• July 2, 2008 |

    Dealmaker: Richard Papworth

    Addleshaw Goddard banking chief Richard Papworth on Morley, Manchester United and moving back to the big smoke

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  • June 30, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 30/06/08...

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

    1 minute read

  • June 18, 2008 |

    Norton Rose joins firms on Chinese bank panel

    Norton Rose has landed a place on China Development Bank's (CDB's) legal panel, joining 10 other firms on the sovereign wealth fund's roster. The firm won a place after advising CDB on its investment in Barclays in 2007. The City firm joins magic circle giants Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance as well as US firms Baker & McKenzie, Jones Day, Latham & Watkins, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and White & Case. Deacons, Li & Partners and Minter Ellison complete the line-up.

    1 minute read

  • June 13, 2008 |

    Jones Day hires DLA banking chief in Milan

    Jones Day has hired DLA Piper's Italian head of banking, Francesco Squerzoni. He will join Jones Day's Milan office next month (1 July) along with two associates to launch a local banking and finance practice for the US firm.

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  • June 11, 2008 |

    The Am Law 100: The giving tree

    Over the last 10 years, dozens of Am Law firms have scrambled to find merger partners. New practice areas, geographic advantages, economies of scale-the rationales for these couplings are endless. But does all the happy talk really translate into bigger clients, busier associates and fatter pay packets? To find out, we assessed the fortunes of eight firms from this year's Am Law 100 that engaged in name-changing mergers with similarly sized partners in the past decade. We scrutinised their performances based on post-merger growth in revenue per lawyer (RPL), profits per partner and average compensation for all partners. Combinations with non-US firms were not included, nor were mergers with fewer than three years of post-merger results to analyse. As a benchmark, we looked at the average growth of The Am Law 100 by RPL, profits per partner and compensation-all partners. For firms where data was available, we also compared the growth of the merged firms with that of their predecessors.

    1 minute read

  • June 11, 2008 |

    The Am Law 100: The sky's the limit

    In 2015 - the year that New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez will surpass 762 home runs and break the Major League record - Latham & Watkins and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom will both gross more than $5bn (£2.56bn), Baker & McKenzie will have more than 6,600 lawyers and the lucky partners at Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz will bring home about $7.7m (£3.95m) each - a handsome sum, but one that will itself be dwarfed by the $15.7m (£8.05m) Wachtell partners will average in 2025. Or maybe not.

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  • June 4, 2008 |

    Technology, media and telecoms: Under the influence

    Among the various disputed origins for the word lobbying, the 18th President of the United States Ulysees S Grant claims the most noteworthy. He apparently coined the term at Washington DC's Willard Hotel, using it to describe the machinations of political hustlers who frequented the hotel's lobby, where Grant habitually enjoyed a cigar and brandy, to gain an audience with the him. Big money is now commonplace in day-to-day lobbying in Washington DC, and few are more successful than those major law firms that have a substantial presence within the shadow of Capitol Hill. As the 50 highest-grossing lobbying practices in the US were recently reported to have passed $1bn (£505m) in annual revenues for 2007 - a new landmark - the specialist lobby shops in the top 50 were notably outpaced by Washington DC law firms. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld ranked number one on the list with $89.8m (£45.3m) in lobbying income, just ahead of Patton Boggs with $89.3m (£45.1m).

    1 minute read

  • May 21, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 21/05/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; plus the pick of the day's posts; concluding AmLaw's exclusive interview with Phillipe Sands QC; and more

    1 minute read

  • May 20, 2008 |

    Jones Day hires hand Gibson Dunn Singapore debut

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has launched an office in Singapore after hiring a three-partner team from rival US firm Jones Day. Gibson Dunn corporate partner Jai Pathak has moved from the firm's Los Angeles headquarters to lead the new branch, where he will be joined by three new partners.

    1 minute read

  • May 16, 2008 |

    US Briefing: Clement resigns as Solicitor General

    Solicitor General Paul Clement, who led the courtroom defense of the Bush administration's anti-terror legal policies, announced Wednesday he is leaving his job on 2 June. Clement argued 49 cases before the Supreme Court in the last seven years and was viewed as probably the most valued "catch" from the Bush Justice Department, with law firm managing partners guessing he could attract a $2m or $3m package. Details about his next step were not immediately forthcoming from Clement.

    1 minute read