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  • September 30, 2011 |

    Pinsents signs up Clarke Willmott quartet for sports team

    Pinsent Masons has boosted its City sports practice with the hire of a senior partner from Clarke Willmott. Trevor Watkins is set to join the UK top 20 firm next month as head of its sports group. He joins from Clarke Willmott's Southampton office, bringing with him a team of one senior associate and two solicitors.

    1 minute read

  • September 28, 2011 |

    Norton Rose votes through overhaul of partner pay system

    Norton Rose equity partners will see their share of the firm's profits re-based as part of an overhaul of the lockstep and the introduction of a more merit-based remuneration structure. The shift, which was voted through by partners over the summer following a review by the partnership council, will see the firm extend its lockstep at the top and put greater weight on individual performance from the start of the new financial year in May 2012.

    1 minute read

  • September 28, 2011 |

    The expert temps - will contract lawyers prove a mainstream tool for in-house legal teams?

    As in-house legal teams look for innovative ways to meet demand with frozen or reduced headcount budgets, providers of flexible and cost-effective interim lawyers are moving to fill the lacuna left by law firms as they struggle with their own resourcing and cost issues. Where once interim appointments were a necessary evil in between permanent jobs, the advent of hybrids including virtual law firm Axiom and Berwin Leighton Paisner's (BLP's) client resourcing solution Lawyers on Demand (LoD) is changing the game for corporates, tapping into a growing pool of talented lawyers looking to take more control of their own destiny and affording them a respectable and supported way to take on high-level, well-paid, flexible roles.

    1 minute read

  • September 27, 2011 |

    Pinsents recruits new nuclear co-head with EDF Energy hire

    Eversheds and Pinsent Masons have both appointed new energy-related practice group heads, with the latter recruiting a partner from EDF Energy. Pinsents has hired EDF's nuclear legal head Chris White as co-head of the firm's international nuclear practice. He will lead the team alongside current head Paul Rice.

    1 minute read

  • September 16, 2011 |

    DWF agrees College of Law LPC deal as Pinsents widens access to legal career

    DWF has become the latest law firm to agree an exclusive deal to send all of its future trainees to study at the College of Law. The College will provide the Legal Practice Course (LPC) to all of DWF's future trainees from later this month, with the students able to study at any of the law school's eight UK locations.

    1 minute read

  • September 14, 2011 |

    BLP, LG and Macfarlanes head up £139m sale of Pinsents' London base

    LG and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) are among a number of firms to have taken roles on the £139m sale of Pinsent Masons' City headquarters. BLP advised the purchaser, German fund manager Hannover Leasing, with a team led by commercial real estate partner Graham Lloyd-Brunt and real estate finance partner Jo Solomon.

    1 minute read

  • September 14, 2011 |

    Top firms break ground with project to boost access to law, but challenge has only begun

    Despite already being touted as a landmark for the industry, the law firms behind the initiative aimed at improving access to the profession are hoping to substantially expand the number of firms 
backing the scheme. The scheme launched with 23 major firms across the UK and Ireland but the backers of the project to hand work experience to under-privileged children believe it will be essential to secure the active support of more law firms before addressing the considerable challenge of building links and co-operation with a broad base of schools nationally.

    1 minute read

  • September 13, 2011 |

    DLA Piper and Olswang win roles as Vodafone confirms new legal panel

    Vodafone has completed a review of its group and UK legal advisers, with Olswang and DLA Piper winning first-time appointments. The panel is divided into two - a group panel which will handle the legal services for Vodafone's corporate centre and a dedicated UK panel.

    1 minute read

  • September 9, 2011 |

    23 major law firms come together for ground-breaking diversity initiative

    Twenty-three UK and Irish law firms have come together for a groundbreaking initiative to boost social mobility in the profession with a wide-ranging work experience scheme. The project, dubbed PRIME, will see the firms involved commit to provide significant work experience programmes for state school children from non-privileged backgrounds in a profession-wide bid to improve social diversity in law.

    1 minute read

  • September 9, 2011 |

    Ashurst's Cookson exits to join DLA Piper as London real estate chief

    DLA Piper has boosted its real estate practice with the hire of senior Ashurst partner Simon Cookson as the firm's new London real estate chief. Cookson was previously Ashurst's European real estate chief, and also held a position on the firm's board.

    1 minute read