• July 24, 2008 |

    Energy giant United Utilities merges in-house teams in legal restructuring

    United Utilities general counsel Tom Keevil has overhauled the energy giant's legal function and made a number of senior internal appointments within the team. As part of the revamp Keevil has merged the FTSE 100 company's distinct regulatory and non-regulatory legal teams into a single unit, with four teams put in place to deal with commercial, litigation, property and environmental matters.

    1 minute read

  • July 24, 2008 | International Edition

    National firms unveil new NQ pay rates

    Pinsent Masons, Hammonds and Wragge & Co have become the latest regional outfits to unveil associate salary rates for the coming year, with differences between the firms' London and regional bases coming to the fore. Pinsents has raised its newly-qualified (NQ) rates in the City to £64,000, with a £1,000 increase on last year, equating to a 1.6% rise.

    1 minute read

  • July 24, 2008 |

    National firms unveil new NQ pay rates

    Pinsent Masons, Hammonds and Wragge & Co have become the latest regional outfits to unveil associate salary rates for the coming year, with differences between the firms' London and regional bases coming to the fore. Pinsents has raised its newly-qualified (NQ) rates in the City to £64,000, with a £1,000 increase on last year, equating to a 1.6% rise.

    1 minute read

  • July 24, 2008 |

    Cobbetts fights back after housing team loss with senior Pinsents hire

    Cobbetts has appointed a new social housing chief with the hire of Hugo Stephens - the head of housing at UK rival firm Pinsent Masons.Stephens joined the north-west firm's Birmingham arm last week (14 July) to bolster the firm's housing and regeneration team. He left Pinsents at the end of June with associate David Isaacson.

    1 minute read

  • July 23, 2008 |

    Scotland: Growing pains

    The Scottish National Party wants investment in Scotland to be delivered via the Scottish Futures Trust, replacing the public private partnership. Will this vision become a successful reality? David Nash weighs up the arguments for and against In the words of the Scottish Government's Finance Secretary, John Swinney, infrastructure investment lies at the core of the Scottish National Party (SNP) administration's policy of increasing sustainable economic growth. The £35bn investment programme planned for the next 10 years appears even more significant when the current economic slowdown is taken into consideration.

    1 minute read

  • July 17, 2008 |

    National firms lag behind UK average despite double-digit revenue growth

    Nationally-focused law firms have emerged as the weakest performers in the UK over the last 12 months, despite posting double-digit growth in revenues. Results drawn from the Legal Week top 50 show that the UK's top 10 national and regional firms increased their revenues by an average of 10.4% during the last financial year, while average profits per equity partner (PEP) grew by just 2.2%. The results, which come against a backdrop of redundancies at some of the major regional players, mean that average PEP for the biggest national firms now stands at £492,700, with average revenues per lawyer reaching £278,800.

    1 minute read

  • July 17, 2008 |

    Pinsents enters Russia with Magisters agreement

    Pinsent Masons has launched a referral agreement with CIS-based Magisters, in an effort to tap into the growing market for Russian infrastructure and projects deals. The agreement, which is non-exclusive, will see the two firms working together on matters in the transport, sport, infrastructure and projects sectors across Russia and the CIS.As part of the arrangement, which has been planned since last autumn, Pinsents PPP partner Neil Tindall has been seconded to Magisters' Moscow office, where he is serving as counsel.

    1 minute read

  • July 16, 2008 |

    Second city, first choice

    There is no shortage of choice for lawyers in Birmingham - the city houses some legal giants and a growing number of ambitious mid-tier players, says Sophie Evans

    1 minute read

  • July 16, 2008 |

    Capital quality

    Bristol's law firms are some of the oldest - and richest - in the country, making a move to the west country a well-trodden path for City lawyers. Sophie Evans reports

    1 minute read

  • July 16, 2008 |

    Yorkshire gold

    Move to Yorkshire as an associate and make it to your new firm's partnership and you're laughing. Leeds boasts some top flight firms with healthy profits - and the cost of living is cheaper too, says Sophie Evans

    1 minute read