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  • June 26, 2008 |

    Image problem is holding back on careers after law, admit partners

    Partners at leading City firms face an uphill struggle to win senior roles after a career in law, with the overwhelming majority believing commercial lawyers suffer from an image problem in the wider business community. Results of the latest Legal Week Big Question survey found that 94% of respondents believe commercial lawyers have some level of image problem within the business community, with around one third of respondents claiming it to be a 'considerable' problem.

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  • June 15, 2008 |

    Acting workshops for lawyers

    The prosecutor showed the jury grisly photographs of the victim, whose head had been severed with a hook. He looked each juror in the eye, his voice quivering…

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  • June 11, 2008 |

    Shearman spin-off opens new office in Frankfurt

    German independent Schilling Zutt & Anschuetz is set to open its second office after spinning off from US firm Shearman & Sterling last month. The Mannheim-based firm is set to open in Frankfurt by next year as it attempts to strengthen its ties to the local finance market. The nine-partner firm has been operating independently since 1 May, following its demerger from Shearman & Sterling. Shearman continues to operate offices in Duesseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich.

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  • June 6, 2008 |

    US Briefing: Making history with Obama

    As an avid student of modern US history, Covington & Burling partner Eric Holder Jr is well aware that he has been a groundbreaker. He was the first black US Attorney for the District of Columbia and later the first black deputy attorney general. Now some are wondering whether Holder - the campaign co-chair for Barack Obama and an individual with an acute sense of his duty to serve - could become the first African-American attorney general.

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  • June 5, 2008 |

    Norton Rose continues Dubai drive with new finance partner

    Norton Rose has bolstered its Middle East practice with the hire of corporate partner Andrew Abernethy for its Dubai office. Abernethy joined the firm on 2 June from the Wellington office of New Zealand firm Bell Gully, where he was a partner in the corporate finance practice for five years. Before joining Bell Gully, Abernethy spent six years with Shearman & Sterling in New York and is admitted to practise both US and New Zealand law.

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  • May 21, 2008 |

    The Treasury Department's false alarm sounds

    Who says lawyers aren't an excitable bunch? On Friday, 29 March, the US Department of the Treasury released a 22-page summary of a radical plan to revolutionise a wide swathe of financial markets. Lawyers sprang into action. Many spent the weekend dissecting the summary and answering calls from panicked clients. Of course, the promise of sweet, sweet billables made the loss of Saturday and Sunday a little more palatable. The following Monday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson held a press conference to announce the new plan, which covered everything from hedge funds to home mortgages. Lawyers felt an earthquake coming. Sweeping new regulations would mean one practice area would boom, another would die. There would be new laws to learn and new deals to make.

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  • May 21, 2008 |

    Shearman clears up with top role on first UK clearing house initiative for 100 years

    Shearman & Sterling has landed a major role advising on the first new derivatives clearing house to be approved in the UK for more than 100 years. The London arm of the New York leader has been advising US exchange operator IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) on the creation of ICE Clear Europe - which was approved by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) last week (13 May).

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  • May 20, 2008 |

    2008 Assistant Pay League: a Legal Week Wiki special

    Who pays what and how. Your A-Z guide to the pay scales at the top UK and US firms.

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  • May 15, 2008 |

    White & Case nudges City salaries up 2%

    White & Case has become the latest firm to announce increases to its associate salaries, with the US firm unveiling rises of 2.1% for its junior lawyers. A newly-qualified solicitor (NQ) at the US giant will now earn £78,000 - an increase of £2,000 on the previous year's figure of £76,000.

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  • May 15, 2008 | International Edition

    CC, BLP and Olswang play it safe with modest salary rises

    Clifford Chance (CC), Allen & Overy (A&O) and Olswang have joined the ranks of firms announcing associate salary rates for 2008, with all three avoiding significant rises. A&O last week became the first magic circle law firm to reveal it was holding salary bands at 2007 levels, with the firm announcing it had frozen associate salaries for 2008. The move is in line with Herbert Smith's decision in April to hold its rates at 2007 levels.

    1 minute read