Taylor Wessing is to open an office in Dublin, as a swathe of firms expand their footprint in the region. The expansion into Dublin comes after the completion of the Brexit transition period. It is understood the motive was a request from a client in the US for support as they wished to establish operations […]
Goodwin has recruited a former White & Case partner to bolster its burgeoning City litigation practice, the latest component of its lateral hiring push. The US firm has added Hannah Field-Lowes, who left White & Case at the end of last year. In mid-May, Field-Lowes will join the firm’s London disputes team, which was launched […]
Secure Trust Bank has appointed Simmons & Simmons veteran Charles Mayo as its new general counsel. Mayo joins the listed retail bank after nearly three decades at Simmons, where he served as a corporate partner until 2020 and then as a senior adviser until March this year. During his time at the firm, he specialised […]
Simmons & Simmons has crowned its next senior partner, who will follow in the footsteps of outgoing leader Colin Passmore. The role will go to employment partner Julian Taylor, who will take on the post on 31 July 2021. Passmore will step down after 35 years the firm, with the last decade spent as senior […]
Linklaters has promoted 35 lawyers to its partnership, including 13 in London. The number of elevations is its highest since 2019, when the firm made up 33 lawyers to partner in its biggest round since the recession. The magic circle firm promoted 38 lawyers in 2007. Starting from May 2021, the firm will see the […]
Hogan Lovells is the latest firm to announce firmwide special bonuses to staff, with the transatlantic outfit taking a regional approach to payments. Rewards are varied across the firm’s offices to all lawyers, apart from partners, as well as those in business services, including paralegals and PAs. Those in Europe, the Middle East and Africa […]
White & Case instructed an external investigation led by a QC, The Lawyer understands, after rising tensions in its City office and is now set to launch a programme aimed at improving firm culture. Sources said the firm is to address internal tensions that have arisen in the past year as a result of an […]
Anderson Strathern and Allen & Overy’s growth strategies have a few similarities.
Firms have to offer better deals to keep hold of their regional talent.
Law firms need to decide whether to build their own tech innovations or buy bespoke tools from external vendors.
Law firms need to focus on productivity rather than worrying about their real estate.
Lawyers may love a printout but a return to the office is no excuse to go back to wallowing in ink.
It was a fitting setting as delegates gathered in the now-commonplace environment of Microsoft Teams to discuss the use of technology and the value it brings to in-house legal departments. Video-conferencing was one of the early novelties of the pandemic-era, as professionals everywhere abandoned face-to-face meetings and shifted online. Despite its drawbacks, video-conferencing is now […]
We meet the legal professionals who have taken a leap into the future of finance, travelling from private practice into a world where there are fortunes to be made but also regulatory mountains to be climbed
A number of success stories come to light in the public M&A rankings for Q1, with firms that have been busy investing being rewarded for their labours. But the magic circle are mysteriously absent, for now. The first few months of 2021 have seen over 8,900 transactions preliminarily agreed globally, according to Refinitiv data, the […]
Last month, Cooley unveiled its first revenue dip since it opened in the City in 2015. Behind that lies a major tussle over firm strategy – and in particular, its relationship with one of the most powerful companies in the world.
DLA Piper is offering employees the choice between one week’s pay or an extra week’s holiday to reward them for their work during the pandemic. The “one week thank you” is for all fee-earners and business services professionals at DLA Piper’s international business. In the UK alone this amounts to around 2,000 employees, covering both […]
Dentons is to introduce a “no internal meetings” policy one day per week, under the firm’s new agile working plans. To avoid fatigue stemming out of long hours on video calls, wherever possible meetings will have to be scheduled for 50 minutes and 20 minutes, rather than 60 and 30 to allow flexibility. It is […]
Following the likes of Simmons & Simmons and Norton Rose Fulbright, Ashurst has said it will pay its staff a one-off bonus reward after strong performance last year. The firm has doubled the size of its existing bonus pool in order to make the payment of at least £1,000 to employees worldwide. According to its […]
Dechert is giving its global headcount paid time off to get inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines, as it readies to reopen its offices later this year. The US firm will allocate up to eight paid hours for its people to get vaccinated. In several US states and in Belgium employers are legally required to provide this […]
A number of US firms have secured roles on the sale of fintech company Itiviti to Broadridge Financial Solutions for €2.14bn. Dechert led for Itiviti’s owners Nordic Capital, with a team steered by London corporate partners Ross Allardice and Mark Evans, along with senior associate Tony Brown. Itiviti, a capital markets product used by banks […]
