DWF has hired an insurance team from Keoghs to spearhead the opening of a new UK office. The firm has taken on 13 lawyers who will populate the firm’s eleventh outpost in the country, located in Southampton. Keoghs partners Rachel Coombs, Sarah Parker and Stuart Giddings join alongside ten other members of staff who specialise […]
Eversheds Sutherland has recruited a former Barclays director to map out a growth strategy for its banking practice and deepen the firm’s relationships in the industry, as financings driven by the pandemic are set to generate a new spate of work. Ian Tetsill will become head of the debt finance strategy within the firm’s banking and […]
Two former Linklaters and Simmons & Simmons lawyers, who banked $10m with the sale of their proofreading business, have launched another venture that has attracted a $1.2m investment from magic circle and US firms. Stephen Scanlan, formerly a supervising associate at Simmons & Simmons, and Travis Leon, a law school friend and then a corporate […]
As the election process at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer continues, candidates are starting to showcase their own campaigns, with a view to overhauling a central aspect of the firm’s remuneration structure. Asia managing partner Georgia Dawson, who has officially entered the race, is understood to have focused her campaign on changing the firm’s lockstep. The disputes […]
Brown Rudnick has hired yet another partner to its global restructuring team, with Tony Horspool set to join the US firm’s London ranks. Horspool will join up with Brown Rudnick’s corporate restructuring and special situations team in the capital, following the hire of Richard Obank and Colin Ashford who defected from DLA Piper at the […]
Weightmans has said it will pay its staff their full salary after making cuts earlier in the year, while also deciding to reinstate distributions from October. From June, the firm’s employees took, on average, an 11 per cent salary reduction, which Weightmans said would be reviewed at the end of October. From 1 September however, […]
The UK Government has introduced a raft of changes to the Employment Tribunal, in a bit to manage the case backlog caused by coronavirus. The changes, which have been brought by business minister Paul Scully, includes allowances for the judiciary to deploy non-employment judges into the tribunal. This change means that judges can act in […]
South-West firm Thrings has kicked off a redundancy consultation for around 20 roles and deferred the rent payment of two of its offices, part of an extensive set of measures implemented by the firm. The Bristol-headquartered outfit has taken the decision as it faces a fall across its financial metrics. Revenue in 2019/20 dropped 8 […]
Bird & Bird has seen its average profit per equity partner (PEP) drop in the financial year 2019/20. The UK firm’s PEP went down by 3 per cent from from £575,000 to £555,000, a metric that the firm had not previously reported as part of its financial results for 2019/20. It marked a fall for the […]
PwC Legal is looking to expand its lawyer headcount in regional offices as part of a project for the new financial year. The legal arm of the accountancy firm is eyeing growth for its professionals especially in its bases in Manchester and Birmingham, but expansion will equally be pursued in Leeds and Belfast. The project, […]
Mishcon de Reya has lost a member of its disputes team to Stephenson Harwood, in what is the City firm’s second departure this week. The departure of financial disputes partner Genevieve Quierin follows on from that of Ben Giaretta, who this week joined Fox Williams. Quierin has spent more than three years at Mishcon, where […]
Linklaters and Eversheds Sutherland have won the key advisory mandates on Next’s deal to resurrect Victoria’s Secret UK. Under the newly-formed joint venture Next will acquire a 51 per cent in the lingerie brand, ensuring that it will continue to have a high street presence. Eversheds has taken the lead for Next, led by co-chair […]
On a London map, the distance that separates 65 Fleet Street from 100 Bishopsgate amounts to almost three kilometres. But the path that led Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer from its longstanding institutional home to the shiny skyscraper feels much longer. The firm first signed a lease for the new building four years ago, marking a new […]
Adrienne Page QC has represented newspapers, politicians and barristers in the most sensitive of cases during a sterling 46-year career; however, life hasn’t been without its challenges for 5RB‘s libel doyenne. During her early years as a junior, Page struggled immensely with the stressful experience of going to court, at a time when anxiety in […]
One legacy of the coronavirus crisis and the resulting economic downturn is likely to be an upsurge in litigation, particularly around insurance and contract
From on-site track and trace systems to staggered work times, law firms across the UK are introducing an eclectic mix of measures to get people back into the office. But for regional firms, the task of returning poses a different challenge to that of the City players, given increased budget demands and the issue of […]
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced firms to examine whether their cash position is strong enough to withstand a sudden economic downturn. The Lawyer contacted the UK Top 50 firms to understand how firms are adjusting financial management in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this series, we reveal how the market is managing the ongoing […]
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced firms to examine whether their cash position is strong enough to withstand a sudden economic downturn. The Lawyer contacted the UK Top 50 firms to understand how firms are adjusting financial management in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this series, we reveal how the market is managing the ongoing […]
The first virtual roundtable of our In-house Financial Services event, discussing the challenges of conducting business at a distance and the implications for the sector’s in-house lawyers.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced firms to examine whether their cash position is strong enough to withstand a sudden economic downturn. The Lawyer contacted the UK Top 50 firms to understand how firms are adjusting financial management in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this series, we reveal how the market is managing the ongoing […]
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced firms to examine whether their cash position is strong enough to withstand a sudden economic downturn. The Lawyer contacted the UK Top 50 firms to understand how firms are adjusting financial management in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this series, we reveal how the market is managing the ongoing […]
Delegates discuss whether the acquisition finance space is converging or diverging
The coronavirus pandemic has forced firms to examine whether their cash position is strong enough to withstand a sudden economic downturn. The Lawyer contacted the UK Top 50 firms to understand how firms are adjusting financial management in response to the pandemic. In this series, we reveal how the market is managing the ongoing fallout. […]
No 5 Chambers has retained its lead at the top of The Lawyer’s Bar Top 30, an annual ranking charting the headcount growth of the profession’s largest sets.
