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  • April 24, 2008 |

    Shearman parts with German arm over pay

    Shearman & Sterling's Mannheim office has broken away from the US law firm after months of debate. The split will see the 30-lawyer office, which includes nine partners, reverting back to the name it operated under before its 2000 tie-up with Shearman - Schilling Zutt & Anschuetz.

    1 minute read

  • April 24, 2008 |

    Editor's Comment: If it's broke...

    Firms rarely tinker with management structures from a position of strength. Unless you have just merged and need to implement a system that puts the fewest noses out of joint - see Freshfields or more recently Dewey & LeBoeuf - you're most likely losing ground against your peers and action needs to be taken; for the latest example of this see Shearman & Sterling. Last week in an internal memo, Shearman senior partner Rohan Weerasinghe announced the firm is revamping its management. The executive group will be reduced from six members to three, comprising Weerasinghe, executive director Kim Gardner and partner Fred Sosnick. Previous group members John Madden, Georg Thoma, Kenneth MacRitchie and Linda Rappaport will focus their efforts on client work, as well as being called upon in various management roles. Below the executive group five teams take control of areas such as client development and risk management and a further, four-partner group, including Thoma from Europe and Matthew Bersani in Asia, will focus on strategy. There is logic in this, not least in creating a formal strategy team. In addition, centralising day-to-day power in a smaller executive group should streamline decision-making while further management responsibilities will be better spread around the firm.

    1 minute read

  • April 24, 2008 |

    Mexican mining company calls on Freshfields and Links for London Stock Exchange debut

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters have won roles on the planned London Stock Exchange float of silver producer Fresnillo. The initial public offering (IPO), which will make Fresnillo the first Mexican company to list on London's main market, follows a slow period for UK listings.

    1 minute read

  • April 22, 2008 |

    Shearman parts with 30-lawyer Mannheim arm

    Shearman & Sterling has parted company with its Mannheim office, which has broken away to launch its own firm. The break-off of the Mannheim office was announced to partners in an internal email today (22 April), with Shearman set to lose around 30 lawyers, including nine partners.

    1 minute read

  • April 18, 2008 |

    Shearman in top-level management shake-up

    Shearman & Sterling is to make a number of changes to its senior management structure, Legal Week can reveal, streamlining its main decision-making body and appointing New York bankruptcy partner Fred Sosnick to the new role of management team coordinator. The international executive group will be reduced in size from six partners to three, according to changes outlined by senior partner Rohan Weerasinghe in an internal memo seen by Legal Week.

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2008 |

    Duck the downturn

    Legal Week's career clinic recently received an anxious message from a newly-qualified corporate associate at a US firm. No doubt having heard stories of the gruelling hours put in at such firms, the associate expressed surprise - and concern - that they were not exactly run off their feet. "I am concerned that the lack of work coming into the department will mean that heads will start to roll and I may be picking up my P45 sooner or later."

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2008 |

    From start to finish

    Step 1Get your degree A qualifying law degree has traditionally been the first step on the road to becoming a solicitor. It will exempt you from the Common Professional Examination (CPE) or Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), provided it covers all seven foundations of legal knowledge: obligations I (contract) and II (tort); criminal law; equity and law of trusts; European Union (EU) law; property law; and public law.

    1 minute read

  • April 10, 2008 |

    Sullivan's Euro drive continues with senior Shearman tax hire

    Sullivan & Cromwell has made a high-profile lateral hire for its London office, bringing in tax partner Michael McGowan from the London arm of New York rival Shearman & Sterling. The appointment of a senior tax partner in London will be viewed as further evidence of Sullivan's ambitions to substantially expand its transactional practice in Europe.

    1 minute read

  • April 9, 2008 | International Edition

    Commentary: Shearman risks unsettled horses with new City head

    Despite years of grumblings from Shearman & Sterling's London arm, the timing of last week's announcement that long-time office head Kenneth MacRitchie was standing down was still unexpected. And the 1 April announcement not only surprised rivals. Several London partners, caught off guard by lack of consultation, made little attempt to disguise their shock; the appointment of the new City head, the respected leveraged finance partner Anthony Ward, apparently came straight from New York, with some London partners claiming the first they had heard of the power change was a firm-wide announcement.

    1 minute read

  • April 9, 2008 |

    Commentary: Shearman risks unsettled horses with new City head

    Despite years of grumblings from Shearman & Sterling's London arm, the timing of last week's announcement that long-time office head Kenneth MacRitchie was standing down was still unexpected. And the 1 April announcement not only surprised rivals. Several London partners, caught off guard by lack of consultation, made little attempt to disguise their shock; the appointment of the new City head, the respected leveraged finance partner Anthony Ward, apparently came straight from New York, with some London partners claiming the first they had heard of the power change was a firm-wide announcement.

    1 minute read