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  • November 23, 2010 |

    The future of the Bar: Tipping points

    'Core values' is a theme that traditionally features heavily at the Bar Council's annual conference. This year - with deep cuts looming to legal aid and huge upheaval expected with the implementation in 2011 of the Legal Services Act (LSA) - was no exception. Speakers including Kim Hollis QC and Lord Neuberger paid customary tribute to the concept, before Mayor of London Boris Johnson took to the stage to deliver a gag-filled address. With laughter still echoing around the Hilton Metropole on Edgware Road, delegates filed out into a foyer full of stalls from upmarket wealth management and luxury goods companies.

    1 minute read

  • November 23, 2010 |

    Linklaters spin-off firm hires Bird & Bird litigation partner in Sweden

    Linklaters' Swedish spin-off Kastell has hired Bird & Bird litigation partner Henrik Bielenstein. The hire gifts Kastell, which was launched earlier this month by former Linklaters competition partners Kent Karlsson and Erik Soederlind, with a litigation capacity.

    1 minute read

  • November 22, 2010 |

    Why the Norton Rose 'merger' debate misses the point

    What makes a merger? That's the question being asked this week, after Norton Rose announced deals with Canada's Ogilvy Renault and South African firm Deneys Reitz. The combined business will rank as one of the world's top 10 firms by headcount when the three-way tie-up takes effect next June, boasting more than 2,500 lawyers in 38 offices worldwide and gross revenue of over $1bn (£626m).

    1 minute read

  • November 19, 2010 |

    DLA Piper seals hire of two-partner Taylor Wessing IPT team in Cologne

    DLA Piper has grown its intellectual property and technology (IPT) practice in Germany with the hire of a four-strong team from Taylor Wessing. Partners Jan Pohle and Benjamin Grzimek are set to join the firm's Cologne office along with associates Christian Kau and Markus Lang. Their start dates at DLA are yet to be confirmed. Pohle specialises in IT and telecommunications, while Grzimek focuses on contentious and non-contentious patent law.

    1 minute read

  • November 10, 2010 |

    Half-year financial results show UK leaders edging back to growth mode

    Many of the UK's leading law firms are on course to report increases in revenue over the first half of 2010-11, as the economic recovery continues to gather pace. Allen & Overy (A&O) kicked off the reporting season on Monday (8 November), posting a 3% growth in revenues for the six months ending 31 October.

    1 minute read

  • November 1, 2010 |

    Simmons confirms conversion to LLP status

    Simmons & Simmons has converted to a limited liability partnership (LLP) becoming one of the last firms among the UK top 20 to do so. Simmons is a late adopter of the legal structure among the UK's top firms after previously postponing a conversion in the hope that the firm's Hong Kong office would be allowed to be included in the structure. Simmons has now chosen to set up the LLP with a separate Hong Kong structure, with Hong Kong regulators still working on proposals to permit LLPs in the region.

    1 minute read

  • October 28, 2010 |

    Bird & Bird makes up Euro duo to partnership

    Bird & Bird has made two further additions to its partnership in the firm's Paris and Helsinki offices. Maisa Nikkola, who joins the partnership in Finland, is head of the local employment group and specialises in employment contractual issues, trade union matters and discrimination. Meanwhile, Gildas Louvel has joined the partnership in the corporate practice of Bird & Bird's French office. He focuses on private and public M&A, financial services and life sciences.

    1 minute read

  • October 26, 2010 |

    DLA Piper recruits Bird & Bird's Paris co-head in hire of five-strong IT team

    DLA Piper has hired a team of IT lawyers from Bird & Bird's Paris base led by office co-head Stephane Lemarchand. Lemarchand, Bird & Bird's international IT co-head and Paris practice chief, has been a partner at the firm for 10 years. He will join DLA on 2 November along with a team of four associates.

    1 minute read

  • October 25, 2010 |

    Freshfields promotes 11 lawyers to counsel ranks including City trio

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has appointed 11 new counsel in a second round of promotions this year. The appointments to counsel - the most senior role in the firm below partner - will take effect from 1 November and come in addition to the nine counsel made up in May this year.

    1 minute read

  • October 20, 2010 |

    Is Howrey's model broke or can global litigation deliver?

    Does the global litigation law firm model work? This disturbing question has been explicitly raised this month by news of a 12-partner exodus from the European network of disputes and intellectual property (IP) specialist Howrey. Indeed, departing partners from Howrey, who are heavily concentrated in the firm's Amsterdam and Brussels offices, have made much of the problems of working within a US-based firm. The argument goes that the US' generally stricter conflicts rules are a real hurdle for litigators operating in Europe, particularly when the bulk of the practice is weighted stateside, which makes it inevitable that American clients will get the upper hand in a close call on conflicts.

    1 minute read