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  • September 9, 2011 |

    Pinsents set to relocate Bristol staff after closing down regional base

    Pinsent Masons is set to close its Bristol base next year with all lawyers to be relocated to the firm's other offices. The move, first reported on RollOnFriday today (9 September), will see the firm close its southwest office by the end of February 2012, after taking the view that it can sufficiently service its clients in the region from its other bases.

    1 minute read

  • September 7, 2011 |

    The merger master - how James Retallack's merger experience served him well on the board of takeover target

    Aggregate Industries' (AI's) former legal and compliance director James Retallack knows a thing or two about mergers. In the glare of the public eye he guided Birmingham and London law firm Edge Ellison through the rocky aftermath of dramatically collapsed merger talks with then Pinsent Curtis (now Pinsent Masons) in 1997 and, after an oft-challenging three years, into a union with legacy Hammond Suddards. Only four years later, at major heavy building materials company AI, he was part of the board guiding the FTSE 250 company through a £1.8bn merger with Swiss-founded aggregate and cement giant Holcim.

    1 minute read

  • August 31, 2011 |

    Pinsents and SJ Berwin consider merit-based partner pay shifts

    Pinsent Masons and SJ Berwin are reviewing partner remuneration, with both firms considering moves towards more performance-driven systems. Pinsents is considering extending its lockstep as well as increasing the performance-related element of equity partner pay, either by boosting the size of its discretionary bonus pool – which currently stands at 10% of the firm's total profits – or potentially by replacing it with another system.

    1 minute read

  • August 22, 2011 |

    Pinsents and Wragges freeze rates for newly-qualified London lawyers

    Pinsent Masons and Wragge & Co have become the latest firms to confirm details of associate salaries for 2011-12, with both firms freezing rates for newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers in London. NQs in Wragges' City base will continue to receive £58,000, while salaries for Birmingham-based NQs will increase by £1,000 to £38,000.

    1 minute read

  • August 10, 2011 |

    Hardwicke Chambers, McGrigors and Herbert Smith win Veolia panel roles

    Veolia has reviewed its UK panel arrangements, with Herbert Smith and McGrigors winning first-time appointments. In an unusual move, the French utility giant has also added a barristers' chambers to its external legal line-up for the first time, with Hardwicke Chambers winning the appointment.

    1 minute read

  • August 10, 2011 |

    Salans appoints new global COO with hire of ex-Ashurst man

    Salans has turned to the London office of Ropes & Gray for its new global chief operating officer. Peter Griffith, who joined Salans' London office on 8 August, will be responsible for all the firm's global support services, including finance, IT, business development and marketing. He replaces Neil Woodcock, who retired earlier this year.

    1 minute read

  • August 1, 2011 |

    Pinsents faces £10m negligence claim from former client

    Pinsent Masons has been hit with a negligence claim of more than £10m from a former client. Construction contractor Shepherd Construction has launched a claim in the High Court alleging that negligent drafting of contracts by Pinsents left the company liable to repay subcontractors when one of its clients went into administration.

    1 minute read

  • July 20, 2011 |

    Nationals and regionals: Addleshaws sees financials fall as rest of top 10 holds steady

    Addleshaw Goddard has emerged as the only top 10 national or regional law firm to see a decline in both revenue and profits in 2010-11 – a year when the group mirrored the marginal increases in profits and turnover seen across the top 50 as a whole.

    1 minute read

  • July 20, 2011 |

    Skillset transfer - outsourcing lessons for the legal industry

    I've worked in and around the insurance industry for as long as I've been lawyer. For a lawyer, the insurance industry is easy to understand. There are significant similarities between the legal profession and the insurance industry. Each is a conservative industry sector, slower than other industry sectors to embrace change, new technology and new business operating models. Each is a paper-based business focused on risk management that was once regional but has now become multinational. Each, too, is a regulated business where the protection of the rights of the ultimate end users of the service is of upmost importance.

    1 minute read

  • July 8, 2011 |

    DWF wins place on Halfords' first legal panel

    DWF, Pinsent Masons and Foot Anstey have won places on Halfords' first-ever legal panel.The trio have been appointed to the cycling and car product retailer's roster following a competitive tender process.

    1 minute read