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  • January 27, 2012 |

    Court strikes out part of £10m negligence claim against Pinsents

    Pinsent Masons has successfully won part of its bid to overturn a £10m negligence claim brought against the firm by former client, Shepherd Construction. The firm applied to strike out parts of Shepherd's claim relating to the firm's advice, with the company arguing Pinsents had a continuing duty to advise it of changes in the law.

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  • January 26, 2012 |

    Top 50 union promises shuffle upwards for national duo but no end game for Pinsents

    Georgina Stanley and Rose Orlik ask if the looming McGrigors merger can help Pinsents achieve its larger goals...

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  • January 26, 2012 |

    Government legal spend drops 36% amid austerity cutbacks

    Government legal spend through its central panel of external advisers fell by more than a third last year, with the findings coming as a long-awaited review of the roster kicked off in earnest earlier this month. Figures released by the Government Procurement Service, following a Freedom of Information Act request from Legal Week, show the panel handing out a total of £28.8m to the current 48-firm roster during 2010-11, 36% down on the record figure of £44.8m spent during the previous year.

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  • January 26, 2012 |

    Reverberations and revolutions - change grips the market as 'Tesco law' finally launches

    More than eight years since plans for sweeping reform of the UK's £25bn legal services market were first floated, the most radical phase of 'Tesco law' starts this month. Sofia Lind finds the looming revolution already having a profound impact on the profession

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  • January 26, 2012 |

    Lawyers call for caution after Cable's executive pay reform proposals

    Lawyers have urged caution in the wake of Vince Cable's proposals to reform executive pay, with some warning that popular pressure to curb business leaders' salaries could result in knee-jerk legislation. The Business Secretary's proposed reforms, announced earlier this week, include the suggestion that investors are handed a binding vote on directors' notice periods and exit payments, while other proposals could see a clawback mechanism for executive bonuses.

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  • January 20, 2012 |

    Merger mania again - but has anything changed this time?

    You can forget all the forensic stuff about strategic tie-ups; large UK mergers usually don't make it over the line because the partners haven't wanted them enough and didn't sufficiently fear the consequences of not doing a deal...

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  • January 19, 2012 |

    Stayin' alive (just) – high street woe looks set to shake restructuring market out of relative calm

    With budget fashion retailers Peacocks and Barratts this week looking set to join a growing list of high street casualties in the latest round of economic turmoil, 2012 should – in theory – shape up to be a busy year for City restructuring and insolvency partners. To date, January has already seen the likes of Addleshaw Goddard, Travers Smith, Linklaters and SJ Berwin win roles on the administrations of Blacks Leisure and lingerie chain La Senza and, with many predicting a surge of additional collapses, the tally of firms winning work from turbulence on the high street is obviously set to increase. Still, a quick glance behind the more high-profile headlines shows that restructuring – and in particular, insolvency – work has so far failed to see the sustained upsurge predicted in the wake of Lehman Brothers' collapse and the onset of the last recession. While there was a run of deals in the wake of the banking crisis through 2009 and early 2010, by consensus pickings have been slimmer than restructuring teams expected.

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  • January 19, 2012 |

    More major law firms assess plans to join 'Tesco law' revolution

    Hill Dickinson and Kennedys have become the latest top 50 law firms to confirm plans to convert to an alternative business structure (ABS), as growing numbers of firms gear up for the 'Tesco Law' revolution. DAC Beachcroft, Field Fisher Waterhouse and Withers, as well as Keoghs, are all actively considering an ABS conversion, which permits non-lawyer ownership of law firms through either external capital injections or a float and allows law firms to tag on non-legal services.

    1 minute read

  • January 19, 2012 |

    Finance partners cheer bid to make London a renminbi trading hub

    Finance partners have welcomed plans by the UK Government to help strengthen London's position as a leading financial centre by turning it into an offshore trading hub for China's renminbi (RMB) currency. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne signed a deal on Monday (16 January) in Hong Kong setting out plans to make London a trading centre for the currency, which is becoming increasingly important as China's economic power continues to grow.

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  • January 19, 2012 |

    Pinsents and McGrigors in merger talks over near-£300m tie-up

    Pinsent Masons and McGrigors are in merger talks over a deal that could create a combined firm with revenues of around £282m. The talks have been confirmed by both firms today (19 January) with partner votes expected to be held in February. If a deal goes ahead, the combined firm would be ranked 12th in the UK top 50, with McGrigors reporting 2010-11 turnover of £70m and Pinsents' revenues standing at £212.5m.

    1 minute read