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  • November 6, 2008 |

    City firms post solid H1 financials as nationals start to feel the pinch

    A band of City law firms look set to tough out the gloomy market with Lovells, Norton Rose, Trowers & Hamlins and CMS Cameron McKenna all expecting double-digit revenue growth for the first six months of the year.Norton Rose has said that it expects to see 11% growth over the first half of 2008-09 increasing revenue from £127.5m to £141.5m. Camerons has also had a solid first-half with a 10% increase in revenue from £103m to around £113m.Lovells is predicting to see 10%-plus revenue growth with the firm highlighting insolvency and restructuring, capital markets, intellectual property and corporate as strong performers.Trowers, which has a well-established practice in the much-courted Middle East market, has emerged as a leading performer, posting a 16% increase in income moving from £36.1m to £42m.Ashurst and Simmons & Simmons have both also managed to grow their first-half revenues by more than 5% against the same period in 2007, in what will be seen as credible performances.Norton Rose chief executive Peter Martyr told Legal Week: "We are looking good at the moment - our main practice areas are robust and we are well placed. But it is extremely hard to judge the future. There has never been such a degree of uncertainty as to what the immediate future will bring."Despite indications that many law firms have managed to maintain growth in the face of the slump, the 2008-09 year promises to display widely-diverging results, with a substantial proportion of firms seeing falls in revenue.Addleshaw Goddard, Eversheds, Halliwells and Wragge & Co have all this week confirmed dips in H1 revenue. Eversheds is down 4% to £188m from £196 while Halliwells sees its income drop by 3.1% to £44m from £45.4m.Eversheds chief executive David Gray said: "Given the economic turmoil of the last six months, it is not surprising that law firms are facing reduced revenues. "Eversheds has posted a small decline in revenues of just 4%, which is further evidence that the business is holding up well, with some areas seeing over 30% growth, such as competition and international."Addleshaws' income between April and October dropped to £94.7m from £97.5m on the same period last year. It is thought that Cobbetts' first half will be down around 5%-10%A spokesperson from Halliwells added: "There is no disputing that the market is extremely difficult at present and the remainder of the financial year is sure to prove just as challenging, but our core business remains strong and a number of our practice areas continue to perform very well."In addition, magic circle firms have this year been intensely secretive about their H1 results, despite expectations that the group has benefited from relatively busy foreign offices and a flight to quality with transactional mandates.

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  • November 5, 2008 |

    Macfarlanes takes lead on CompAir sale

    Pinsent Masons and Macfarlanes have bagged lead roles on CompAir's £197.5m sale to industrial manufacturer Gardner Denver. The deal saw Macfarlanes instructed for regular client Alchemy Partners, as the majority shareholder in air and gas compressor business (CompAir). The City firm fielded a team led by corporate partner Ian Martin, and including partners Paul Davies, Marc Israel and Elizabeth Sherwood.Meanwhile, Pinsents was brought in to advise CompAir's management with a team led by technology head Andrew Hornigold, assisted by corporate associate James Willmott.

    1 minute read

  • November 5, 2008 |

    Pinsents recruits partner for Manchester pensions

    Pinsent Masons has appointed Howard Ridley as a partner in its pensions group in Manchester. Ridley joins the firm from Rowley Ashworth in Leeds and was officially appointed to the role at the end of September. Ridley was previously a pensions partner at Eversheds in Manchester and a pensions lawyer in London with Lovells and Linklaters.

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  • November 3, 2008 |

    Pinsents retains top spot in AIM client rankings

    Pinsent Masons and LG have cemented their positions as lead advisers to the largest number of clients on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in the last quarter. The fourth quarter update from data provider Hemscott sees Pinsents leading the rankings, picking up two extra AIM clients over the last quarter to take the firm's tally to 61.LG bagged one extra client on the previous quarter to bring the firm's total roster of AIM clients up to 54.

