 hire of 11 lawyers from local firm SKW Schwartz, in an effort to expand its media, technology and IP offerings. The hire includes partners Martin Diesbach, Gerd Hansen and Elisabeth Noltenius, joined by lawyer Julia Schafdecker, who specialise in media, entertainment and digital business. This will up […]
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 […]
CMS’s promotion numbers have ebbed slightly in its latest round seeing 10 elevated to the partnership in the UK and a total of 54 globally. In 2023, CMS promoted 65 lawyers to partner globally, with 16 of these in the UK, compared with 40 in mainland Europe. For this year the UK cohort is made […]
This report contains: an overview of the history of UK and US firm in Russia an analysis of the opportunities, challenges and litigation brought on by sanctions regimes a summary of the firms acting in Russian litigation in London
This report contains: an analysis of 15 UK firms’ cash flow management and lock-up trends over the past five years lock-up correlated with profitability to demonstrate the impact of strong financial management for firms’ bottom line details on the adoption of technology by firms to make their financial management more efficient
This report contains: an overview of the international strategies of the Iberian firms in The Lawyer‘s European 100 an analysis of the expansion strategies of Spanish and Portuguese-heritage firms in key jurisdictions outside of Iberia
This report contains: an analysis of the Scottish legal market as a whole, covering key locations and sectors the challenges and opportunities of doing business in the country analysis of the Scottish independent firms’ efficiency
This report contains: a look at the profitability and growth of Quinn Emanuel’s London office since its opening in 2008 an analysis of Quinn’s bench strength and how it weighs up against competitors an overview of Quinn’s practice in London
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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 […]
It seems that one of the chief attributes of managing partners is wild optimism. You can’t move for law firm leaders committing their firms to hardcore five-year targets – particularly in the upper mid-tier, where we’re hearing of plans to double or even triple revenues by the end of the decade. We’d like some of […]
What do Southend-on-Sea and Slough have in common? The answer is that they are the largest urban settlements in Britain without a UK200 law firm. The denizens of these benighted places have to make do without so much as a solitary capital markets lawyer to keep the wheels of commerce turning. Can you imagine? Perhaps […]
It’s new partner season for UK firms, when hundreds of happy associates are granted new status, obligations and bragging rights. Most firms lag behind Kirkland & Ellis, though, which made up 26 in London this year alone. Like the Roman Empire, Kirkland has always made generous grants of citizenship to expand its borders; the more […]
Another partner from Milbank’s financial restructuring team is set to leave the firm, this time joining Allen & Overy ahead of its merger with Shearman & Sterling. Karen McMaster is the latest partner loss from Milbank following last month’s news of a structured finance team led by partner John Goldfinch moving to Allen & Overy, soon […]
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has promoted 27 lawyers to partnership, with eight making the grade in London. This year’s cohort is smaller than last year, when 32 promotions were announced, but it brings the figure back in line with pre-pandemic rounds. Over half of this year’s cohort has been promoted in the UK and Australia, […]
Nearly 200 law students were incorrectly told they had failed their first set of Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) exams, in what the chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has called “the most serious operational mistake that we’ve made in the last two and half years.” Kaplan, the exam administrator for the SQE, has […]
Travers Smith is scouring the market for providers that will help it to replicate its employee electric car scheme for the firm’s partnership. In 2022, Travers became the latest firm to offer an electric car initiative for employees, which enabled interested staff to participate in a salary sacrifice scheme in order to lease an electric […]
As pass rates for the first stage of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) stagnate at a 52 per cent average for 2022/23, City firm recruiters and early careers leaders are voicing concerns about their future pipeline planning. Certainly, a consistent pass rate confirms the goals of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to create what it […]
