• March 18, 2014 |

    Transfer Window Asia: recent moves including Reed Smith, HSF and Clifford Chance

    Reed Smith Richards Butler in Hong Kong has brought on board shipping counsel Terry Floyd from Ince & Co. He focuses predominantly on admiralty and casualty work, and is the lastest addition to the Asia-wide shipping group, which has grown in the past two years in response to increased activity in the market.

    1 minute read

  • February 27, 2014 |

    Curtis to open Beijing office, eyes Asian expansion

    New York firm Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle (Curtis) is to open a Beijing office in March this year, the firm's first base in East Asia. The 300-lawyer outfit, which currently has 15 offices globally, said the Beijing base will initially focus on international trade matters, with a view to launching new practices in the future. Located in the China Life tower in the Chaoyang district of the Chinese capital, it will be led by international trade partners William Barringer and Daniel Porter, alongside two senior associates and two trade analysts, three of whom are Chinese nationals.

    1 minute read

  • February 20, 2014 |

    Clydes and 2Birds bolster links between pay and performance

    Clyde & Co and Bird & Bird have become the latest firms in the UK top 20 to rejig their associate career paths in a bid to tighten links between pay and individual performance. The moves come as research by Legal Week shows that Clifford Chance (CC) is the only firm in the group that does not base lawyers' salaries on merit. The changes see Clydes move further away from post-qualification experience (PQE) as a measure for pay, with the firm putting in place a clear career development framework for associates. It focuses on performance and clarifying targets for progression.

    1 minute read

  • February 17, 2014 |

    Why being an LLP member could become more taxing

    Limited liability partnership (LLP) members do not fit comfortably into a partner or an employee straitjacket, and rightly so. This is part of the much-heralded flexibility of the LLP structure which was introduced so successfully over a decade ago. The proposed tax rules which, from 6 April 2014, will use economic criteria to determine whether LLP members are to be taxed as employees or self-employed, threaten to limit the appeal of LLPs. This comes with the Supreme Court also set to consider the question of rights of LLP members this March.

    1 minute read

  • February 10, 2014 |

    DLA Piper calls off talks with collapsed Heenan Blaikie partners

    DLA Piper has ended discussions to take on a group of lawyers from Heenan Blaikie, the Canadian firm set to be wound up. The firm had been in talks to take on a group of between 60 and 70 lawyers from Heenan Blaikie, after the Canadian firm - once one of the largest in the country - announced it was to shut down operation last week.

    1 minute read

  • February 7, 2014 |

    DLA Piper set to launch in Canada with move for Heenan Blaikie partners

    DLA Piper is in talks to take on a group of lawyers from Heenan Blaikie, following the announcement that the Canadian firm was to be wound up.

    1 minute read

  • February 6, 2014 |

    Minters hires two-partner IP litigation team from KWM in Australia

    Minter Ellison has hired two senior IP litigators and their teams from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) in Australia. Wayne McMaster was previously head of KWM's national IP and health & pharmaceuticals practice, whilst Robert Cooper worked alongside him on patent disputes and trademarks.

    1 minute read

  • January 30, 2014 |

    Vedder Price grows City aviation team with hire of Norton Rose practice head

    US firm Vedder Price has raided Norton Rose Fulbright to hire its aviation chief Neil Poland. Banking partner Poland will join Vedder Price's highly regarded transportation finance practice in London as a partner next month.

    1 minute read

  • January 27, 2014 |

    Freshfields and Barclays back Aspiring Solicitors career advice initiative

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells and Barclays bank are among a group of ten private practice and in-house legal teams to sponsor a free academic and careers advice service for future solicitors. Aspiring Solicitors is the creation of former Norton Rose Fulbright corporate associate Chris White, who has now left the firm to work on the initiative full-time.

    1 minute read

  • January 23, 2014 |

    LLP round-up: Clydes boosts profit while rivals increase borrowing

    Clyde & Co partners enjoyed a bumper year in 2012/13 thanks to a 22.7% profit hike, according to LLP accounts filed with Companies House.

    1 minute read