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  • July 11, 2013 |

    Links, Travers and Shoosmiths come out top in associate satisfaction poll

    Linklaters and Norton Rose Fulbright have been rated as the law firms that associates at rivals would most like to work for, according to new research by Legal Week. Legal Week Intelligence's flagship Employee Satisfaction Report (ESR) this year found the pair ranked ahead of Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy (A&O) and Pinsent Masons as the five most popular firms to work for, as rated by peers at rival law firms. Norton Rose, A&O and Slaughters have been in the top five for the last three years of the survey, while Pinsents and Linklaters are new entrants this year, replacing Berwin Leighton Paisner and Clyde & Co.

    1 minute read

  • July 11, 2013 |

    Singapore leader Rajah & Tann seals alliance with triple merger of Malaysia firms

    Rajah & Tann has made its formal debut into Malaysia this month after signing a strategic alliance with local Malaysian outfit Christopher & Lee Ong. The Singapore firm, which also did tie up with Indonesian firm Assegaf Hamzah & Partners in May, is among a number of outfits from the city-state looking to grow its footprint in South East Asia and tap the steady flow of deals from the region.

    1 minute read

  • July 10, 2013 |

    Line-up of top law firms win spots on new RBS EMEA panel

    Clifford Chance (CC), Allen & Overy (A&O), White & Case and Eversheds are among a host of firms to have won places on Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) EMEA legal panel. At least 21 international firms have taken coveted spots on the panel - which covers the bank's legal work across 24 European, Middle East and African countries - following a competitive tender process.

    1 minute read

  • July 5, 2013 |

    Eversheds posts 3% revenue rise with partner profits up 2% to £642,000

    Eversheds has posted a 3% increase in revenues and a 2% rise in profits per equity partner (PEP) over the 2012-13 financial year. The firm saw its revenues increased to £376m from £366m while PEP rose from £632,000 last year to £642,000 this year. According to Eversheds, net profit rose 6% with all litigation teams witnessing strong growth while its financial institutions and energy and natural resources sectors grew by 20% and 14% respectively.

    1 minute read

  • July 4, 2013 |

    Norton Rose reports 4% turnover rise for year up to Fulbright merger

    Norton Rose Fulbright has reported a 4% increase in global turnover after seeing income rise to $1.334bn (£845.3m) during 2012-13. The figures cover the year to 30 April, and as such do not yet reflect the firm's transatlantic merger with Texas firm Fulbright & Jaworski, which went live on 1 June.

    1 minute read

  • July 4, 2013 |

    Go your own way - Norton Rose Fulbright CEO Peter Martyr on how he changed his firm's mindset

    At the Global Independent Law Firms Forum, Norton Rose Fulbright chief executive Peter Martyr told John Malpas how he changed his firm's mindset and urged business lawyers to give more back to society

    1 minute read

  • July 4, 2013 |

    Near-shoring and LPO takes hold as more top 30 firms eye moves

    Fifteen of the UK's top 30 law firms by revenue have either set up their own low-cost legal centre or are sending routine legal work to legal process outsourcing (LPO) providers, according to research conducted by Legal Week. Several other leading firms are reviewing their options, including Stephenson Harwood, which is considering opening a low-cost legal centre, and SJ Berwin, which is in early stage talks to outsource its document production team.

    1 minute read

  • July 4, 2013 |

    Branching out - how top law firms are going beyond the City to cut costs

    Deutsche Bank's global head of compliance, Simon Dodds, is one of many senior in-house lawyers to have called on City-based law firms to farm out straightforward legal work to low-cost centres. "Magic circle law firms in particular have a problem with their model. [They have] commoditised to some extent but lawyers are sitting in London – the most expensive place in the world," he told a Legal Week conference.

    1 minute read

  • June 27, 2013 |

    Firms clear to advise in Malaysia without local bases as 'fly-in, fly-out' gets OK

    International law firms doing business in Malaysia will be able to advise clients without having to set up an office in the country, as details emerge of new legislation set to open up the country's legal market this summer. Malaysian authorities had been expected to restrict firms from doing business in the country on a 'fly-in, fly-out' basis, preventing firms from advising clients on the ground without an office in the country. However, revised regulations, which will be debated by parliament next month, say law firms without Malaysian offices will still be able to advise clients in the country, provided their stay does not exceed 60 days per lawyer, per year.

    1 minute read

  • June 27, 2013 |

    Mining for mergers in the maple leaf state – will Canada follow Australia's lead with a wave of international tie-ups?

    Canada and Australia have a lot in common. They are both huge countries (9.98m sq km and 7.7m sq km respectively), sparsely populated (34.7m and 22.9m), literate (both 99%), wealthy ($41,500 (£27,000) and $42,400 (£27,500) GDP per head) and rich in natural resources. So when UK law firm Norton Rose announced mergers with two Canadian practices – Ogilvy Renault in 2011 and Macleod Dixon in 2012 – there was naturally speculation that Canada's legal market would follow the pattern set by its Australian counterpart, where almost all of the big domestic firms jumped into bed with international partners within a couple of years of each other. As David Corbett, managing partner at Canadian firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin, recalls: "At the time of the Norton Rose merger, there was a lot of talk among the managing partners here as to whether Australia was a good analogy. The conclusion was that nobody knew and we would have to wait and see."

    1 minute read