BPP has been sold to private equity house TDR Capital, in what is the educational provider’s first change in ownership since 2009. BPP, which provides legal education and training, as well as courses in accountancy and finance, had been owned by Vanta Education, previously known as Apollo. Founded in 1992, Apollo Global acquired BPP for […]
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Latham & Watkins have been leading on the bumper listing of Deliveroo, which yesterday said it was targeting a valuation of up to £8.8bn. The magic circle firm bagged a new instruction from the takeaway giant for its listing, with partners Mark Austin and Doug Smith taking the lead. Proskauer Rose […]
Kirkland & Ellis has taken the lead role for the private equity bidders on the £2.3bn buyout of equipment supplier Aggreko. TDR Capital turned to Kirkland yet again after last year seeking the firm’s counsel on its £6.8bn purchase of ASDA. Partners David Holdsworth and Mark Thompson led for TDR and I Squared Capital, with […]
Reed Smith, Allen & Overy and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have acted on Daily Mail and General Trust’s (DMGT) £70m acquisition of New Scientist. DMGT instructed co-chair of Reed Smith’s global corporate group Delphine Currie on the purchase, alongside senior associate Daryl Cue and client relationship partner Lawrence Radley. The Daily Mail publisher picked up the […]
Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy acted alongside two US firms on a deal that will see PE powerhouse KKR become a major shareholder of Finland’s biggest electricity distribution company. The two magic circle firms were on the opposite sides of a deal that ended in KKR and Canadian pension fund Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan […]
All six members of Essex Court Chambers‘ Singapore affiliate are to leave the practice, as the crisis around China sanctions deepens. The team departure comes less than 24 hours after the magic circle set lost Jern-Fei Ng QC in London to 7 Bedford Row. Those leaving Essex Court Chambers Duxton (Singapore group practice) are VK Rajah […]
Essex Court Chambers has removed an article from its website that made reference to a legal opinion condemning the abuse of Uighur Muslims, just hours after the set was sanctioned alongside a group of UK individuals and business. Sanctions were handed down by China on Friday in relation to the alleged “lies and disinformation” that […]
Despite a legal career spanning almost three decades and having worked on matters ranging from 9/11 to Grenfell Tower, Danny Friedman QC (Call: 1996) was not prepared for the emotional impact of his latest brief. Representing 12 of the ‘flying pickets’, known as the Shrewsbury 24, the Matrix Chambers‘ silk succeeded in appealing against the […]
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has opened its doors in the Republic of Ireland, giving the firm a greater presence in the European Union. London is the firm’s sole European office, having called time on its Brussels operations in the financial year 2019/20. The firm secured premises in Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Place at the start of February, […]
A team of seven lawyers led by partner Michelle Gon have left Winston & Strawn’s Shanghai office and newly-formed strategic alliance YuandaWinston to join Chinese rival Han Kun. The team focusing on regulatory and compliance matters is Han Kun’s most significant recruitment in Shanghai since 2015, when it took on eight partners from domestic rival […]
Essex Court Chambers is facing its first high-profile departure since it was hit by sanctions from China last week, with one of its silks leaving to join 7 Bedford Row (7BR). Jern-Fei Ng QC, who was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2018 aged just 38, confirmed his departure on Sunday after an 18-year stint at Essex […]
Paul Hastings is paying out special bonuses to associates in recognition of an especially strong start to the year, with the most senior set to receive a total of $64,000 across two payments. The special bonuses are intended to be distinct from any year-end bonus for 2021, with the first instalment set to be paid […]
Beijing-headquartered Chinese firm Jingsh is in the process of setting up a base in London as part of its rapid expansion in China and abroad. Jingsh will join a small number of Chinese firms to have a presence in London. The firm’s new London office is spearheaded by corporate partner and chief representative You Yong, […]
Zhong Lun’s London office has gone through a restructuring and become an alternative business structure, as the Chinese firm seeks more flexibility for its future growth in the UK. Zhong Lun’s London office has recently gained the approval for an ABS licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. London managing partner Xue Haibin noted that the […]
Offshore firms in the region are enjoying brisk business, despite the pandemic, with Hong Kong and Singapore continuing to boom
While deals have faltered due to the pandemic, growth in logistics and the rise of renewables offer hope of better days ahead for the region and its lawyers
On the panel: Fergus Doorly, head of corporate restructuring & insolvency, William Fry Ruairi Rynn, corporate restructuring and insolvency partner, William Fry David Baxter, head of restructuring, A&L Goodbody William Day, head of restructuring and insolvency, Arthur Cox John Donald, restructuring and insolvency partner, Arthur Cox Kathleen Garrett, finance partner, Arthur Cox Nicholas Butcher, Ireland […]
