Month: June 2017

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Guest Post: Martyn’s Day – I’m relieved with the result but we’ll need reflection to learn anything useful

For some time, I have known how I would start my inevitable blogpost about Leigh Day’s disciplinary hearing. Win or lose, I would want to state unequivocally my prior belief, my starting point. That starting point is best indicated by what I told a legal magazine when asked three years ago which lawyer I most admired and why? I thought for a bit and then told them Martyn Day. There were, from memory, two reasons.

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GCs take on corporate sustainability briefs as plcs strive to protect brands

Angry shareholders, rising demands for transparency, tougher regulation, declining trust in business and the need to access new markets. Just some of the reasons why a growing number of plcs are moving to improve their focus on long-term performance and ethical standards… and calling in their general counsel (GCs) to help. Continue reading “GCs take on corporate sustainability briefs as plcs strive to protect brands”

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Election comment – Many a slip between cup and hardcore Brexit

For my sins I committed Legal Business to a lengthy piece on the 2015 general election, focusing on the policies impacting the City, business and law, back in an era that now seems a decade away. You may remember that one: the Conservatives were to deliver stability against those Labour mavericks on the assumption that its pledged Brexit referendum was in the bag. Continue reading “Election comment – Many a slip between cup and hardcore Brexit”

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SDT clears Leigh Day and three of its lawyers in high-profile Iraqi claims misconduct prosecution

The Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has today (9 June) cleared Leigh Day and three of its lawyers accused of professional misconduct relating to allegedly pursuing false damages claims of torture and murder made by Iraqi civilians against British troops in Iraq. Continue reading “SDT clears Leigh Day and three of its lawyers in high-profile Iraqi claims misconduct prosecution”

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Comment: The Big Four – they’d have done it by now if they cared

At the debate I recently attended on future of law-type stuff everything was proceeding to plan. Once the panel finished on artificial intelligence (AI), the law firm model and partners being useless, conversation turned to the Big Four. You know the gist: HERE THEY COME – GLOBAL – SLICK – WAY-AHEAD-OF-LAW-FIRMS.

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Gibson deals body blow to Ashurst’s European business as four-partner Paris team quits

Ashurst’s hopes of stabilising its European practice have been dealt a body blow with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher today (8 June) recruiting a four-partner team from its Paris arm. The move – which comes just months after a five-partner corporate team quit Ashurst’s Paris outpost for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer  – sees a team led by litigation and restructuring partner Jean-Pierre Farges decamp to the US-based giant.

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CAT orders Law Society to pay up to £230,000 costs in abuse of dominance case while first opt-out consumer damages class action fails

The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has hit the Law Society with a costs order of up to £230,000 to pay an online training provider after finding it breached competition law in a ruling published this week, while the first CAT opt-out consumer class action was withdrawn. 

Continue reading “CAT orders Law Society to pay up to £230,000 costs in abuse of dominance case while first opt-out consumer damages class action fails”

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Market report: Germany – Wennschon, dennschon

With Brexit dominating the EU agenda and causing widespread paralysis in the continent, Germany’s law firms are simply going about their business

Turbulence and trauma may have been the global hallmarks of 2016 – at least according to the headline writers – but not so in Germany. For the third year in a row, the German government did not borrow any money, unemployment fell to a 26-year low of 5.8% while GDP grew by 1.9%, the highest rate in five years. Meanwhile, Germany’s trade surplus has hit another record high.

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Market report: Italy – Bravissimo

Despite a testing political backdrop to business, the Italian elite is still outperforming the domestic economy

‘Reforms are the major challenge for Italy. For many years, we didn’t have the political strength – Renzi had it,’ says Carlo Croff, senior partner at Chiomenti. Matteo Renzi was Italy’s prime minister until December 2016 when his constitutional reforms were rejected in a referendum. ‘Clients, particularly those with investments in Italy, have been disappointed,’ Croff observes.

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En Marche!

With France’s political landscape settled and its EU status reconfirmed, the country’s law firms are feeling confident

The French presidential election in May drew widespread attention, but now that Emmanuel Macron is safely installed in the Élysée Palace, will it make any difference to businesses and their law firms? ‘It’s a great relief for the whole business community,’ says Stéphane Puel, managing partner of Gide Loyrette Nouel, France’s largest independent full-service law firm with 503 lawyers. ‘It’s difficult to tell whether this will have a huge impact generally, but it will have a huge impact on the confidence of business players in France.’

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Market report: France – En Marche!

With France’s political landscape settled and its EU status reconfirmed, the country’s law firms are feeling confident

The French presidential election in May drew widespread attention, but now that Emmanuel Macron is safely installed in the Élysée Palace, will it make any difference to businesses and their law firms? ‘It’s a great relief for the whole business community,’ says Stéphane Puel, managing partner of Gide Loyrette Nouel, France’s largest independent full-service law firm with 503 lawyers. ‘It’s difficult to tell whether this will have a huge impact generally, but it will have a huge impact on the confidence of business players in France.’

Continue reading “Market report: France – En Marche!”

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Simmons amends partnership deed following A&O departures

While Herbert Smith Freehills became embroiled in a very public court battle over a team defection to White & Case in Australia earlier this year, Simmons & Simmons has quietly amended its partnership deed following a group exit to Allen & Overy (A&O) in 2016.

In the space of four months from last summer, Simmons lost four intellectual property (IP) partners to A&O, including highly-regarded patent specialist Marjan Noor in June, followed by London IP head Marc Döring in August, and Mark Heaney and David Stone in September.

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