A long-running negligence claim launched by an ex-KPMG Singapore partner against Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has taken a new turn after “marked inconstancies” were alleged against a key witness of the firm. The claimant in the proceedings is KPMG’s ex-head of restructuring, Graham Martin, who instructed HSF in 2017 to challenge a worldwide freezing order […]
A team from Cahill Gordon & Reindel’s finance practice are set to move firms to Latham & Watkins. It is understood that Jonathan Brownson, Joydeep Choudhuri and Prue Criddle are switching across, having joined Cahill during a significant period of growth for the firm. Brownson moved with Jake Keaveny in a much touted move from […]
Linklaters has increased its newly-qualified lawyer salary by £25,000, a fortnight after Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer did the same. The firm has increased its NQ pay from £125,000 to £150,000. Alongside this, trainee salaries have risen by £6,000 across both years to £56,000 and £61,000. Solicitor apprentice pay is now £28,000, growing from £25,000. The firm […]
Three firms have won spots on High Speed Two railway’s (HS2) latest panel worth £4m, replacing Eversheds Sutherland and Fieldfisher. Burges Salmon, Gowling WLG and Sharpe Pritchard have all won spots on the panel, which is for the provision of procurement, commercial and general legal services. Burges Salmon is the only firm to be re-appointed […]
Name: Katie Chandler Organisation: Taylor Wessing Role: Partner Based: London Trained at: Taylor Wessing Year qualified: 2007 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? My first week at Taylor Wessing when I was asked to attend the trial of Conor Medsystems Inc v Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc to be a witness bowler for the […]
Journalists aren’t natural champions of PRs, but sometimes we sympathise. Cleaning up the mess of lawyers behaving badly. Calming down those who haven’t been ranked in the latest directory release. Trying to pitch tedious not-quite-scholarly articles to uninterested reporters. Getting asked ‘can we just have a leaflet?’ by people who don’t comprehend the breadth of […]
Journalists aren’t natural champions of PRs, but sometimes we sympathise. Cleaning up the mess of lawyers behaving badly. Calming down those who haven’t been ranked in the latest directory release. Trying to pitch tedious not-quite-scholarly articles to uninterested reporters. Getting asked ‘can we just have a leaflet?’ by people who don’t comprehend the breadth of […]
In-house lawyers are contending with major resourcing issues that is preventing them from doing their job effectively. This is the conclusion of major new research from alternative legal provider, Axiom, which found the in-house market stacked with challenges. In the wake of the Post Office Horizon Public Inquiry, which has put the reputation of the […]
The scene: A US firm boardroom, somewhere not in New York*. Big Cheese (furiously): ‘We’re not growing fast enough. What have you got?’ Smaller Cheese (panicking): Private equity! That’s the thing! Kirkland! Paul Weiss!’ Big Cheese: ‘Do whatever it takes. And do it now.’ Smaller Cheese: ‘Leave it with me. We’ll hire big in London. […]
Many firms can empathise with the challenges faced by healthcare and charities firm Hempsons in recent years. It is a sector leader in the health market, with more than 150 healthcare, foundation trusts and commissioners on its books, and is currently instructed in the Infected Blood Inquiry for the UK Haemophilia Centre Doctors’ Organisation. This […]
The lower mid-market is full of law firms that want to move up the food chain. Shoosmiths is one of them. With a national corporate practice of 30 partners across 14 locations, according to The Lawyer‘s Practice Analysis service, the bedrock of its work has historically been chunky regional deals. It is now gunning for […]
Execution, as one lawyer says, is “easy to plan, but really ***ing hard to do”. That word ‘execution’ will be resting heavily on the minds of Hannes Snellman’s senior leadership. Earlier this year, the firm split in two; Helsinki and Stockholm are going their own ways. It effectively brings to an end one of the […]
Wanting to be in a relationship is an entirely natural desire for most 20- to 30-somethings, yet the process of finding and maintaining a partner is ever-difficult for time-poor lawyers.
Six years since the Infected Blood inquiry launched, the scandal poses questions about the real challenges that vulnerable victims face when dealing with a complex legal system.
