Filter This View

  • July 31, 2008 |

    US firm adds 94 lawyers in LA merger deal

    US firm Alston & Bird has secured its expansion into California with the acquisition of a Los Angeles firm and an intellectual property (IP) practice in Silicon Valley. The two acquisitions, approved by the firm's partnership today (31 July) give Alston almost 100 lawyers in California. The LA firm, Weston Benshoof Rochefort Rubalcava & MacCuish, has 83 lawyers, while an 11-lawyer IP group has joined the firm from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld's Silicon Valley office.

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2008 |

    Bird & Bird completes Helsinki deal debut

    Bird & Bird has completed its first joint Nordic M&A deal since opening an office in Helsinki in May. Led by Helsinki managing partner Jori Taipale and fellow corporate partner Andreas Boerjeson in Stockholm, the firm advised Finnish company Empower Oy on the acquisition of Comeva AB, a Swedish telecoms and electricity installation and maintenance service provider, for an undisclosed sum.

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2008 |

    Nick Bird: Recovering fees is risky game

    On 6 March 1992 a firm of solicitors started a claim in the Crewe County Court against a former client for the recovery of £6,840 of fees for acting in a small building dispute. Eight years later the House of Lords handed down their opinions in the landmark case of Arthur JS Hall v Simons [2000] which removed immunity from suit for advocates for negligent acts and omissions in court. The solicitors' fees claim had been met with a counterclaim from Mr Simons alleging negligence in the conduct of the building dispute. If you Google 'Arthur JS Hall' you will get around 1,200 results; it is probably not the kind of notoriety that the firm anticipated when it started its £6,840 fees claim.

    1 minute read

  • July 11, 2008 |

    Bird & Bird breaks £500k PEP mark with 12.5% rise

    Profits per equity partner (PEP) at Bird & Bird has jumped by almost 12.5% from last year's mark of £458,000 to £515,000. The top 25 law firm's PEP announcement follows the news of the firm's stellar financial results late last month that saw a hike in turnover of almost 25%, which equates to a £27.4m increase on last year's figure of £115.6m.

    1 minute read

  • July 10, 2008 |

    Bird & Bird recruits from Greenberg in the Hague

    Bird & Bird has boosted its Dutch presence after hiring the head of Greenberg Traurig's civil law notary group. Rene Rieter will join Bird & Bird's office in The Hague as part of the firm's Dutch notary group. Rieter joins the City firm from the Amsterdam arm of Olswang ally Greenberg Traurig, which he helped set up and where he also headed the civil law notary group.

    1 minute read

  • June 12, 2008 |

    Law firms rake in £700m in fees for coal miners' claims

    Legal fees for firms advising on the ongoing compensation claims for sick coal miners have hit more than £700m. Figures released on Hansard reveal that fees for the work reached £735m by mid-April, with Thompsons Solicitors and Beresfords Solicitors taking the biggest individual shares.

    1 minute read

  • June 11, 2008 | International Edition

    Additions take CEDR Solve direct panel to 50

    The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has reached a landmark of 50 members on its panel following the addition of 16 new mediators. Eversheds partner Michael Ord, Joseph Tirado of Norton Rose and Steven Williams of Nabarro are among the latest names to join CEDR's Solve direct panel.

    1 minute read

  • June 11, 2008 |

    Additions take CEDR Solve direct panel to 50

    The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has reached a landmark of 50 members on its panel following the addition of 16 new mediators. Eversheds partner Michael Ord, Joseph Tirado of Norton Rose and Steven Williams of Nabarro are among the latest names to join CEDR's Solve direct panel.

    1 minute read

  • June 4, 2008 |

    Hot topic

    Kenneth Berlin and his team at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have been working on climate-related matters for years. He headed the Justice Department's Environmental and Natural Resources Division, chaired the Environmental Law Institute and has shepherded a mountain of environmental litigation for major corporations. Skadden had not needed a climate change group before: it simply tapped environmental, energy regulatory, intellectual property and tax lawyers to help out when the need arose. Partners at the US's highest-grossing law firm have, however, changed their minds: this month, they were scheduled to launch a 23-lawyer group specifically devoted to climate change issues.

    1 minute read

  • May 29, 2008 |

    Bird & Bird flies high with 24% revenue rise

    Bird & Bird has reported a revenue hike of almost 25% for the last financial year, with the firm today announcing that fee income hit £143m for the year ending 30 April, 2008. The top 25 firm has posted a 24% hike in turnover, equating to a £27.4m increase on last year's figure of £115.6m.

    1 minute read