After several months of negotiations, the proposed tie-up between Womble Bond Dickinson and BDB Pitmans will not be going ahead. Negotiations between the pair started last October over a tie-up that would have created a £440m revenue firm. Neither firm was a stranger to a merger. Bond Dickinson – itself a combination of Dickinson Dees […]
DLA Piper has been deploying stealth tactics to bolster its real estate team
DAC Beachcroft has expanded into Italy by opening two new offices in Milan and Rome. The venture is fully operative as of today (1 February 2023) and the firm has swiped an insurance team from Milan-headquartered Advant NCTM to kick things off. Partners Anthony Perotto, Guido Foglia and Michele Zucca have taken the leap and […]
Following in the footsteps of Ashurst last year, Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) has hired two lawyers to kickstart its operations in South Korea. WFW has recruited K&L Gates partner Eugene Chang, as well as Herbert Smith Freehills associate Philip Kim, who joins as a partner. Kim arrived at WFW in November in anticipation of […]
Paperchase has been sold to Tesco after several years of restructuring arrangements in an attempt to save the company. Pinsent Masons was the firm that advised Begbies Traynor as the stationery store’s administrators. City partner Steven Cottee led for the firm. Shoosmiths also picked up the lead role for Tesco as it agreed to buy […]
A High Court judge has expressed concern over Withers’ and Gowling’s “extreme looking” fees in an £8m litigation relating to a corporation and property dispute. Mr Justice Jones said that “from experience of such cases”, his “initial impression” was that he had anticipated budgets in the region of £350,000 to £600,000. The dispute is brought […]
“Was 2022 a good year for the banks in the UK, or a bad one?” The quintessentially lawyer’s answer is that it depends on the viewpoint from which one surveys the landscape of banking and financial services. Viewed from afar, it could be said that things looked grim for the banks, with little encouraging visible […]
In January 2016, The Lawyer embarked on a new project. We found five fresh-faced young newly-qualified solicitors and decided to follow them in their careers. Seven years on, we are revisiting them to find out how they are doing. Five is an admittedly small sample size, but their fates to date make for interesting reading. […]
The Lawyer revealed its Top 20 cases for 2023 this month. In honour of this flagship annual feature, we asked litigators across the hottest practice areas to reveal which cases and appeals they’re keeping an eye on this year, and why. Here’s what they had to say. Banking: Helen Carty, head of the London litigation […]
Five years ago, The Lawyer revealed that the youngest partnership within the top 100 UK firms was Travers Smith. A key reason behind this was that Travers’ partnership tends to comprise firm lifers with a typically quick trajectory to the top. The firm’s outgoing private equity head Ian Shawyer, for instance, made partner nine years […]
Leeds has become an unlikely linchpin of the transatlantic firm’s client offering.
Travers Smith has taken another hit in the City of London, losing its head of M&A tax to White & Case. Jessica Kemp joins White & Case’s tax practice, having spent the last 15 years at Travers Smith. She was given the nod to partner in 2015 and was promoted to head of M&A tax […]
Many partners’ tax bills will almost double in 2025.
Following the launch of the Hot 100 last week, The Lawyer’s editor Catrin Griffiths sits down with new Hot 100 member Banke Odunaike from CBRE to discuss her career, the nuances of being a role model and what her son made of her inclusion. The Six Nations rugby kicks off this weekend as a storm of […]
The Lawyer Podcast is back for 2023. In the first episode of the year, The Lawyer’s editor Catrin Griffiths and litigation editor Christian Smith are joined by deputy editor (City) Rachel Moloney to discuss all the rumours surrounding Hogan Lovells’ merger talks with Shearman & Sterling. We also speak to Hill Dickinson partner Jessica Neary […]
‘Tis the season to be jolly, so for the last episode of The Lawyer Podcast for 2022, editor Catrin Griffiths and litigation editor Christian Smith are getting into the Christmas spirit with the dulcet tones of the best law firm choirs the City has to offer. But first, can lawyers actually switch off at Christmas? […]
We’re back with the latest episode of The Lawyer podcast. This week, has the music stopped for leveraged finance? Deputy editor Rachel Moloney joins editor Catrin Griffiths to assess what the recession is doing to all those expensive hires. Litigation editor Christian Smith talks about lawyers’ obligations and the SRA’s new guidance on SLAPPs – […]
NHS Commercial Solutions is continuing to streamline its legal services framework, appointing 18 firms to its latest roster. Bevan Brittan, Clyde & Co, DAC Beachcroft, Hill Dickinson and Trowers & Hamlins have all been reappointed to the procurement organisation’s panel, while Ashfords, TLT, Weightmans and Womble Bond Dickinson have been newly appointed. Elsewhere, Addleshaw Goddard, […]
