• March 23, 2010 |

    Halliwells real estate chief quits for Pinsents

    Pinsent Masons has recruited Halliwells national head of real estate Mike Edge to fill the newly-created role of Manchester head of property. Edge is still negotiating his departure terms with Halliwells, where he has led the national firm's property group since 2001. He will be replaced by planning partner Andrew Piatt, who takes over leadership of the group nationally and is also based in Manchester.

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  • March 22, 2010 |

    - Partnership Round 2010 -

    Welcome to Legal Week's 2010 partner promotions round-up. Here you'll find all the latest news stories about partner promotions gathered in one place, as well as links to relevant blog entries and any other bits and pieces we think might be of interest.

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  • March 17, 2010 |

    Addleshaws heads up 2010 trainee retention rankings with 89% of March intake kept on

    Addleshaw Goddard retained the highest number of March 2010 qualifying trainees in the UK top 30, with the national law firm keeping 89% of its intake. The firm kept on eight of the nine trainees qualifying and 100% of those applying for jobs, putting its retention rate narrowly ahead of those recorded by Nabarro and Wragge & Co and significantly above the 75% average across the top 30 as a whole.

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  • March 12, 2010 |

    Pinsents insurance chief joins Sidley in double partner hire for US firm

    Sidley Austin has boosted its London insurance capability with a double partner hire in the City. Martin Membery and Matthew Griffith both join the US firm from Pinsent Masons. Membery was the head of the national firm's insurance practice, specialising in non-contentious insurance and reinsurance projects, while Griffith was made up to partner in 2004.

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  • March 10, 2010 |

    Trainee retention at UK top 30 falls below 80%

    Trainee retention rates across the UK's top 30 law firms have been hit by the ongoing economic downturn, with most firms with March 2010 intakes retaining under 80% of their newly-qualified lawyers. Legal Week research shows the average retention rate for March 2010 stood at 75%, comparing acceptances with the number of qualifiers, a drop of nearly 10% on the 83% retention rate reported in March 2009.

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  • March 3, 2010 |

    Department of defence

    BAE Systems general counsel Philip Bramwell likes to delegate. Last year he charged UK chief counsel Roger Wiltshire with handling the defence company's recently concluded review of its UK legal advisers - its first panel review in 12 years. And he has just handed the job of re-assessing the group of law firms BAE uses for its international work to Andrew Guest, chief counsel for Saudi Arabia.

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  • March 3, 2010 |

    Pinsents moves into new London headquarters at 30 Crown Place

    Pinsent Masons is set to move all of its London lawyers under one roof after signing a deal to take on new space in the recently completed 30 Crown Place building. The national firm is planning to move its 600 London staff into the 16-storey building near Liverpool Street in early 2011 after a three-year hunt for suitable premises.

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  • February 24, 2010 |

    Pinsents and Freshfields take lead on buyout company's £418m listing

    Pinsent Masons and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have taken lead roles on the £418m listing of restaurant entrepreneur Hugh Osmond's corporate acquisition company Horizon on the London Stock Exchange. The initial public offering (IPO), which also handed an advisory role to Morrison & Foerster (MoFo), saw Horizon start trading stock on 9 February.

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  • February 24, 2010 |

    The outsourcers are coming

    The news that Microsoft is sending out legal work to a team of lawyers at legal process outsourcing (LPO) provider CPA Global in India is the latest indication that one of the most talked-about trends in recent years is no flash in the pan. That the announcement followed the defection earlier this month of former Rio Tinto managing attorney Leah Cooper to a business development role at CPA only adds further credence to the growing acceptance of legal outsourcing - particularly since Cooper herself was the driving force behind an agreement struck between CPA and Rio last June that saw a team of CPA lawyers take on work such as document review and legal research for the mining giant.

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  • February 22, 2010 |

    Charles Russell and Bird & Bird make line-up on revamped FA legal panel

    Charles Russell, Bird & Bird and Pinsent Masons have all scored roles on the Football Association (FA) Group's new-look legal panel following a tender process which saw a total of eight firms appointed. The two-stage panel process, which came to an end in December last year, saw eight successful firms chosen to work with the FA Group until March 2012.

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