The latest episode of The Lawyer Podcast is out now. Last week, all eyes were on A&O Shearman, a union hailing Big Law and its future. But in this week’s episode, we consider why so many solicitors are pursuing another future: opening their own firm. A survey from Censuswide on behalf of Harbour Litigation Funding […]
The wait is finally over. In just under a week, the transformational merger between Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling will go live. But while the deal is done, the job is only just beginning. On this episode of The Lawyer Podcast, editor Catrin Griffiths and litigation editor Christian Smith look at how the […]
The Lawyer‘s Christian Smith, Catrin Griffiths, Richard Simmons, Katy Dowell and Charlotte Lear are joined by College of Legal Practice CEO Giles Proctor for this emergency episode of The Lawyer Podcast as they discuss the latest Solicitors Qualification Exam debacle: marking errors that led to 175 students being incorrectly told they had failed. What went […]
Regional offices have long been critical to some of the UK’s biggest law firms. The essential components of today’s DLA Piper came from across the country, legacy Eversheds was formed of four firms from outside London, and Pinsent Masons has Birmingham and Leeds heritage. But in recent years, some of those firms’ regional offerings have […]
Bird & Bird has announced it will be opening a new office in Tokyo with the hire of Ashurst partner Hiro Iwamura. The primary purpose of the office will be to support the firm’s Japanese clients in the renewable energy, life sciences and technology space with outbound work across Europe, the Middle East and Asia […]
Different groups have different needs and blanket policies rarely work effectively for everyone, argue the co-founders of BlueSky, a parental coaching platform for women in law.
Womble Bond Dickinson, which defended the Post Office in the high-profile group litigation brought by the sub-postmasters, is in line to receive £178,000 from its former client as it provides evidence to the Horizon inquiry. According to public documents, Womble Bond Dickinson entered into a contract worth £178,000 with the Post Office for the provision […]
Becoming a general counsel before the age of 30 is a feat few lawyers can boast of. At this age, most lack the in-house experience required to lead a business’s legal team. In Emma Levin’s case, though, she has spent almost her entire career in-house, meaning that by 28 she had secured a coveted GC […]
NatWest’s general counsel – and Linklaters’ former managing partner – Gideon Moore has left the bank after two years, making way for a new chief. Moore has been replaced by NatWest’s litigation general counsel Will Luker. He has worked at the bank since 2003, became litigation general counsel in 2010 and subsequently managed and integrated […]
Name: Davinder Mann Organisation: UK Infrastructure Bank Role: General Counsel and Company Secretary Based: London Trained at: Herbert Smith Year qualified: September 2003 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Sorting out hundreds of car park leases during my real estate seat late one night only to peer out of Exchange House to […]
No sooner had Freshfields confirmed its salary rise, Quinn Emanuel swooped in and stole its thunder. It’s a bold move that will cost the firm millions more each year.
“AI-powered” bank board faces claim from investors Members of the current and former board of Tintra, an AI-powered DeepTech bank based in London have been hit with a part 7 ‘other’ claim in the London Circuit Commercial Court, filed on Wednesday (8 May) by US-based former investors Fintech Leaders Fund LLC (FLF). A part 7 […]
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Fountain Court prepare to represent clients across a number of court hearings this week. JP Morgan clashes with Greek investment hearing in race to €5bn After investment banking giant JP Morgan and Greek investment company WeRealize filed parallel claims against one another in mid-February this year, their dispute has […]
Simmons & Simmons’ client takes on communications provider Unify A client of Simmons & Simmons has filed a new part 7 claim in the Commercial Court on 30 April against corporate communications tech company Unify Software and Solutions. A part 7 claim seeks monetary damages to resolve a dispute. Unify, which is owned by Canadian […]
Timothy Wilkins, global partner for client sustainability at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, talks to The Lawyer about key ESG trends that will land on general counsel’s desks in the near future as well as the unique opportunities ESG present for lawyers to add value to their organisation.
Thomson Reuters’ chief product officer for legal tech Kriti Sharma talks to The Lawyer about holding technology and tech companies more accountable for user needs, what can be done to reduce tech waste and getting tech companies to work better together.
Emma Carr, partner at Gowling WLG, talks to The Lawyer about how the in-house function has changed over the past 10-15 years and shared her views on what the legal team of the future might look like.
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. […]
There’s an expression which seems to be passed down from generation to generation which says that you know you’re getting older when police officers are looking younger. This reminds us of our own mortality and is no real reflection on the heavily armed twenty something protecting us from known or unknown peril, however, there is […]
Name: Sara George Organisation: Sidley Austin Role: Partner, Head of Crisis Management for Europe Based: London Trained at: Criminal Bar – Chambers of Ann Rafferty QC 4 Brick Court Year qualified: 1999 What’s your most vivid memory from being a pupil? Representing the driver of a seafood van topped with an enormous papier mache prawn […]
Entering the world of law as a junior lawyer can be a thrilling and challenging experience for us. However, it often comes with its own set of pressures and uncertainties that can trigger feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. This phenomenon is commonly known as “Impostor Syndrome,” and it affects many professionals, including those in the […]
Name: Christian Weaver Organisation: Garden Court North Role: Barrister Based: Manchester Trained at: Garden Court North Year qualified: 2012 What is your most vivid memory from being a pupil? Certainly the Covid-19 pandemic. It was a profound sad time for so many. On reflection, however, it perhaps did have some unexpected career advantages as a pupil. Firstly, Covid-19 […]