    1 minute read

  • October 31, 2008 |

    It's bonus time

    Since bonuses were introduced by law firms in the late 1990s as a way to limit the long-term effects of salary inflation, amounts paid out - and the hoops that lawyers have to jump through in order to get their hands on the cash - have varied wildly between firms. Some firms give tens of thousands of pounds to lawyers regardless of individual performance, while others require Olympian levels of all-round commitment in return for sums that could probably be more easily obtained through a few after hours' shifts at the local pub.We take a look behind the main bonus systems operating at the major City and regional firms and assess what the future of bonuses in the legal world is likely to be.

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  • October 30, 2008 |

    Another US firm winds up as Thelen calls it a day

    Thelen's partnership council recommended on Tuesday (28 October) that the firm's partnership vote to dissolve, becoming the second major US practice to collapse in as many months. Staff were informed that a dissolution committee had been formed and the firm expected to close on 1 December.Thelen was best known in the UK for setting up an unusual projects and construction focused joint venture with the legacy practice Masons in 2003. The venture was terminated by Thelen and the then Pinsent Masons last year.

    1 minute read

  • October 23, 2008 |

    High-flying insurer and fund manager kick off reviews of UK legal advisers

    Insurance and investment group Liverpool Victoria (LV) and fund manager Aviva Investors Global Services have kicked off reviews of their UK legal advisers.Both panel reviews started earlier this month, with LV's being led by the company's head of legal, Alison Vickers, and Aviva Investors' by head of legal Michelle Sorrell.

    1 minute read

  • October 9, 2008 |

    Strategy updated as Pinsents MP Ryan appointed for another term

    Pinsent Masons managing partner David Ryan has been re-elected to serve another term leading the national firm.Ryan was reappointed last month after an uncontested election process. Ryan, who was initially voted in as managing partner of Pinsent Curtis in 1999, will formally begin his new term on 1 March, 2009. During his time at the law firm's helm he has overseen two mergers - the first, with Biddle in 2001, followed by the Masons merger in 2004. His appointment coincides with the firm starting its new three-year stategy, which was devised by Ryan. The strategy will see the firm's international and London presence forming a key part of its overall development, with practice areas including infrastructure, corporate, technology, outsourcing, property and project finance highlighted for growth internationally.Ryan told Legal Week: "We are in a different place to where we were in 2005. We have made progress and are more confident and ambitious in what we want to do. Our last strategy was concerned with making the merger work whereas the current one is about making us stronger in terms of international reach and client relationships."News of Ryan's re-election comes after Pinsents senior partner Chris Mullen took up his second four-year term in the role in July, also after an uncontested election. He initially took up the post in 2005 when Julian Tonks stood down due to ill health. Mullen also pledged to boost the firm's international growth, targeting the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. Earlier this year, the top 20 UK law firm announced double-digit growth in turnover for the third consecutive year. Fee income jumped by 11% over 2007-08 to reach a new high of £213m, while profits per equity partner increased by 6% to hit £500,000.

    1 minute read

  • October 8, 2008 |

    Bank turmoil helps elite firms to tighten grip on M&A market

    Top UK and US law firms dominate the latest European M&A rankings for Q3 2008 - a period in which global deal volume fell by 36% compared with the same quarter the previous year. The latest research from Legal Week's data provider, Mergermarket, shows the magic circle taking the top positions by value and volume for European M&A, with New York leaders also featuring highly.

    1 minute read

  • October 3, 2008 |

    Hammonds set to lose three senior partners

    Hammonds is to lose three of its senior partners, with disputes partner Ann Benzimra, corporate partner Gregg Davison and pensions partner Terry Saeedi all set to step down from the national firm's partnership.The trio handed in their notice earlier this week (30 September) - on one of only two days each year in which equity partners are able to resign.Davison is set to join national rival Pinsent Masons although his departure terms are still being negotiated, while it is unclear what Saeedi's plans are.

    1 minute read