Shearman & Sterling has hired a second lateral in its restructuring practice this week, this time from Latham & Watkins. The US firm has taken on London partner Helena Potts, who has worked in the London office of Latham & Watkins for nine years. She has a focus on restructurings involving defined benefit pension schemes […]
Shearman & Sterling has hired a financial restructuring partner from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, nearly two weeks after snapping up Travers Smith’s head of corporate. The US firm has hired Akin Gump London partner Sam Brodie, who has spent more than six years at its rival. As part of his practice, he advises […]
CMS has recruited a new litigation partner from Addleshaw Goddard as its new co-head of arbitration. The firm has taken on partner Sarah Vasani, who leads the investor state dispute resolution practice within the international arbitration team at Addleshaw Goddard. She will co-lead CMS’ London group alongside its current head Richard Bamforth. Vasani was recruited […]
Ashurst has brought in a senior business development head from Clifford Chance, who will take a seat on the firm’s executive board to drive further expansion. The firm has taken on London-based Laura Nicholls, who will become the firm’s global chief business development officer based in London. Reporting into managing partner Paul Jenkins, Nicholls will […]
McDermott Will & Emery has hired Squire Patton Boggs’ Singapore co-managing partner Ignatius Hwang as part of its plan to set up a base in the South East Asia hub. Hwang will initially be part of MWE’s London office while the firm is understood to be waiting for the regulatory approval for its new Singapore […]
The founder of Allen & Overy’s flexible resourcing business Peerpoint is joining provider Elevate in a new role, months after leaving his post at the firm. Ben Williams will become vice president and general manager for the provider’s contract services business unit. He left Allen & Overy last December. Williams joins after a long stint […]
Foreign direct investment (FDI) (Inversión Extranjera Directa) involves the transfer of capital by economic entities from one country to another country, with the intention of establishing businesses or subsidiaries there, as well as acquiring or obtaining a relevant shareholding in foreign companies.
You might have assumed that if both parties have agreed that their construction contract will be subject to (say) Italian law, and agreed an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the French courts, you have side-tracked any disputes away from the courts of Great Britain.
As annual British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) Registry fees are now payable for those BVI companies that were incorporated or registered in the first half of the year, it is time to start planning the liquidation of those entities that have reached the end of their life cycle, to ensure that unnecessary Registry fees are not incurred.
There are many things that should be considered when choosing the jurisdiction in which to divorce.
The IR35 rules were extended to cover all medium and large organisations in the private sector. Under the reforms these businesses are now responsible for determining whether their contractors fall inside or outside the scope of IR35, rather than the workers themselves.
The article considers the range of vehicles available in the Cayman Islands for alternative investment fund (“AIF”) structures designed for financial institutions, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and (U)HNWs (as opposed to retail investors), as well as the legal and regulatory considerations that may influence the structure of an AIF.
Will an inquest always be required after a homicide trial when there have been alleged failures by state agents to protect life? In this Judicial Review case Garnham J gives us the answer by summarising the scope of the requirements of an effective Art 2 investigation and, particularly helpfully, setting out what is not required to satisfy the state’s the investigative obligation. The Senior Coroner […]
Data is a vital part of business strategy and operations, but with so much being measured and so many possible metrics, it’s easy to get lost in the numbers and miss the big picture. How can law firms go beyond just collecting data and uncover meaningful insights? The abundance of data and how it drives […]
The UK government has confirmed that it will not embark on mandatory vaccination for UK residents, which leaves open the question of whether employers could require staff to be vaccinated as a condition of attending work.
Alternative payment models forming the burgeoning “Buy Now Pay Later” (BNPL) market have made a huge contribution to the ongoing growth of the online retail sector over recent years and have made certain payment providers huge tech success stories in their own right. The key to this success lies in the accessibility of BNPL credit […]
This is the final article in a series reflecting on employee mental health and wellbeing challenges that employers are currently facing. It focuses on how employers can support employee mental health going forwards. Flexible future? If COVID-19 has done one thing at the very least, it is to open employers’ eyes to different and more […]
Are there any temporary measures applicable to lease agreements or the exploitation of real estate in shopping centres? Until 31 December 2020, it is suspended: The effects of termination of residential and non-residential lease agreements made by the landlord; The lapsing due to the course of time of residential and non-residential lease agreements, unless the tenant […]