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  • September 3, 2008 |

    The single solution

    On a crisp sunny day in late March, fee earners from 39 law firms gathered at the corporate headquarters of pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer, a nondescript office building a couple of blocks east of Grand Central Station in New York. The collective mood was cheerful. After all, each of the firms still had a piece of Pfizer's US litigation work. Two years earlier, the company had dumped 80% of its hundreds of outside counsel in a convergence project called P3 - the Pfizer Partnering Programme. Now, representatives from the survivors had been convened to receive an update.There was nothing surprising in what the first speaker, Sandra Phillips, head of the company's product litigation group, had to say. But the second speaker had some unexpected news to deliver. Margaret Madden (pictured right), head of Pfizer's employment law group, explained how her staff had slashed its roster of 50 outside law firms in the first phase of P3 to 10. A quick look around the room, however, revealed that just one of those employment firms was present. What happened to the other nine?

    1 minute read

  • September 3, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 04/09/08...

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

    1 minute read

  • September 2, 2008 |

    LG tax partner switches to Boodle Hatfield

    Regional firm Boodle Hatfield has boosted its tax capacity with the hire of LG tax and private capital partner Karen Marks. Marks made the switch last month (18 August), joining Boodle Hatfield's international private client team. Her practice focuses on international tax and trust planning, acting for clients including offshore trustees, private banks and financial institutions, entrepreneurs and investment bankers. She also advises on offshore structures and relocation to and from the UK.She joined LG in 1999 and was promoted to the partnership in May 2003.

    1 minute read

  • September 1, 2008 |

    Heller Ehrman and Mayer Brown in merger talks

    Just two weeks after merger talks with Baker & McKenzie broke down due to conflicts, Heller Ehrmann...

    1 minute read

  • September 1, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 01/09/08...

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

    1 minute read

  • August 29, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 29/08/08...

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

    1 minute read

  • August 28, 2008 |

    Mayer Brown JSM added to HSBC's SmartSearch knowledge database

    Banking giant HSBC has signed up Mayer Brown JSM to its knowledge-sharing venture, taking the tally of law firms sharing legal know-how with the bank to 11. HSBC officially rolled out its SmartSearch software, which allows its in-house legal team to access know-how and precedents at panel firms, in January with 10 panel firms. Mayer Brown's data will now be available to HSBC by the end of the month.

    1 minute read

  • August 27, 2008 |

    Eyeing the door

    When Arnold & Porter's director of professional development, Caren Ulrich Stacy, started working in law firm recruiting in the mid-1990s, she says there was one question she could count on hearing from every incoming associate, be it a new law school recruit or a potential lateral hire: how long does it take to make partner here? Today, Ulrich Stacy says, it goes largely unasked. "I have maybe had that question once in the past five years," she says.Why doesn't anyone ask the partnership question any more? It's not the well-documented reluctance of big law firms to make new equity partners. In The American Lawyer's most recent mid-level associate survey, which polled 7,259 respondents from 180 firms, more than 70% of respondents said they are on their firm's partnership track, and only a few indicated they strongly view partnership as an impossibility.

    1 minute read

  • August 26, 2008 |

    Mayer Brown loses restructuring chief to Orrick

    Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has hired the co-chair of Mayer Brown's restructuring and bankruptcy practice, Raniero "Ron" D'Aversa Jr.

    1 minute read

  • August 7, 2008 |

    Stephenson Harwood shelves plans for new City HQ in cautious move

    Stephenson Harwood has postponed plans to move into new London headquarters, with the City firm instead opting to extend its current lease on One St. Paul's Churchyard until 2013. The top 40 firm was expected to move into new premises in either Bath House, Holborn or 107 Cheapside in 2011 but has decided against a move for financial reasons.

    1 minute read