• May 12, 2008 |

    Weil signs LPC deal with College of Law

    Weil Gotshal & Manges has signed a deal with the College of Law that will see the US firm's City trainees on the Legal Practice Course (LPC) receive bespoke training from the education provider. Under the terms of the deal, which takes effect from September 2009, Weil Gotshal's annual intake of trainees will spend two terms at the College in Moorgate before a final term studying the firm's bespoke electives.

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  • May 8, 2008 |

    Cleary leads as US firms hit 20% mark on diversity

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has been crowned as the US's most ethnically-diverse major law firm, according to research that shows US firms drawing on a wider pool of talent. The research, conducted by Legal Week sister title Minority Law Journal, puts Cleary at the head of an extensive ranking based on diversity of workforce.

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  • May 7, 2008 |

    Dechert and Skadden Arps secure trophy public float on Czech £1.1bn mining IPO

    Dechert has landed a trophy corporate role advising Czech coal mining company New World Resources (NWR) on a flotation on the main stock exchanges in London, Prague and Warsaw that could be worth up to £1.1bn.The deal, which was scheduled for an early May listing as Legal Week went to press, is set to be the largest ever in Czech history and the largest European initial public offering (IPO) this year. It will also be the first to have a triple listing on the three bourses.

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  • May 7, 2008 |

    Client lows, credit woes

    Law firms needing extra capital from banks to weather the rough economy are finding that the times - and the terms - have changed. Many law firms are seeing a slowdown in work and a lengthening in their client payment cycle. At the same time, banks that provide lending to law firms to help cover their revenue gaps and fund bigger projects are implementing more onerous requirements for doling out credit.

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  • May 1, 2008 |

    First-half M&A boom drives US firms to $64.5bn record in 2007

    The US's top 100 law firms have capped off a record-breaking five-year run that has seen partner profits soar and combined fees last year hit $64.5bn (£32.4bn), according to the definitive snapshot of the world's largest legal market.The American Lawyer's eagerly-awaited top 100 rankings confirm that the M&A boom of the first half of 2007 has driven the US's top law firms to record financial results.

    1 minute read

  • May 1, 2008 |

    O'Melveny to align pay for US and UK partners

    O'Melveny & Myers is in talks to bring its remuneration structure for London partners into line with the rest of the firm. The move comes amid two senior City partner departures from the office and talk of pay disputes between the firm and the outgoing partners.

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  • April 30, 2008 |

    Commentary: A real American law firm lands in the Square Mile

    Unlike most US firms landing blinking in the City, one problem that Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges will not have is standing out. After all, these self-consciously combative trial lawyers extraordinaire manage to stand out in their home town, having grown at staggering speed from their 1986 launch to become a top 100 US practice in just two decades. But it is far more than startling growth that the Los Angeles-based upstart is known for: it remains one of the very few law firms of any significance to focus exclusively on litigation, a focus that the firm has turned to its advantage by freeing itself from conflicts.

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  • April 30, 2008 |

    Training and education: Power play

    Is the Government's decision to allow private law schools to award degrees a controversial move, or a natural step in the institutions' educational evolution? Choongo Moonga reports

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  • April 30, 2008 |

    US results 2007: high growth, high anxiety

    Here’s a telling story regarding the ambiguous mood in the outwardly-robust US legal market.At the time its well-received union was being finalised…

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  • April 29, 2008 |

    Bullish Linklaters leads on pay but will others follow?

    It certainly wasn’t a forgone conclusion but Linklaters set the agenda for the City pay round today (30 April) when it confirmed that it was lifting…

    1 minute read