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  • March 5, 2008 | International Edition

    Cash flow falls at Dentons despite profits upsurge

    Denton Wilde Sapte saw its profits jump by more than £6m last year after signing its old Five Chancery Lane offices over to new tenants. However, the windfall did not help the firm avoid a significant fall in cash flow. The City firm saved £6m worth of costs in the 2006-07 tax year when it signed the offices over to Lewis Silkin, according to limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts recently filed with Companies House.

    1 minute read

  • March 5, 2008 |

    Cash flow falls at Dentons despite profits upsurge

    Denton Wilde Sapte saw its profits jump by more than £6m last year after signing its old Five Chancery Lane offices over to new tenants. However, the windfall did not help the firm avoid a significant fall in cash flow. The City firm saved £6m worth of costs in the 2006-07 tax year when it signed the offices over to Lewis Silkin, according to limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts recently filed with Companies House.

    1 minute read

  • March 5, 2008 |

    Commercial and Chancery Bar: Centre point

    In an article entitled 'Starting from Scratch' on 29 March, 2007, Legal Week reported on the ambitious plans for the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and its Court. In the subsequent year the world's leading financial institutions have continued to pour into the centre and the list of law firms with a presence in the DIFC now include Akin Gump, Allen & Overy, Al Tamimi & Co, Ashurst, Clifford Chance, Conyers Dill & Pearman, Denton Wilde Sapte, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Lovells, Maples and Calder, Norton Rose, Reed Smith Richards Butler, Simmons & Simmons and Walkers. In addition, the UK law firms Kennedys and Clyde & Co, which are based in greater Dubai, have also been active in the DIFC Court. It is notable that in January the International Bar Association (IBA) established its Middle East office in the DIFC. The opening of the office was timed to correspond with the IBA's Arab regional forum's conference on Islamic finance in the Middle East. The DIFC has set its sights on becoming the world centre for Islamic finance and is itself an active investor. In June 2007, DIFC Investments listed a $1.25bn (£630m) sukuk on the Dubai International Financial Exchange, taking the total value of sukuk listed on the exchange to $10.43bn (£5.26bn) - the highest of any exchange worldwide. The DIFC has also been an active investor in international markets and acquired a 2.2% stake in Deutsche Bank, which, according to publicly-available market data, makes it the largest external strategic shareholder in the international investment bank.

    1 minute read

  • March 5, 2008 |

    Grid goes national on new UK panel

    Energy giant National Grid has put the finishing touches to its new-look general commercial and disputes panel, with three national firms among the winners from the UK-led review. Wragge & Co is named on the panel alongside City outfit Berwin Leighton Paisner as general advisers to National Grid, with Eversheds mandated to advise on commercial litigation and construction work. National rival Hammonds, meanwhile, will advise on general commercial and health and safety matters.

    1 minute read

  • February 28, 2008 | International Edition

    Dentons office deal saves firm £6m

    Denton Wilde Sapte saw its profits jump by more than £6m last year after signing its old Five Chancery Lane offices over to new tenants. However, the windfall did not help the firm avoid a significant fall in cash flows. The City firm saved £6m worth of costs in the 2006-07 tax year when it signed the offices over to Lewis Silkin, according to LLP accounts recently filed with Companies House.

    1 minute read

  • February 28, 2008 |

    Dentons office deal saves firm £6m

    Denton Wilde Sapte saw its profits jump by more than £6m last year after signing its old Five Chancery Lane offices over to new tenants. However, the windfall did not help the firm avoid a significant fall in cash flows. The City firm saved £6m worth of costs in the 2006-07 tax year when it signed the offices over to Lewis Silkin, according to LLP accounts recently filed with Companies House.

    1 minute read

  • February 28, 2008 |

    Gender gap narrows as female partner count increases 30% from 2006 total

    UK law firms have moved to open up their partnerships to female lawyers during the last year, according to the latest annual statistical report by the Law Society.The report found the total number of female partners in England and Wales increased by nearly 30% over the 12-month period ending 31 July, 2007. Female lawyers now make up 23.5% of all private practice partners, with the number of women partners hitting 7,420 - up from 5,727 female partners in England and Wales the previous year.

    1 minute read

  • February 28, 2008 |

    More leading UK firms cap liabilities to deal with riskier claims outlook

    The UK's top law firms are increasingly capping their liability on individual transactions, according to new research. The survey, which is the fifth Legal Risk annual professional indemnity survey of the top 100 law firms, found for the first time that every responding firm had limited its liability at least on an occasional basis.

    1 minute read

  • February 20, 2008 |

    Hill Dickinson recruits for in-house advocacy group

    Hill Dickinson has launched an in-house advocacy group with the hire of barrister Sarah Venn from national rival Halliwells. Venn, who joined the firm's Liverpool office at the beginning of the year, will lead the firm's advocacy group - the brainchild of insurance head Jason Spencer. The firm follows in the footsteps of Herbert Smith, Eversheds and Denton Wilde Sapte which have all taken on barristers to offer clients an in-house advocacy service.

    1 minute read

  • February 13, 2008 |

    Online special: Legal services reforms viewed serious threat to future of the Bar

    More than half of the UK's leading lawyers believe the Bar's independence is under threat from sweeping reforms contained in the Legal Services Act (LSA), according to new research. The finding is part of the latest Legal Week/EJ Legal Big Question survey, which polled senior solicitors on their views on the future of the Bar in the wake of fundamental reform to the UK's regulatory framework for legal services.Fifty-eight percent of responding partners said that the LSA was a threat to the future of the Bar, including 12% who thought the Act was a threat to the extent that 'the writing is on the wall' for the Bar's future.

    1 minute read