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  • February 6, 2013 |

    DWF seals Cobbetts pre-pack deal; Pinsents and Walker Morris advise

    DWF has sealed its acquisition of Cobbetts via a pre-pack deal, after KPMG was appointed as the stricken firm's administrators. An agreement has been reached which will see DWF take on the bulk of the business, with 419 of Cobbetts' employees and partners from its four offices in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and London understood to be transferring to DWF.

    1 minute read

  • February 6, 2013 |

    Pinsents set to launch temp lawyer service with new 'Vario' venture

    Pinsent Masons is to launch a freelance lawyer service, offering businesses temporary legal professionals on an ad hoc basis.Dubbed 'Vario', the new service which will go live in the spring will provide competition to similar ventures such as Eversheds' Agile service and Berwin Leighton Paisner's (BLP) Lawyers on Demand.

    1 minute read

  • February 4, 2013 |

    Travers sees H1 revenues rise 1.5% to £40.5m

    Travers Smith saw revenues climb by 1.5% during the first half of the 2012-13 financial year, with turnover hitting £40.5m. The growth in fee income in the six month period leading to the end of December took turnover up from an equivalent figure of £39.9m for the same period in 2011.

    1 minute read

  • January 31, 2013 |

    Growing list of top UK law firms move to cut staff in 2013

    With three major law firms announcing sizeable job cuts before the end of January, 2013 already looks near certain to be marked by a fresh run of legal redundancies as the UK economy flirts with a triple-dip recession. As Legal Week went to press, Clyde & Co and Olswang had also indicated that they may make a small number of redundancies, potentially adding to the roll call of major law firms making cuts in the past three months. Ominously, news also emerged on Wednesday (30 January) that Manchester firm Cobbetts was set to enter administration.

    1 minute read

  • January 31, 2013 |

    Burges Salmon, FFW and magic circle trio named on 48-strong Govt panel

    Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May are among a raft of firms to have secured roles on the finalised 48-firm Government Procurement Service panel. The magic circle firms have all been named on the long-awaited roster after firms received final confirmation of their appointments following a ten-day stand still period.

    1 minute read

  • January 30, 2013 |

    Clydes to cut jobs as firm reviews back office in wake of BLG merger

    Clyde & Co has put a number of support staff positions at risk of redundancy, following a review of its business services departments carried out in the wake of its merger with legacy Barlow Lyde & Gilbert. It is understood that fewer than 10 members of staff are involved in the consultations, with the changes primarily affecting the firm's London office.

    1 minute read

  • January 28, 2013 |

    Pinsents adds City partner with Addleshaws bank litigation hire

    Pinsent Masons has strengthened its City financial services practice with the hire of banking litigation partner Michael Isaacs from Addleshaw Goddard. Isaacs, who is currently based in Addleshaws' Manchester office, is set to move to Pinsents' London base, bringing the total number of partners at the firm's City headquarters to around 150. His start date is yet to be confirmed.

    1 minute read

  • January 28, 2013 |

    Capita moves into legal process outsourcing after Pinsents deal

    Business process outsourcer Capita has moved into the legal process outsourcing (LPO) market after sealing a deal with Pinsent Masons to handle document review work in Poland. Pinsents last November instructed Capita to review documents in relation to a large dispute case, with the work sent to the company's 550-seat operation in Krakow.

    1 minute read

  • January 24, 2013 |

    Suing the Church – how one City litigator pursued an abuse claim against the Catholic Church

    I litigated for seven years against the Catholic Church and its insurers, Zurich. In doing so, I wore several hats – as former litigation partner with Pinsent Masons, as the client in a high-profile action, as a sexual abuse victim and latterly as a mentor to other claimants. Over the years, I had to draw heavily on my 16 years doing commercial cases. Finally, in November 2012, after two trials totalling 15 days, one appeal and several interlocutory applications, I was awarded £55,000 damages by Mrs Justice Swift arising from sexual assaults by a Jesuit priest in the 1970s.

    1 minute read

  • January 23, 2013 |

    Supreme Court rules against extending privilege to accountants

    The Supreme Court has ruled against extending legal professional privilege (LPP) to accountants, in a closely watched case relating to tax advice. By a majority of five to two, the court confirmed that LPP can only apply to advice provided by solicitors, barristers and foreign lawyers, including in-house lawyers...

    1 minute read