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  • July 29, 2013 |

    K&L Gates adds second City energy partner in a month with Pinsents hire

    K&L Gates has hired Pinsent Masons energy disputes partner Mike Stewart, the firm's second lateral partner addition in the City in a month. Stewart advises contractors and owners on major construction and energy projects, specialising in international dispute resolution work.

    1 minute read

  • July 29, 2013 |

    Financial Times promotes senior lawyer to GC

    The Financial Times (FT) has promoted senior legal counsel Dan Guildford to general counsel, replacing outgoing chief Tim Bratton, who earlier this month announced he would be joining Berwin Leighton Paisner's (BLP) Lawyers on Demand (LoD) initiative. Guildford takes up the role on 5 August, and will be responsible for managing the newspaper's legal and company secretariat team, which comprises 12 legal and compliance professionals in London, Belfast, Manila and New York.

    1 minute read

  • July 19, 2013 |

    Dundas sees revenues fall 11% as PEP dips by 22% after tough year

    Dundas & Wilson has reported significant fall key financial metrics with turnover down 11%, net profit down 21% and profits per equity partner plunging 22%. Turnover at the firm was £48.7m during the 12-month period to 30 April, down on the previous year's figure of £54.5m. Over the same period, pre-tax profit dropped from £16.2m to £12.8m, and PEP was £164,000 from the previous year's £210,000.

    1 minute read

  • July 18, 2013 |

    Government calls on law firms to offer non-graduate routes into profession

    The Government has called on law firms to help grow the UK's legal sector by opening up the profession to school leavers via apprenticeship schemes. The proposal is one of the key recommendations in a report published last week by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) that aims to boost the competitiveness of the UK's professional and business services (PBS) sector. The strategy was developed by the PBS Council, which is made up of representatives from Government and the private sector, including Will Lawes, Robert Elliott and Chris Mullen, senior partners of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Pinsent Masons respectively. The PBS sector currently employs four million people and is worth more than £150bn to the UK economy each year, equivalent to 11% of GDP. The legal and accounting sector makes up 22% of this figure.

    1 minute read

  • July 18, 2013 |

    Construction group Costain to review five-firm legal panel

    Construction and engineering company Costain Group is to review its external panel of legal advisers later this year. The listed company is set to launch a review of its current five-firm line-up, in a move that will mark the first formal review of the roster since it was first introduced in 2008. The current line-up sees Slaughter and May act as a primary adviser on major corporate work, alongside Pinsent Masons, Bevan Brittan, Addleshaw Goddard and Clyde & Co. The review will be led by legal director and company secretary Tracey Wood, who first developed the panel system five years ago after joining from legacy Hammonds. She commented: "Working with fewer suppliers has increased benefits and understanding on both sides."

    1 minute read

  • July 11, 2013 |

    Links, Travers and Shoosmiths come out top in associate satisfaction poll

    Linklaters and Norton Rose Fulbright have been rated as the law firms that associates at rivals would most like to work for, according to new research by Legal Week. Legal Week Intelligence's flagship Employee Satisfaction Report (ESR) this year found the pair ranked ahead of Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy (A&O) and Pinsent Masons as the five most popular firms to work for, as rated by peers at rival law firms. Norton Rose, A&O and Slaughters have been in the top five for the last three years of the survey, while Pinsents and Linklaters are new entrants this year, replacing Berwin Leighton Paisner and Clyde & Co.

    1 minute read

  • July 11, 2013 |

    Pinsents sets sights on key countries for Africa growth in strategy review

    Pinsent Masons has identified six key African countries that present the greatest potential for growth for the firm, following an 18-month strategy review of opportunities in the continent. The review, which has been led by construction advisory and disputes head Richard Foley, has seen the firm earmark South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya and Sudan as key priorities. The move to draw up a new Africa strategy was prompted by an increase in Africa-related instructions with the firm carrying out around 70 mandates during the last financial year amounting to £7m-£10m in revenues – a 60% year-on-year increase.

    1 minute read

  • July 10, 2013 |

    Former Pinsents litigation head joins LPO provider Exigent

    Pinsent Masons former head of litigation Nigel Kissack has left the firm to join global legal process outsourcer (LPO) Exigent as a global strategy consultant. Kissack, who joined Pinsents as a partner from DLA Piper in 1997, is familiar to Exigent after leading on Pinsents' ground-breaking decision in 2009 to outsource process driven litigation work to the LPO's Cape Town base in South Africa. His new role sees him advise clients on LPO strategy and the outsourcing of legal activities across all major practice groups, as well as helping clients make savings through process re-engineering and implementing leaner delivery models.

    1 minute read

  • July 8, 2013 |

    University of Law to launch in Leeds with York base relocation

    The University of Law is to relocate its York branch to Leeds in September 2014, in order to be based in "the UK's newest legal hub". The University hopes to increase enrolment to around 600 students in Leeds in the next three years, according to president and provost Nigel Savage. There are currently 368 full and part-time students based in York.

    1 minute read

  • July 4, 2013 |

    Branching out - how top law firms are going beyond the City to cut costs

    Deutsche Bank's global head of compliance, Simon Dodds, is one of many senior in-house lawyers to have called on City-based law firms to farm out straightforward legal work to low-cost centres. "Magic circle law firms in particular have a problem with their model. [They have] commoditised to some extent but lawyers are sitting in London – the most expensive place in the world," he told a Legal Week conference.

    1 minute read