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  • March 17, 2010 |

    Pharmaceuticals: The patent police

    The EC's inquiry into the pharmaceutical industry and moves to usher in a region-wide patent court could revolutionise Europe's drug market. Bird & Bird's Gerry Kamstra reports

    1 minute read

  • March 17, 2010 |

    Eversheds mulls shares for fees as firms step up alternative billing

    Eversheds is considering taking shares in client companies in exchange for fees as growing numbers of law firms look at more innovative pricing options including fee rebates. The top 10 UK firm is in the early stages of considering shares for fees - a practice that has not been commonly seen in the UK since the dotcom boom.

    1 minute read

  • March 17, 2010 |

    Pharmaceuticals: The game changer

    The pharmaceutical industry is facing uncertain times as a once-lucrative business model buckles under a globalising world economy. Charlotte Edmond reports on the companies and lawyers battling to secure all-important intellectual property in a rapidly changing market

    1 minute read

  • March 17, 2010 |

    Research reveals Q3 revival for top 100 as nine-month fee slump ends

    The UK's top 100 law firms saw fee income increase in the three-month period finishing 31 January, ending a run of three consecutive quarters of declining revenues. New research from professional services firm Deloitte found that law firms saw fee income grow by around 1.4%, compared with the third quarter of 2008-09.

    1 minute read

  • March 17, 2010 |

    Pharmaceuticals: Shocks to the system

    The pharmaceutical industry is going through a turbulent period. Patents protecting companies' blockbuster drugs are expiring - according to consultancy firm Evaluate Pharma, around half of the $383bn (£255bn)-worth of patented drugs sold worldwide last year will lose patent protection in the next five years - while barriers preventing makers of generic drugs from selling their own versions of leading products continue to fall.

    1 minute read

  • March 17, 2010 |

    Addleshaws heads up 2010 trainee retention rankings with 89% of March intake kept on

    Addleshaw Goddard retained the highest number of March 2010 qualifying trainees in the UK top 30, with the national law firm keeping 89% of its intake. The firm kept on eight of the nine trainees qualifying and 100% of those applying for jobs, putting its retention rate narrowly ahead of those recorded by Nabarro and Wragge & Co and significantly above the 75% average across the top 30 as a whole.

    1 minute read

  • March 11, 2010 |

    Camerons hires Milbank satellite specialist to boost TMT

    CMS Cameron McKenna is set to bolster its City telecoms team with the hire of a lawyer from the London office of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy. The City law firm has hired telecoms lawyer Joanne Wheeler from Milbank, where she was a senior associate, to lead the satellite capacity within its telecoms department.

    1 minute read

  • March 10, 2010 |

    UK trio win roles as Premier Foods appoints debut panel

    Slaughter and May, Eversheds and Wragge & Co have been appointed to Premier Foods' first formal roster of external legal advisers. The trio are the only firms to have been appointed to the panel, with the news likely to be seen as a blow to longstanding adviser Weil Gotshal & Manges, which has been the most visible transactional adviser to Premier in recent years.

    1 minute read

  • March 3, 2010 |

    Department of defence

    BAE Systems general counsel Philip Bramwell likes to delegate. Last year he charged UK chief counsel Roger Wiltshire with handling the defence company's recently concluded review of its UK legal advisers - its first panel review in 12 years. And he has just handed the job of re-assessing the group of law firms BAE uses for its international work to Andrew Guest, chief counsel for Saudi Arabia.

    1 minute read

  • February 23, 2010 |

    Sports deal rush sees top firms put some skin in the game

    The deal market may be proving unbearably slow for many so far in 2010 but, as this week's lead deal (the creation of a global Twenty20 cricket brand) helps demonstrate, involvement with sports clubs is helping law firms reap greater rewards than just box seats at stadiums. Firms including Allen & Overy (A&O), DLA Piper and Bird & Bird are just a handful of those to have won roles on a growing list of sports-related mandates since the New Year, after a spate of football club administrations and financing deals. With a number of football clubs disastrously overspending in recent years, it is workflow that advisers predict is only likely to increase.

    1 minute read