Top 25 LB 100 firm DWF is taking legal action against the government’s Insolvency Service (IS) after the national firm lost out on an appointment to its legal services panel.
The claim was issued after it emerged earlier this year that DWF had missed out on a contract for England and Wales to Scots firm Shepherd and Wedderburn. Continue reading “DWF takes legal action against the Insolvency Service after failed panel bid”
Herbert Smith Freehills‘ corporate partners James Palmer and Gillian Fairfield have taken the UK lead on US drugmaker AbbVie’s proposed $51bn takeover of Ireland’s Shire Pharmaceuticals, which has selected Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May. Continue reading “Dealwatch: HSF and Slaughters UK advisers on AbbVie’s $51bn bid for Shire”
Fieldfisher has bolstered its Paris office with a trio of local lateral hires, including M&A lawyer Pascal Squercioni and tax specialist Antoine Gabizon from UGGC and competition partner Anne-Laure-Hélène des Ylouses from French boutique YGMA, a firm she co-founded in 2004. Continue reading “Fieldfisher bolsters Paris office with trio of lateral hires”
Property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz has replaced Shearman & Sterling with Stephenson Harwood as his adviser on a high profile lawsuit against the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for around £300m. Continue reading “Robert Tchenguiz switches from Shearman to Stephenson Harwood in £300m SFO claim”
Weil Gotshal & Manges has come out on top of the latest H1 private equity league tables in a top 20 which also includes DLA Piper, driven by a strong performance on the Continent and after a series of notable hires in the area. Continue reading “Weil Gotshal heads H1 global private equity table as DLA Piper enters top 20”
The Law Society paid out approaching £1m in recruitment fees over ten months in 2013, as Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) took the lion’s share of disclosed legal fees for that period, standing at almost £450,000, the body’s latest accounts reveal. Continue reading “Law Society pays £1m recruitment bill as Norton Rose Fulbright receives £435k”
Macfarlanes has achieved a high double digit jump in both revenue and profit per equity partner (PEP) for the 2013/14 financial period, with both up by over 20%, as the top 35 UK firm breaks through the £1m PEP threshold.
The 324-lawyer firm revealed today (9 July) that its unaudited turnover was up 22% to £139.7m for the period, compared to £114.2m last financial year, while PEP has come in at £1.19m, a 21% increase on the £985,000 recorded in 2013. Continue reading “Financial results 2013/14: Macfarlanes breaks through £1m PEP threshold as profit and turnover up over 20%”
Paul Friedman has become Morrison & Foerster’s first managing partner for Europe, overseeing 26 partners and 43 associates across London, Berlin and Brussels.
The securities and white-collar litigator has 32 years under his belt at the top 30 Global 100 firm, including 28 years as a partner, and will relocate from San Francisco to London to assume the role. Continue reading “Morrison & Foerster appoints Paul Friedman to newly-created European managing partner role”
Nick Rowles-Davies of Burford Capital talks facilitating recovery while mitigating risk
Litigation is an ever-present issue to trustees, whether bringing claims or defending cases. Now more than ever there is a need for trustees to be aware of the options available for funding this litigation.
There has been a significant increase in certain types of litigation in the last few years, for example, fraud cases such as the Stanford and Madoff matters, media litigation caused by events at News Corp and the largest area of litigation in recent times – banking and finance litigation. Continue reading “Litigation finance for trustees”
Top 10 Global 100 firm Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has elevated its newly-qualified (NQ) lawyer salaries to Magic Circle firm levels, putting it on a par with Linklaters and Slaughter and May. Continue reading “Norton Rose Fulbright ups NQ salaries to Magic Circle levels”
RPC has strengthened its insurance and marine capability in the UK and Asia with the hire of senior insurance litigation partner Leigh Williams from Clyde & Co and shipping and international trade partner Steven Wise from Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) in Hong Kong. Continue reading “RPC bolsters insurance and marine teams with double hire from Clydes and Holman Fenwick”
Ten Old Square’s Eason Rajah QC examines whether Beddoe applications are still relevant or whether they should be brought in line with other applications for directions
Since the case of Re Beddoe [1893] 1 Ch 547 it has become accepted that costs incurred by trustees who bring or defend hostile litigation unsuccessfully are costs which are prima facie not properly incurred and therefore cannot be recouped from the trust fund pursuant to their indemnity. A trustee is not protected merely because he acts on legal advice. It has been said fairly recently that a trustee who has pursued or defended an action unsuccessfully is likely only in exceptional circumstances to be able to show that his costs were properly and reasonably incurred (see Bonham v Blake Lapthorn Linell [2007] EWHC 2513 (Ch) at para 123). Consequently, trustees are usually advised to obtain the consent of their beneficiaries, or an indemnity from one or more of them. In the last resort, trustees are usually advised to obtain prospective costs protection by bringing an application for directions as to whether or not the claim should be litigated – a Beddoe application.
