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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.

    1 minute read

  • 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).

    1 minute read

  • 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.

    1 minute read

  • 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.

    1 minute read

  • 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

  • May 15, 2008 |

    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

  • May 15, 2008 |

    Vinson & Elkins tops up infrastructure and energy practice with Freshfields lateral hire

    Vinson & Elkins is to bolster its London office with the hire of energy and infrastructure partner Mark Coker from magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Coker is expected to join Vinson's energy finance group at the end of May, with his appointment taking the office to seven partners and 23 additional fee earners.

    1 minute read

  • May 8, 2008 |

    Linklaters adds 4% to NQ pay despite sweeping predictions of salary freeze

    Linklaters has announced rises of nearly 4% for junior lawyers as several major law firms last week defied predictions that the slowdown would leave pay bands unchanged this year.A newly-qualified (NQ) solicitor at the magic circle law firm is now set to earn £66,600, up from £64,000 in 2007, as exclusively revealed on legalweek.com (30 April).

    1 minute read

  • 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 |

    UK firms eye Singapore opportunities as local-law licences go up for grabs

    A raft of City firms are hoping to expand their presence in Singapore by applying for licences to practise local law in the country. Legal Week has learned that DLA Piper, Lovells, Ashurst, Herbert Smith and Norton Rose are all planning to apply for licences to provide local-law advice in Singapore. However, Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have told Legal Week they have no plans to do so, while Clifford Chance (CC) is intending to hold off making a decision until it sees further details from the Singapore Government.

    1 minute read