Travers Smith’s former tax chief is to replace Chris Hale as senior partner from next year, becoming the firm’s first-ever female head. Kathleen Russ will take up her position from July 2019, replacing Hale, who has held the post since 2013. She was in charge of the firm’s tax department for a decade until January […]
Macfarlanes has overhauled its processes surrounding work allocation after lawyers informed management that the issue should be high up on the firm’s list of priorities. While firms such as Ashurst and CMS brought in external consultants to kickstart allocation pilot schemes, Macfarlanes is keeping it simple by appointing individual partners within individual practice areas to […]
Pinsent Masons will remain Eon’s sole UK legal provider until at least 2023 after the energy supplier renewed its five-year deal with the firm for a second time. This is the second prominent sole provider model that the firm has retained in 2018 following its March announcement that Balfour Beatty would be retaining its services […]
Linklaters, Slaughter and May and Davis Polk & Wardwell are among the legal advisers set to rake in more than $110m in fees after working on the bidding war for Irish drug maker Shire. Shire was eventually sold to Japanese company Takeda, although two of its approaches were rebuffed by shareholders before the eventual proposal, valued […]
One of Blackstone Chambers’ longest serving members will appear before a hearing later this week after allegations of sexual harassment led an inquiry to recommend his suspension from the House of Lords until 2022. Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC will attend a hearing at the House on Thursday (15 November), which will rule on whether […]
An announcement on Clifford Chance‘s next senior partner is expected this week as two of the frontrunners are understood to have dropped out of the running, leaving partners with an all-male trio to choose from. Of the three, corporate partners David Dunnigan and Katherine Coates have dropped out, having been outliers from the offset. The […]
White & Case is to round off 2018 with its second lateral hire from Weil Gotshal & Manges this year, taking on the firm’s London head of banking. The Lawyer can reveal that Mark Donald is joining White & Case as a partner, after six years at Weil. He joined following a spell of almost 15 […]
Shiseido Group’s general counsel Elaine Hutton has taken on a new role at San Francisco-headquartered e-cigarette company JUUL. Hutton is understood to be JUUL’s first European legal director in London and will act as the corporation’s associate general counsel. JUUL is a spin-off from Pax Labs, which started in 2017. It currently has more than half of […]
Ince & Co offshore energy duo Renaud Barbier-Emery and Jonathan Goldfarb have become the latest partners to leave the firm as it prepares for its reverse takeover by AIM-listed Gordon Dadds. The pair are joining Norwegian firm Wikborg Rein’s London office as partners. They will be joined by several members of junior legal staff who […]
Partners from legacy Ince & Co are facing a 12-month lock-in period following the conclusion of the deal that saw it merge with Gordon Dadds, The Lawyer understands. As part of the deal, partners are thought to have agreed to a ‘black-box’ remuneration system which will see them each negotiate individual deals with the new listed […]
Slaughter and May is the latest firm to back a new “one-stop” tech solution for the legal industry, which has already attracted the likes of Clifford Chance and Latham & Watkins. The Lawyer has learned that Slaughters is joining a dozen other heavyweight firms in the support of a new start-up called Reynen Court, which aims to […]
Lloyds Banking Group general counsel Kate Cheetham has been handed responsibility for another side of the business, being put in charge of the company secretariat role alongside her existing legal position. Cheetham, who became group general counsel in May 2015, has taken on the company secretary role following the retirement of Malcolm Wood, who joined Lloyds […]
Partners at DLA Piper have three days left to put their names forward to run against Simon Levine in the managing partner elections.
The news that Ince & Co is in merger talks has been trailed for months, but most of the City chatter linked it to other EC3 firms.
Now Gordon Dadds is in the frame, the firm’s New Law mindset could be exactly what Ince needs.
Over the weekend, nearly two years of tussling for UK media giant Sky came to an end when Comcast’s £30bn bid trumped 21st Century Fox.
But while magic circle firms maintain only they can act on big-ticket M&A, the variety of advisers on call was striking. Here’s what we learned.
This month, a line-up of tech specialists will gather for The Lawyer’s Business Leadership Summit 2018, a one-day event focused on the future of law firms in a tech-driven world. Among the panels hosted during the day, a discussion called “Skills of the future” will explore the abilities lawyers will need to thrive in a […]
The ENRC’s victory in the Court of Appeal was one of the most closely watched decisions in the legal community this decade.
