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  • December 5, 2008 |

    Leading UK lawyers added to new Who's Who list

    Weil Gotshal & Manges City managing partner Mike Francies, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer financial institutions co-head Will Lawes (pictured) and Slaughter and May corporate heavyweight Charles Randell are among a string of high-profile lawyers to land a mention in the 2009 edition of Who's Who.

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  • December 5, 2008 |

    Proskauer lays off 35 associates and 25 staff

    Proskauer Rose is laying off 35 associates and 25 administrative staff, reports The Am Law Daily.The news was announced in a memo, sent out by the firm yesterday (4 December), although which offices or practice areas will suffer the most is not specified. The New York firm said the layoffs are due to both the economic crisis and the "unprecedented reduction in our historical lawyer attrition rate."Proskauer launched an office in London last year with hire of Matthew Hudson, the former head of O'Melveny & Myers' City arm.

    1 minute read

  • December 2, 2008 |

    Simpson Thacher makes up City duo to partnership

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has announced its 2008 promotions, with the US firm making up five new partners. The firm's City arm will gain two new corporate partners, Ian Barratt and Sinead O'Shea, while New York-based Joshua Levine and Nancy Mehlman have been made up in litigation and tax respectively. Beijing was gifted one new partner - Shaolin Luo - in corporate.The promotions will become effective as of January 2009.

    1 minute read

  • December 2, 2008 |

    Davis Polk cuts associate bonuses

    Davis Polk & Wardwell has announced that it is to halve associate bonuses, following similar moves by other US firms over the last two weeks, reports The Am Law Daily. The US firm says 2008 bonuses will range from a pro-rated $17,500 (£11,800) for first-year associates to $32,500 (£22,000) for eighth and ninth years. Those amounts match the reduced rates announced on 24 November by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Last year, Davis Polk bonuses began at $35,000 (£23,700) and topped out at $65,000 (£44,000).In a firmwide memo sent out yesterday (1 December), the management committee thanked associates, and noted that the year posed a "challenging economic environment."

    1 minute read

  • November 27, 2008 |

    JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley join fee cutting drive

    JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are among a roster of leading banks attempting to slash fee agreements with panel law firms. Both banks are known to have contacted preferred advisers within the last month with a view to securing a reduction in fees - thought to be up to 15% - going forward. Banks including Lloyds TSB and Deutsche Bank are also understood to be in discussions with legal advisers with fees thought to be a key consideration.

    1 minute read

  • November 27, 2008 |

    US bonus season gets underway as firms cut back associate handouts

    Cravath Swaine & Moore and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have kicked off the New York bonus round with Cravath confirming that its bonuses are set to halve this year. Both firms have also scrapped the special 'one-off' bonus brought in during last year's boom. The decision means associates at Cravath will receive a bonus of between $17,500 (£11,700) and $30,000 (£20,000) depending on their year of graduation, compared with a range of between $35,000 (£23,400) and $60,000 (£40,100) last year. On top of this, the firm last year paid out a special bonus of between $10,000 and $50,000 (£6,700 and £33,500).

    1 minute read

  • November 26, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 26/11/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; the pick of the day's posts; and more

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  • November 25, 2008 |

    Simpson Thacher to cut associate bonuses in half

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has announced that it is to halve its year-end associate bonuses, following similar moves by other elite US law firms. The bonuses, which range from a pro-rated $17,500 (£11,600) for first-year associates to $32,500 (£21,500) for eighth and ninth-years, broadly match the reduced rates announced on Thursday (20 November) by Cravath Swaine & Moore."The numbers are essentially half of last year's," says Simpson Thacher chairman Philip Ruegger. The staff memo, sent out on Monday (24 November) cited "the current challenging business environment" as the reason for the cuts.

    1 minute read

  • November 24, 2008 |

    Wall St duo lead on US Government's Citi bailout

    Davis Polk & Wardwell and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton have taken lead roles on the US Government's high-profile rescue plan for Citi, announced last night (23 November). The two Wall Street firms picked up the mandates as the US Government agreed on a rescue deal including a $20bn (£13bn) direct investment into the banking giant.Davis Polk advised Citi fielding a high-profile New York team including three practice group heads - M&A head George Bason, financial institutions head Randall Guynn, and tax head Avishai Shachar. M&A partner Louis Goldberg was also part of the team.

    1 minute read

  • November 24, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 25/11/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; the pick of the day's posts; and more

    1 minute read