Royal London has hired AXA’s UK group regulatory and compliance director as its new general counsel (GC). Julie Whitehead has made the move after 17 years with AXA, beginning her career at the insurance giant in 2005 as senior counsel. In total, Whitehead brings with her 25 years of financial services experience, having previously worked […]
The legal services framework for Local Government Pension Services (LGPS) has finalised its new panel, with 12 law firms having been appointed. The firms that have made the cut are: Addleshaw Goddard, Anthony Collins Solicitors, Brodies, Burges Salmon, Burness Paull, Cleveland & Co, Eversheds Sutherland, Freeths, Gowling WLG, Osborne Clarke, Pinsent Masons and Squire Patton […]
Pinsent Masons has hired its inaugural general counsel, with ex-Dentons partner Andrew Cheung taking the role. The firm kickstarted its search in April, on the back of the retirement of its director of risk and compliance Chris Andrews. Cheung was educated at the University of Western Australia and spent a number of years at Maxim […]
Libel case between Leave.EU co-founder and Observer journalist heads to Court of Appeal Heading to the Court of Appeal for a one-day hearing tomorrow (7 February) is the dispute between British businessman and co-founder of the Leave.EU campaign Arron Banks against Observer journalist Carole Cadwalladr. The original case saw Banks sue Cadwalladr for a statement […]
This week has seen Russian oligarchs receive bad news on the validity of old debts, while a Mishcon de Reya client accused of perpetrating sex trafficking and prostitution was refused an application at the High Court to bring defamation proceedings against the BBC. Sanctioned Russian oligarchs still liable for litigation brought pre-invasion Mrs Justice Cockerill […]
Good morning, welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing. You got through January, congratulations. But are you about to be laid off? In this week’s edition, we look at what’s going on in the world of employment law as recession clouds swirl. Plus, there’s a little Easter Egg from the past 10 years of […]
British businessman and co-founder of the Leave.EU campaign, Arron Banks, has changed his counsel ahead of his appeal hearing against Observer journalist, Carole Cadwalladr. The Lawyer understands that Banks and Kingsley Napley parted ways in November 2022, and now all legal counsel has changed. Originally, Kingsley Napley’s Susan Thackeray was the leading partner on the case, […]
Independents The Lawyer’s last part of the UK 200 – The Independents – which focuses on the firms in the lower half of the UK 200 is out now! The Independents account for just 6 per cent of the total UK 200 revenue and we talk about some of the pressures that The Independents are facing […]
Here’s a rundown by litigation reporters Annabel Tinson and Maria Ward-Brennan on the new weekly content on The Lawyer’s Litigation Tracker, which started in October 2022. As Litigation Tracker subscribers already know, on Monday, In court this week comes out, which details some of the most interesting cases hitting the courts that week. On Wednesday, Claim Spotter is released, which looks […]
China top 30 The China Top 30 features the ranking of the top 30 firms based on revenue, and in-depth analysis of financial performance, headcount and growth. The report highlights that despite an extraordinary 2021, the China top 30 are bracing for 2022 to be their first year of downturn after three decades of growth. […]
Nordics This specialised report focuses on the 27 firms based in the Nordic region that feature in the European 100 ranking for 2022. The report offers a deep-dive into the Nordic legal market, analysing key metrics across the four jurisdictions, and current trends, opportunities and challenges. Read more and interact with the data here. European 100 […]
Cybersecurity In this month’s City Signal report, we take a look at cybersecurity, one of the fastest growing challenges and opportunities big law firms are facing today. Every year, The Lawyer asks firms about the biggest risks they face. This year, Cybersecurity was a clear number one, with over 63 per cent of respondents being either extremely […]
The Lawyer’s annual Global Litigation 50 report provides analysis on the top 50 disputes practices around the world, ranked by revenue. Our analysis shows that the 2021/22 financial year, on which the report is focused, was strong for the global disputes market despite the issues brought by the pandemic and the buoyancy of the transactional market. Read the full report here and view […]
“In my early career, I really thought my fear of public speaking would be a roadblock on my career but I have tried to take the bull by the horns.”
“My dad would always say when I was writing anything, even a thank you letter: “Check once and then check again.” I think that advice is more relevant than ever, now with email prompting swift responses.”
The Hot 100 2023 will be out soon. In anticipation we asked last year’s Hotties for the best piece of career advice they’d every received. Here are some of their responses…
There are few politicians who have been such a so impactful as Volodymyr Zelensky in recent times. A year ago, few outside of Ukraine knew the name. Twelve months later, many voters around the world wish they had leaders as inspiring as Time’s person of the year for 2022. As the Ukraine war nears a year […]
