An Osborne Clarke partner is being referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) following a formal complaint made by Clifford Chance’s former UK tax head. In July 2022, ex-Clifford Chance partner Dan Neidle made headlines for a series of posts on the tax arrangements of leading Conservative politicians, including Nadhim Zahawi. He claimed that Zahawi had […]
Simmons & Simmons represented Barclays Bank in an $150m anti-suit and anti-enforcement injunction against Russian state investment bank, VEB. VEB was founded in 1922 as the first international bank of the USSR, and since 2018 it has been chaired by the country’s former deputy prime minister under Putin, Igor Shuvalov. The bank was represented by […]
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has increased its salary for newly-qualified solicitors (NQs) to £180,000. The US disputes specialist’s other associate salaries will also rise when the move takes effect from June. A 1 PQE associate is set to be paid £195,000, while a 2 PQE associate will be on £220,000. For 6 PQE associates, […]
European firms see more value in having a physical office in the Square Mile than they do in the Big Apple. Last week, Spanish firm Uría Menéndez became the latest to shut up shop in New York, having been there for 30 years. Uría was the final member of Slaughter and May’s fabled Best Friends […]
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.
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has lost its UK head of competition, a year and a half after he joined the firm. Lambros Kilaniotis left the firm in April, having joined Quinn from RPC (where he was head of competition) in January 2023 to co-head Quinn’s UK competition practice with partner Kate Vernon. In a […]
European firms see more value in having a physical office in the Square Mile than they do in the Big Apple. Last week, Spanish firm Uría Menéndez became the latest to shut up shop in New York, having been there for 30 years. Uría was the final member of Slaughter and May’s fabled Best Friends […]
Thanks to Paul Weiss, Skadden and Kirkland & Ellis (but mainly Paul Weiss), Linklaters has a few empty chairs at Silk Street. One way a firm can replenish its ranks is through lateral hiring – enter Travers Smith corporate partner Richard Spedding – or internal promotions. Last month, a total of 14 lawyers were made up […]
Paul Weiss’ UK spending spree is far from over. Just a year ago, this firm was small fry among the US City titans. Cue an audacious carve-out of some of Kirkland & Ellis’ superstars last summer and everything changed. That initial raid (which included debt finance heavyweight Neel Sachdev and corporate star Roger Johnson) was […]
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.
Newcastle firm Ward Hadaway wants to be a £100m firm in the next decade, meaning it needs to add 10 per cent to its revenue every year. Here’s how it intends to do it.
It was the turn of the general counsels last week to give their perspective on the Post Office Horizon scandal. Here’s what they had to say about Womble Bond Dickinson, Linklaters and litigation funders. For live updates, check out our live blog. Funders react to Womble Bond’s plan to “stretch out the litigation process” Earlier […]
The use of LinkedIn for self-promotion has skyrocketed in the last decade, as businesspeople use social media to attract new opportunities and position themselves with authority in their industry. But it’s important to tread with caution.
Over two decades Peter Jackson has steered his firm through mergers, spin-offs and redundancies to growth
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 […]
Hill Dickinson has secured another team hire, taking a group of six from Clyde & Co in Newcastle. Shipping partner Stephen Mackin has made the move along with five other colleagues. Mackin joined Clyde & Co in 2017, before which he spent nearly 25 years at Eversheds Sutherland. A former seafarer himself, Mackin specialises in […]
Costs management has been in place for nearly 11 years now. Few commercial litigators have expressed much love for it but last year’s report of the Civil Justice Council’s costs working party made clear that it is not going anywhere. Headed by Lord Justice Birss, the deputy head of civil justice, it said costs budgeting […]
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 […]
Manchester United’s interim CEO and general counsel has left following another shake-up within the club’s executive ranks. Patrick Stewart served as general counsel at the club for over 18 years and stepped into the interim CEO role at the end of last year following the departure of Richard Arnold. Stewart completed his legal training at Burness and qualified in […]
Simmons & Simmons takes on communications provider Unify Simmons & Simmons 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 telecommunications company Mitel, develops and […]
Competition specialist Hausfeld has lost its co-instruction mandate on Justin Gutmann’s boundary fares class action. Since 22 February, Charles Lyndon has been the sole representation for the class representative as the boundary fares case rolls through the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). Hausfeld had been co-instructed alongside Charles Lyndon on the Gutmann claims throughout the dispute, […]
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the UK’s litigation market. It is the May 1 and hundreds of lawyers are stepping into their first day as new partners. Litigation promotions were a mixed bag across US firms. Several major players, namely Quinn Emanuel and Hogan Lovells, did not […]
Luxury goods giant LVMH joins interchange fee dispute French luxury goods behemoth LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has swung into the merchant interchange fees dispute with over 25 separate claims filed by its subsidiaries against Visa and Mastercard between 24 and 25 April. The Lawyer understands that the claims form an addition to the long-running […]
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. […]
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 […]
Name: Gurminder Kaur Nijjar Organisation: Irwin Mitchell Role: Group Deputy General Counsel Based: Birmingham Trained at: Harvey McKibbin Solicitors Year qualified: 2011 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Attending a hearing on behalf of client for their alcohol/premises licence application. The client found the whole process confusing and was completely reliant on […]