When Latham & Watkins turned its attention to infrastructure private equity, the firm had two choices about how to fill the gap. The first was targeting Clifford Chance, the second was recruiting out of Allen & Overy. It decided to do both. Earlier this month, Latham pulled out all the stops by announcing it was […]
From shoring up the South African banking system to helping home buyers in Cambridgeshire, it’s been a busy year in finance.
Earlier this week, Mishcon became a public player in a toxic battle over anti-Semitism that is threatening to engulf the Labour Party.
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has arrived in London. The US firm revealed in June that it was to launch a office in the City to provide US access and support to UK-based technology and life sciences companies. It officially opened yesterday, based on Old Street in the heart of London’s technology community. The new shop will […]
“We want to be at the forefront of law firm tech innovation,” says Mishcon’s chief technology officer Nick West
It is a historical oddity of magic circle figures that there is always one firm that has an off year.
Back at Shearman, Ward McKimm will be reunited with his former client base – and with some old friends.
But much has changed in the seven years since he left Shearman & Sterling. Can the superstar partner replicate his past success, or is it true that you can never go back?
By Sonia Tolaney, Sandy Phipps CPR 31.22 provides that disclosed documents may be used only for the purpose of the proceedings in which they were disclosed without the consent of the disclosing party or the Court’s permission. It is well established that this rule, known as the collateral use prohibition, applies both to the disclosed documents themselves […]
By Klaas Wiersma Since the introduction of the WWZ (Work and Security Act) in 2015, we have received a new severance payment: the fair compensation. The Supreme Court made several judgments in 2017 and 2018, which makes it much clearer in which cases a fair compensation must be granted and how the level of fair compensation […]
By Ian J Gordon, Simon Davies, Chris Edwards-Earl The Barnardo’s scheme’s rules stated that uprating of benefits must be based on the “general index of retail prices or any replacement adopted by the trustees without prejudicing approval”. While the retail price index (RPI) continues to be published (i.e. not “replaced”), the Supreme Court found it is not open […]
By Robin Henry, Jean-Martin Louw In a highly critical Commercial Court judgment, Mr Justice Knowles has described two investment funds’ allegations of fraud against a forex trading firm as “an elaborate and expensive, unmeritorious attempt” to “throw off their responsibility onto the shoulders of the defendants”. Background The claimants’ business model was to offer investors equity in […]
By Nageena Khalique QC Coroner for the Birmingham Inquests (1974) v. Hambleton & Ors. [2018] EWCA Civ 2081 (judgment here). On the evening of 21 November 1974 two successive explosions tore through two busy city centre pubs in the heart of Birmingham. The bombings, thought to be perpetrated by the IRA, resulted in the largest […]
By Stuart McBride Read our updated A-Z of Employment Law, which sums up the latest developments to November 2018. This quarter’s edition includes: Brexit, the impact Employment contracts post Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive v Anderson UK Corporate Governance Code Criminal record checks and barring CEO and ethnicity pay-gap reporting
By Ralph Hindle The construction industry has been given another judgment on adjudication when there is no pay less notice. The Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment in S&T (UK) Limited v Grove Developments Limited [2018] EWHC 123 (TCC), which is the appeal of Mr Justice Coulson’s much remarked upon decision in the High Court.
By Sarah Moran The register of judgments is the sole place where the following judgments are recorded, and the register includes: County Court Judgments County Court Administration Orders Magistrates Court Fines CSA liability orders Tribunal Awards The detail held on the register include the name, address and date of the judgment along with the name […]
By Sarah Moran When you buy a second-hand car from a dealership your rights as a consumer are covered under the Consumer Rights Act. The Consumer Rights Act means that as a buyer the goods you are buying should be satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. In the TV show The Sheriffs are Coming […]
By Dominic Cole The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have opened a consultation into the ability for holiday lets to register for business rates, rather than Council Tax which has allowed over 45,000 properties to qualify for small business rate relief and therefore escape a charge completely. Properties are valued for business rates when […]
By Imogen Jones The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), in collaboration with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have recently published a new guide to outline the advertising rules which apply to social media ‘influencers’. This came following their investigation into social media advertising in August 2018, after concerns that celebrities and social media ‘influencers’ do not […]
By Aidan Grant The Government has announced that, from the end of November, executors will no longer need to formally swear an oath before receiving the grant of probate – instead they will be able to make a ‘digital’ statement of truth. This move by the Government will be a welcome relief for executors nationwide, as […]
