Filter This View

  • December 8, 2008 |

    CC announces bonus cutbacks for US associates

    Clifford Chance (CC) has become the latest firm to cut back bonuses for US associates, with the announcement that it is to halve its year-end payouts. The US arm of the magic circle firm will award bonuses ranging from a pro-rated $17,500 (£12,000) for first-year associates to $32,500 (£22,000) for eighth-year associates - a significant decrease on last year, when the firm awarded bonuses ranging from $35,000 (£24,000) to $65,000 (£44,500).The new figures put CC in line with its US competitors, after a raft of Stateside firms, including Davis Polk & Wardwell, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Cravath Swaine & Moore, slashed bonuses in response to the economic downturn.

    1 minute read

  • December 4, 2008 |

    The driven Snow

    In what could become the biggest comeback in San Francisco Bay Area legal history, the controversial and charismatic captain of the sinking Brobeck Phleger…

    1 minute read

  • December 3, 2008 |

    Lovells boosts NY IP with Johnson & Johnson partner hire

    Lovells is adding a third partner to its New York intellectual property (IP) group with the hire of a senior in-house patent lawyer from Johnson & Johnson. Kevin Townsend joins the law firm as a partner this month as part of Lovells' plans to substantially boost its IP practice in the US. Townsend has been at healthcare and pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson - a longstanding client of Lovells - for eight years, managing all patent issues for major products in development.

    1 minute read

  • December 3, 2008 |

    Eye of the storm

    For lawyers working in banking, the bad news just keeps coming. Ever since the credit crunch gripped the financial services sector in August 2007 it has been a worrying time for anyone in finance, but there is now no doubt that the dramatic escalation of the crisis facing the industry, thanks to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, has raised the stakes considerably.Before Lehman, lawyers, particularly those working in the central legal teams, were seen as being among the least vulnerable staff in banking. Sure there were widespread claims that lawyers working in badly-hit transactional departments and legally-trained staff working on document management had been hit. But the general consensus was that, in an environment in which regulation, compliance and litigation had become greater issues, in-house legal teams were viewed as some of the most secure jobs.

    1 minute read

  • December 2, 2008 |

    CC set to lose NY litigation quartet

    Clifford Chance (CC) is set to lose a quartet of partners from the firm's US litigation practice. New York-based partners Warren Feldman, David Meister and former US chief John Carroll have defected to rival firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.The departures come just weeks after the managing partner of CC's Washington office, Leiv Blad, left for Bingham McCutchen along with litigation partner Jon Roellke and of counsel Boyd Cloern.

    1 minute read

  • November 27, 2008 |

    JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley join fee cutting drive

    JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are among a roster of leading banks attempting to slash fee agreements with panel law firms. Both banks are known to have contacted preferred advisers within the last month with a view to securing a reduction in fees - thought to be up to 15% - going forward. Banks including Lloyds TSB and Deutsche Bank are also understood to be in discussions with legal advisers with fees thought to be a key consideration.

    1 minute read

  • November 27, 2008 |

    Bank legal teams dread knock-on effect as Citi cuts 20% of workforce

    Banking lawyers have expressed concern that the prolonged economic turmoil will lead to further in-house job cuts, as Citigroup this month became the latest bank to announce redundancies. Fifty-two thousand jobs will go at the bank worldwide on top of the 23,000 redundancies made earlier this year - equating to a 20% reduction in headcount over the period. The cull follows a similar review earlier this month at Morgan Stanley, which is expected to lead to 3,600 losses, while Goldman Sachs looks set to cut 3,300 jobs following its announcement in October.

    1 minute read

  • November 26, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 27/11/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; the pick of the day's posts; and more

    1 minute read

  • November 19, 2008 |

    A landscape that's changed forever

    The mantra of responsible investors is diversify. Don't be too heavily committed to one sector or one type of investment. A balanced portfolio is the key to success. In the good times, you won't get the spectacular results but in the bad times you'll avoid painful losses.But many of the top US law firms have ignored - even flouted - that rule. Few firms are as focused on one sector as the big Wall Street law firms are on financial institutions. In past downturns, no one questioned that the premier firms would fare just fine. They were too prestigious, too wealthy, too strong. But this downturn, everyone agrees, is different. This time, should the big New York law firms be worried?

    1 minute read

  • November 19, 2008 |

    Something to bank on

    The transformation of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley into bank holding companies may be the end of one era, but it is the start of another. And one group of lawyers is thrilled about the change: banking regulatory specialists.That's because Goldman and Morgan now face scrutiny from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit -Insurance Corporation. Also, they will have to adopt risk-management policies which limit how much debt they can take on.

    1 minute read