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  • May 30, 2013 |

    The fight for fairness – what are law firms doing to tackle the gender pay gap?

    Lawyers have a problem with equal pay – and it's a big one. More than 40 years on from the Equal Pay Act, women in private practice are paid a startling 26.7% less than their male counterparts. The finding, from a new Law Society study of solicitors' salaries in 2012, compares badly with the national picture: the law's gender pay gap is well over double the 9.6% difference between men and women's pay across the UK as a whole, as reported by the Office for National Statistics.

    1 minute read

  • May 15, 2013 |

    Osborne Clarke launches redundancy consultation and exits partners

    Osborne Clarke (OC) has launched a redundancy consultation with 13 fee-earners and confirmed that a small number of partners have also been asked to exit the firm. The redundancy consultation, which was announced internally today (15 May) and the partner restructuring both come as part of plans to reduce a surplus of senior lawyers within the firm. The number of partners set to leave OC is understood to be in single figures and follows a review of its partner ranks, where the firm felt it had reached overcapacity.

    1 minute read

  • May 14, 2013 |

    Green Investment Bank names Pinsents partner as GC

    The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has hired Pinsent Masons energy finance partner Euan McVicar as its first formal general counsel. Edinburgh-based McVicar, who will join the Government-backed bank in late summer, specialises in the financing and development of energy projects at Pinsents, as well as related M&A activity.

    1 minute read

  • May 9, 2013 |

    Firms act as Tyman buys US building manufacturer

    A host of firms including Pinsent Masons, Allen & Overy (A&O), Proskauer Rose and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have all played roles on UK building products company Tyman's acquisition of US building manufacturer Truth Hardware from Melrose Industries for $200m (£129m). The deal, which will see Truth combine with Tyman's existing US division Amesbury, is being funded by a debt and equity fundraising followed by a proposed move to the London Stock Exchange main market. The transaction is expected to close in June, with Melrose using the funds to pay down some of its existing borrowings.

    1 minute read

  • May 9, 2013 |

    Berrymans IT director highlights need for greater investments by law firms

    Law firms need to invest in their IT systems in order to expand their business, according to the chair of Legal Week's forthcoming Strategic Technology Forum. Abby Ewen, IT director at Berrymans Lace Mawer, highlights the need for continued investment in IT in a video interview with Legal Week publishing director John Malpas, ahead of the conference next month.

    1 minute read

  • May 2, 2013 |

    Ashurst and BLP lead Korean purchase of City property

    Ashurst and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have landed key roles on Samsung SRA Asset Management's acquisition of London's 30 Crown Place, in the Korean fund manager's first overseas investment. The sale of the 192,070 sq ft office building, the London base of Pinsent Masons, is reportedly valued at £142m. Ashurst advised Samsung SRA – a new client of the firm – and Cushman & Wakefield Investors, fielding a team led by real estate partners David Jones and Sarah Watkinson and tax partner Paul Miller.

    1 minute read

  • May 2, 2013 |

    Aviva kicks off tender for new panels; magic circle duo take top-level roles

    Aviva has launched a major review of its external legal advisers that will see the insurance giant create its first group global and UK legal panels. Aviva's overall head of legal and company secretary Kirsty Cooper (pictured) and Aviva group general counsel Monica Risam are leading the review, with around 25 firms invited to pitch for places when tender documents were sent out three weeks ago.

    1 minute read

  • May 2, 2013 |

    Getting your house in order – the burden of self-reporting

    Internal investigations are nothing new, but in the wake of banking scandals, growing regulatory pressure and a raft of legislation tightening and criminalising corporate law, investigations have become as burdensome for general counsel as they are burgeoning for their external legal advisers. Many corporates have gone to great and costly lengths to improve their internal processes, not least in light of the Bribery Act 2010, which forces UK and foreign companies with a UK operation to ensure they have adequate procedures in place to minimise the risk of bribery and corruption.

    1 minute read

  • May 2, 2013 |

    Insured success - Aviva's legal team on reshaping the insurance giant's in-house function

    To say Aviva's overall head of legal Kirsty Cooper had a busy 2012 would be putting it mildly. As GC and company secretary for the insurance giant, the past year involved Cooper overseeing a restructuring of the in-house legal function, which saw headcount reduced by roughly 10% to 280.

    1 minute read

  • April 30, 2013 |

    US-style plea bargains draw nearer as bill receives royal assent

    Laws which will pave the way for deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) in England and Wales have been given Royal Assent. Schedule 16 of the Crime and Courts Bill, which was passed into law last week (25 April), contains provisions for a prosecutor and defendant to reach plea-bargaining type settlements widely used in the US.

    1 minute read