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  • April 1, 2009 |

    Major US firms' City partner promotions hit a four-year low as only 34 make the grade

    Partner promotions at some of the largest US law firms in London hit a four-year low in 2009, with just 34 lawyers making the grade compared to 54 the year before, according to research from Legal Week. A survey of promotion trends at 28 leading US firms in London found promotions had increased each year between 2005 and 2008, before this year's fall. In 2005, 36 lawyers were made up, with that figure increasing to 38 for 2006 and 48 for 2007, before last year's bumper haul.

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  • April 1, 2009 |

    Orrick and Arnold & Porter step up lateral hiring in London as partners move between US firms

    Mayer Brown, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Arnold & Porter were the most active recruiters of lateral partners among US law firms in London last year. Legal Week research has found that Orrick picked up seven new partners - with the most significant haul of five partners coming from collapsed firm Heller Ehrman, including venture law group partners Richard Eaton, Chris Grew and Struan Penwarden.

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  • March 27, 2009 |

    Barlows loses three-partner insurance team to Clydes

    Barlow Lyde & Gilbert is set to lose a team of partners to insurance rival Clyde & Co. Legal Week has learned that a group from the firm's newly-merged commercial risk and reinsurance practice is expected to leave the firm over the next few weeks. It is thought that around three partners, including Roger Doulton, will join Clydes. The news comes after Legal Week reported earlier this month that former reinsurance chief Colin Croly had left Barlows after 29 years as a partner. Croly's next move is unclear, but it is understood that he is not joining Clydes.

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  • March 26, 2009 |

    The write stuff - Kaplan Law School essay competition

    As the recession continues to bite, students are finding that training contracts are in increasingly short supply. Last week magic circle firms Slaughter…

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  • March 26, 2009 |

    Shearman freezes pay for UK-qualified lawyers

    Shearman & Sterling has announced that it is to freeze salaries for all of its UK-qualified lawyers in London, Asia and the Middle East. The measure means that associates will not move up the lockstep, and will continue to earn the same amount as they did during 2008. Lawyers with one year post-qualification experience (PQE) will continue to earn £80,000, while 2PQE associates will take home £84,000 and 3PQEs £92,000.

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  • March 26, 2009 |

    Advisers gear up for robust regulation after Turner Report

    City partners are predicting an increase in banking litigation and regulatory work in the wake of the Turner Report, which calls for tighter regulation of the financial sector in response to the economic crisis. Partners at firms including Allen & Overy (A&O), Mayer Brown, Nabarro and Denton Wilde Sapte have all given the report their broad support - despite criticism of some of the individual components.

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  • March 25, 2009 |

    Escape from Gitmo

    Guantanamo Bay was where George W Bush went to avoid law, both international and domestic. President Bush detained terror suspects on murky authority in the US military enclave at Cuba's tip, and that is where he would have tried them had the US Supreme Court let him proceed.

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  • March 25, 2009 |

    US litigation newcomer set for Lords debut

    Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges is set to appear before the House of Lords, less than a year after the US firm's launch in the City. The US litigation leader is due to appear in the House of Lords for two days at the beginning of July representing a group of investment funds seeking to retrieve money following the collapse of the $27bn (£17.9bn) structured investment vehicle Sigma Finance.Quinn Emanuel partner Sue Prevezer QC, who joined the firm last May from Bingham McCutchen, is leading the case. She was previously a barrister with top commercial set Essex Court Chambers before spending a year with Bingham.

    1 minute read

  • March 20, 2009 |

    Mayer Brown to cut 55 City jobs and freeze pay

    Mayer Brown has revealed that is set to restructure its London office, a move which could see the loss of 55 jobs.The firm is expecting to lose up to 23 associates and 32 support staff, including secretaries, as a result of the restructuring, which is likely to hit transactional areas such as corporate and real estate the hardest.On top of the cuts, the firm is also instituting a firmwide pay freeze for staff and associates and is asking for trainees due to start at the firm in September 2010 to volunteer to defer.

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  • March 19, 2009 |

    Profits tanking in 09? Take comfort from Neutron Jack

    A sliver of consolation for law firms concerned with spinning awful partner profit numbers for 2008-09 came last week from celebrated ex-GE head Jack Welch, who criticised the cult that has grown up around shareholder value. In essence, Welch (pictured), regarded by many as the founder of the shareholder value movement in the 1980s, criticised companies' short-term focus on quarterly profitability at the expense of long-term goals. Interviewed in the FT, Welch said: "On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world. Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy."

    1 minute read