The Government’s much anticipated response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation has finally been released but those seeking clarity at this stage may be left scratching their heads. It appears to represent no more than an indication of the Government’s direction of travel under considerable media pressure to ensure that “something must be done” […]
By Bernardine Adkins, Sean Giles In 2018, new measures were introduced to expand the scope of government intervention in mergers. This year, the government’s briefing note accompanying the Queen’s Speech proposes new rules on investment screening. What does this mean for business? Our experts examine the existing UK foreign direct investment rules, and explain what any […]
By Lee Perry Part 5 of the Environment Bill, contains a number of disparate proposals relating to water – which could have major implications for many. Senior associate Joanne Sear and solicitor Grace Mitchell take a look at some of the key points in the Bill. Water resources planning According to its explanatory notes, the […]
By David Perry The recent Government consultation on ending no fault terminations of residential tenancies, which will effectively abolish assured shorthold tenancies, came to a close on 12 October. Many people will be looking to see what, if anything, results from that process. As a generational change in residential letting, many stakeholder groups are likely […]
By Angus Evers, Peter Williams The government is consulting on a proposed future trajectory for the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) for commercial buildings. Its favoured approach is raising the minimum EPC rating to B by 2030. When proposals for MEES were first put forward in 2014, the minimum EPC rating that would permit a […]
By Serge Amar, Nicolas Dubé How does one reconcile the concept of equality of the parties before the court and the guiding principle of fair debate with a party’s statutory advantage of being able to obtain information and evidence from its opponent? Such was the question examined in Ville de Montréal c. Sanimax Lom inc., wherein the Superior Court had to […]
By James Webb Despite 2018 being a very tough year for many in the food and drink industry, according to research compiled by Grant Thornton, M&A and private equity deal activity in the sector remained steady with a fall of just 2.8% compared to 2017. This is supported by our experience during the period where […]
By Alan Corcoran, Charlotte Walker The closure of a school prior to its sale meant the use for which the land had originally been given had ceased and so the proceeds of sale did not belong to the local authority. This was the decision in Rittson-Thomas v Oxfordshire County Council, which concerned the redevelopment of a […]
Have you ever considered using fiduciary management services? Does your scheme have a fiduciary manager? Are you considering appointing or replacing a fiduciary manager? If so, you should already be considering the implications of the Competition and Markets Authority’s final report into the investment consultants market. The new requirements arise from concerns around the operation of the […]
By Trudy Feaster-Gee, Richard Jaques, Richard Butterworth The Competition and Markets Authority is due to begin an in-depth market investigation into the UK funeral sector in the New Year. This will involve a detailed review and scrutiny of the sector and include many of its key players. On 29 November 2018, the CMA announced in an interim report […]
By Simon Clark, Gawain Moore In Gertner v CFL Finance Ltd [2018] the Court of Appeal found that there had been a material irregularity at the creditors’ meeting convened to consider the debtor’s IVA proposals. The lender’s breach of the good faith principle between creditors was sufficient to revoke the IVA on grounds of material irregularity.
By Valentina Falicheva A notable trend since Bitcoin gained its popularity has been an incredible rise in the interest in the technology behind Bitcoin known as Blockchain, which is the “thing” which allows cryptocurrencies to function. Some statistics indicate that the global blockchain market is expected to be worth $20 billion in 2024! In this article, […]