Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has made its first City partner hire in just over a year, bringing in Linklaters’ former head of global tax to its office. Yash Rupal will make the move to the US firm having been a partner at the magic circle firm since 1996. He represents a range of corporates, financial […]
Ocado has concluded a review of its main legal advisers, with firms including DWF and Slaughter and May making it onto the retailer’s roster. The review comes as the online retail company has decided not to appoint a formal panel. At the same time, the effort follows the striking, in February 2019, of a £750m-worth […]
A complaint against Dechert’s white-collar co-head, Neil Gerrard, has been filed to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. In documents seen by The Lawyer, Jordanian lawyer Karam Al Sadeq has filed the complaint, alleging that Gerrard conducted an interrogation unlawfully, while he was detained in inhumane conditions in Ras Al Khaimah. Sadeq is currently imprisoned in the emirate […]
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is to extend and refurbish its London office space, following a record 2019 in revenues in the City. The US firm has taken on an extra floor in its CityPoint home and has started its refurbishment of all of its space, which will include the redoing of offices and a new […]
The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of Stewarts Law in a costs challenge brought by one of its former clients, who argued the firm’s rates for fee-earners were “excessive”. Kjerulf Ainsworth instructed Stewarts back in October 2017, bringing in the boutique after a breakdown in the relationship with his former partner, over which […]
A host of barristers’ chambers have been appointed to the City of London panel, including Cornerstone, Doughty Street and Garden Court. A total of 47 contracts have been awarded across eight areas, including planning, property, criminal and civil litigation– totalling £55m. Six contracts have been awarded to Cornerstone, with the public law set being appointed […]
Two partners are set to leave Mishcon de Reya for Greenberg Traurig, in a rare loss for the City firm. Partners Masoud Zabeti and Mohammed Khamisa QC have been hired by the London office of Greenberg. Zabeti has been a longtime partner at the UK firm, having led its finance and banking litigation practice for more […]
Linklaters has wrapped its first global crowdsourcing campaign, this time devoting £20,000 to the development of a new client tool designed by three of its associates. The campaign was first launched in late 2019, four months after the firm ran a similar effort that gathered 38 new ideas from its staff to improve delivery, technology […]
Sports Direct and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) are both seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court after judgment was handed down in a dispute over privilege. This case, which featured on The Lawyer’s Top 15 appeals for 2020, was the latest regulatory challenge on privilege and the first-ever proceedings brought by the FRC […]
Hogan Lovells is scanning the City to look for the “most sustainable building” in London, as it formalises aspects of its search for a new headquarters. With the lease ending in 2026, late last year the firm assembled a team of advisers that includes sustainability specialists tasked with ensuring the firm’s objectives are pursued during […]
Macfarlanes, Travers Smith and Clifford Chance have won mandates on the consolidation of two UK asset managers, Jupiter Fund Management and Merian Global Investors. Clifford Chance acted for the buyer Jupiter, which acquired Merian for some £390m, creating a retail funds manager with just over £60bn of assets under management. Corporate partner David Pudge led […]
Eversheds Sutherland has overhauled the innovation leadership of its firm following the departure of its head to a private equity firm late last year. Three months after its UK innovation chief Andrew McManus left to join private equity firm Bridgepoint, corporate partner Rachel Broquard has taken on a newly-created role as service excellence partner, with […]
It isn’t just the High Courts that are set for a busy year, with both the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court set to hear a range of cases, involving the likes of the Iranian Ministry of Defence, Secretary of State for the Home Department, Sports Direct and Mastercard. There’s plenty of work to go […]
The Lawyer’s annual synopsis of the cases to watch is here; featuring a Hollywood libel dispute, AI-related rows and a mammoth banking claim over forex.
Four joined, now two remain. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher stated boldly its UK corporate intentions in 2014 with the hire of an Ashurst corporate quartet, but just half of the group remain as partners. What next?
With Harry and Meghan announcing they will step back as senior royals and work to become financially independent, The Lawyer looks back at the royal family’s legal representation. Farrer & Co Farrer & Co has been the royal’s established advisers since the 1930s – Sir Leslie Farrer was the personal adviser to George VI and […]
For the regional mid-tier, the biggest issue is whether to stick or twist. Should they rely on income from their comfortable local market, or take that bet on the City? JMW, so long synonymous with its Manchester home, planted itself in London completely afresh earlier in the year, taking on 16 partners and with four […]
Fourteen GCs and senior counsel at a roundtable hosted by The Lawyer and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner discuss how the latest trends create challenges and opportunities for firms
There are few industries that are on the brink of a technological revolution as life sciences and health care. The possibilities that AI, nano-implants and new wearable software present are still only imaginable in futuristic TV programmes. Nevertheless, the tech revolution is already happening, and even if it doesn’t fall under the radar for the […]
There are five reasons why Mishcon is likely to opt for an IPO, and while it would certainly shift the firm away from its reliance on partner capital and bank debt, none of those reasons is actually about the availability of cash.
Acting for UK corporates is the biggest challenge for US outfits in the City, but for the meantime, they’re not breaking out of their lucrative PE bubble. This is in spite of firms such as White & Case and Latham & Watkins going out into the market and hiring big-name magic circle stars from public […]
As financial reporting season closes in, the magic circle will be hoping to surpass the elusive £2m barrier for average profit per equity partner (PEP). 2007 was the year that the magic circle cracked the elusive £1m mark in PEP. However, over a decade on and the quartet are still hunting down the next milestone […]
The stakes are high for ex-A&O partner Michael Castle, the man tasked with helping Deloitte make a big splash in an increasingly crowded market. Deloitte is late to the party, and arriving fashionably late can generate high expectations and interest.
There are eight firms in the running for this year’s Funds Team of the Year prize at The Lawyer Awards. Here are the deals that merited them a place on the shortlist.
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, […]