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  • June 16, 2013 |

    Pinsents posts £309m turnover as McGrigors merger drives 40% growth

    Pinsent Masons has announced turnover of £309m for 2012-13, representing combined growth of 5% in its first year of trading since its merger with McGrigors last May. The two firms last year posted a combined figure of £294m, of which legacy Pinsents contributed £221m, meaning total revenues at the firm have grown 40% since the Scots merger.

    1 minute read

  • June 13, 2013 |

    The AXA man – AXA UK's legal head on getting tough on law firm fees

    Edward 'Ed' Davis is slimmer than his Google images – the result, no doubt, of a recently acquired obsession with cycling. "I'm absolutely passionate about it," he admits, his eyes glazing with thoughts of country lanes or aerodynamic handle bars or whatever it is about the sport that has him hooked. The self-confessed MAMIL (Middle-Aged Man In Lycra) is fortunately wearing a suit and tie and leads the way into a chilly, white-walled meeting room, sparsely decorated with clip-framed AXA promotional posters. He apologises for the temperature and smell of fresh paint as if he is personally responsible – the first indicator that this is a company man through and through. Davis has spent the majority of his career at AXA Group, the French global insurance and asset management giant boasting 163,000 employees in 57 countries. In the UK, the core businesses of AXA Wealth, AXA PPP Healthcare, AXA Commercial and AXA Personal Insurance employ some 13,000 people nationally.

    1 minute read

  • June 6, 2013 |

    Post-recession recovery falters as growth dwindles across UK top 100

    The UK's top 100 law firms saw revenue growth in 2012-13 fall to less than half of that seen last year, with fee income across the group climbing by just 2.6%, as confirmation of the first formal financial results begins to trickle out from the country's top firms. Deloitte's latest quarterly law firm survey found the UK top 100 concluded 2012-13 with a year-on-year Q4 turnover increase of 2.4% – the slowest quarterly growth since October 2010. The average fee income increase of 2.6% across the group for the full financial year – which compares with growth of 6.6% last year – masks a host of disparities between firms. Notably, those in the top 10 saw revenues climb by only 1.5%, compared with 4% in the 11-25 category and 2% in the 26-50 group.

    1 minute read

  • June 5, 2013 |

    TLT boosts revenues by 10% as firm recruits for Manchester launch

    TLT has posted a double-digit hike in turnover for 2012-13, as the firm continues its recent UK expansion with the launch of a new office in Manchester. The Bristol-based firm, which saw turnover rise 10% from £44.5m to £49m during the last financial year, has made two hires for its new Manchester base - which it hopes to be operational this summer - with more in the pipeline.

    1 minute read

  • 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