Continue reading “Beddoe applications – still fit for purpose?”
Mishcon de Reya has hit its target of £100m in revenues by 2016, with 2013/14 turnover up 18% to £104.6m and profit per equity partner (PEP) up by 16% to £975,000, constituting 107% growth since 2009.
The results come as Pinsent Masons enjoyed an uptick in its financials for a second successive year, with revenue up 4.6% to £323.3m, while profit per lawyer increased by 11% from £40,000 to £44,500. PEP increased 4.7% from £387,000 to £405,000.
Magic Circle firm posts 16% PEP hike against 7% revenue increase
Clifford Chance has emerged as the strongest-performing Magic Circle firm financially for 2013/14, as the UK elite all unveiled unaudited sterling figures to coincide with the launch of the Global 100 this month.
The 3,000-lawyer firm has revealed a 7% rise in revenues to £1.36bn, up from £1.27bn in 2013. Profit per equity partner (PEP) has increased significantly to push average partner drawings back to over £1m after a blip last year, up a trend-busting 16% to £1.14m from £983,000.
Continue reading “Clifford Chance eclipses UK elite as Global 100 unveiled”
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP)’s spin-off lawyer contracting service Lawyers on Demand (LoD) is set to launch its first hub outside of London in Manchester, after BLP in March announced it would open an office in the UK’s second largest legal market.
LoD, which was launched by BLP in 2007 but hived off into a separate company in 2012, is recruiting local legal staff ahead of the Manchester launch in the autumn of 2014. LoD will initially launch the service as a pilot, offering organisations across the North West access to local, qualified freelance lawyers on ‘secondment style’ arrangements.
Continue reading “Lawyers On Demand looks beyond City with regional launch”
In its first financial year post-merger Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has recorded revenues of $1.851bn with profit per equity partner (PEP) estimated at $660,000, projecting the firm into the top 10 of the Global 100 for 2013/14. Continue reading “Financial results 2013/14: Norton Rose Fulbright unveils revenue of $1.85bn and PEP of $660k”
Taylor Wessing on 23 June announced the opening of two representative offices in the US to facilitate access to its European network. Located in tech-focused Palo Alto and New York, both offices are set to open in September this year.
The top 20 firm will not be practising US law, but instead plans to use its new US bases to push out work to its international network across Europe, CEE and Asia.
Continue reading “Taylor Wessing launches US rep offices in Palo Alto and New York”
Leaders at the Bar have agreed an interim deal with the Ministry of Justice to end the fee impasse that has threatened to disrupt high value legal aid fraud trials, with discussions to reform the payment scheme for the most costly cases underway. Continue reading “Bar and MoJ end fee impasse over high value legal aid fraud cases with further talks underway”
Mishcon de Reya has hit its target of £100m in revenues by 2016, with 2013/14 turnover up 18% to £104.6m and profit per equity partner (PEP) up by 16% to £975,000, constituting 107% growth since 2009.
The results come as Pinsent Masons enjoyed an uptick in its financials for a second successive year, with revenue up 4.6% to £323.3m, while profit per lawyer increased by 11% from £40,000 to £44,500. PEP increased 4.7% from £387,000 to £405,000.
Fieldfisher has broken through the £100m revenue threshold reporting a 10% rise to £104m and a moderate 3% increase in profit per equity partner (PEP) to £415,000 for the 2013/14 financial year. Continue reading “Financial results 2013/14: Fieldfisher breaks through £100m threshold with 10% rise in turnover”
