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  • February 23, 2011 |

    US firms in London push City partner hiring to record levels in 2010

    Lateral partner hiring by US firms in London picked up last year after the financial downturn, with firms bringing in more partners in 2010 than in any year since the start of 2006. Legal Week's annual survey of hiring trends at the City operations of some of the largest US and transatlantic firms found there were 84 partner hires during 2010 across the 35 firms which took part in the survey.

    1 minute read

  • February 22, 2011 |

    Gide and Salans - the French empires

    Gide Loyrette Nouel is the pinot noir of law firms. The most exquisite of wine grapes, pinot grows in small quantities in many regions around the world and sometimes fails to flourish - but always thrives best in its native France. With 19 offices, Gide is one of only two firms with French roots and international ambitions. About half of its approximately 650 lawyers are based in France and half abroad, mostly practising civil law for French clients. As Samantha Campbell, the firm's Vietnam practice leader, notes: "If you want a French cultural connection and an international experience, then Gide is the only choice."

    1 minute read

  • February 16, 2011 |

    No more half measures: can Barlows' management prove the doubters wrong?

    "We're focusing on stability," says Barlow Lyde & Gilbert senior partner Simon Konsta. And who could query those sentiments? Despite having built a reputation as one of the City's top insurance and litigation firms, Barlows has had an unhappy recent history. The last 15 years have been marked by a series of strategic shifts, while over the last five years financial performance has increasingly lagged behind its peer group. Since 2007 the firm has made repeated efforts to update its management and reshape its practice, with Barlows moving to refocus its business around its insurance core. The result has been a series of partner departures and a firm still searching for the stability Konsta cites.

    1 minute read

  • February 16, 2011 |

    Deutsche and JP Morgan push firms on costs and outsourcing

    Deutsche Bank is putting pressure on its legal advisers to increase their use of legal process outsourcing (LPO) as the bank nears the final stages of the first formal review of its external law firm relationships. Deutsche has told law firms that above all else they must be "innovative" about how they provide a cost-efficient service to the bank - in particular, the bank wants to see firms using LPOs wherever possible.

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2011 |

    Rising 25: tales of success and woe from the law firms outside the UK top 50

    Sitting just off junction nine of the M27 between Southampton and Portsmouth is the unglamorous Segensworth business park, where for the last two years Blake Lapthorn - the 60th largest law firm in the UK - has paid £450,000 to rent vacant office space. When the firm moved into New Kings Court on the outskirts of Southampton as part of a consolidation following a series of mergers, managing partner Walter Cha thought he would be able to sublet the space. But unsurprisingly, he hadn't counted on a global banking crisis and the subsequent recession. It was costs such as these that saw Blake Lapthorn's profit per equity partner (PEP) fall to just £65,000 in its 2008-09 year. Although this figure has since risen to £116,000, it is still well short of the UK top 51-75 law firm peer group average of £276,000.

    1 minute read

  • February 8, 2011 |

    BoA Merrill and Credit Agricole unveil coveted legal panels

    A raft of City law firms have won places as Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoA Merrill) and Credit Agricole finalise their legal panels. BoA Merrill has appointed UK firms including Allen & Overy, Linklaters and Clifford Chance (CC) to its first new legal panel since the two banks merged in January 2009.

    1 minute read

  • February 2, 2011 | International Edition

    Mayer Brown City outpaces firmwide financials with 10% revenue hike

    Mayer Brown's London office has posted a 10% increase in revenues for the 2010 calendar year. The revenue increase takes the US firm's London turnover to £102m from £93m in 2009, with the growth following a 16% drop in fee income in 2009 from £112m. The result means London has outperformed the rest of the firm, where results were roughly static. Profits per equity partner inched up by 1% to $1.07m (£668,000) with revenue dipping 1% to $1.11bn (£691m) in 2010, having fallen almost 14% in 2009.

    1 minute read

  • February 2, 2011 |

    Mayer Brown City outpaces firmwide financials with 10% revenue hike

    Mayer Brown's London office has posted a 10% increase in revenues for the 2010 calendar year. The revenue increase takes the US firm's London turnover to £102m from £93m in 2009, with the growth following a 16% drop in fee income in 2009 from £112m. The result means London has outperformed the rest of the firm, where results were roughly static. Profits per equity partner inched up by 1% to $1.07m (£668,000) with revenue dipping 1% to $1.11bn (£691m) in 2010, having fallen almost 14% in 2009.

    1 minute read

  • January 20, 2011 |

    Mayer Brown reports flat revenues and partner profits for 2010

    Mayer Brown posted flat revenues and profits last year, in one of the first indications of the 2010 US reporting season, writes The Am Law Daily. Gross revenue at the 1,650-lawyer firm was down for the second year in a row, dropping 1% to $1.107bn (£691m) in 2010 after falling almost 14% in 2009. Average profits per equity partner inched up by 1% to $1.07m (£668,000). The top 10 US law firm's profit margin remained static at 26%.

    1 minute read

  • January 18, 2011 |

    Holman adds three partners with Hammonds and Hogan Lovells hires

    Holman Fenwick Willan has expanded its European corporate and regulatory teams with the addition of three new partners in London, Paris and Brussels. Hogan Lovells corporate partner Robert Follie, who headed legacy Lovells' French arm between 1996 and 2006, is set to join Holman Fenwick's Paris corporate practice on 1 February. He is bringing one associate with him from the Paris office of the transatlantic firm.

    1 minute read