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  • January 30, 2008 |

    Dundas client wins tender for £4.2bn Forth Crossing project

    Scots leader Dundas & Wilson is celebrating after a client won the contract for the £4.2bn replacement Forth Crossing, one of the largest-ever civil engineering projects north of the border. Dundas' client, a consortium led by engineering and project firms Jacobs and Arup, beat five other tenders to win the contract to advise Transport Scotland on the entire project, from design to completion.

    1 minute read

  • January 30, 2008 |

    Online special: CSR winning more lawyer converts

    Only a small percentage of UK lawyers are strongly opposed to taking on ethically-questionable mandates, a survey of the profession has found, even though the majority believe doing so can damage a law firm's reputation. Just 11% of leading UK lawyers said ethics should be a major consideration in accepting new clients in the latest Legal Week/EJ Legal Big Question survey. The majority (66.5%) said law firms should consider instructions from controversial regimes or corporate clients on a case-by-case basis.

    1 minute read

  • January 23, 2008 |

    NEC Group's first-ever GC begins cost-driving review

    Entertainment venues giant NEC Group's first-ever general counsel is gearing up for a review of its legal advisers, it has emerged, while Christian Salvesen is to lose its second senior in-house lawyer in recent months.

    1 minute read

  • January 23, 2008 |

    Pinsents' German ally signs up to tax network

    Pinsent Masons' German ally, Luther, has joined Taxand, a network of independent tax advisers. As part of the change Luther has hired tax consultant Ulrich Siegemund, who will join the firm on 1 February. Siegemund, who has worked as a partner at Deloitte since leaving Luther in 2002, will be followed by a team of eight to 10 further tax specialists. The Taxand network has a member in 41 countries.

    1 minute read

  • January 23, 2008 |

    The North: The credit forecast

    The credit crunch has apparently done little, so far, to change law firms' fortunes - or so they would have us believe. But it has noticeably changed the mood among lawyers based in the north of England. Most managing partners, while remaining cautiously optimistic, will admit to being concerned about what happens after the end of this financial year. DLA Piper Sheffield managing partner Stephen Sly sits with the optimists on the effects of the credit crunch: "If we are not careful we will talk ourselves into a recession," he says. "What is happening is a necessary and overdue adjustment to an overheated market." Manchester's Ian Austin, managing partner of Halliwells, displays typical northern pragmatism, saying: "I am not a pessimist, but I am a realist. The factors that were prevalent during the downturns in the early 1990s and 2001 are prevalent now. Let's wait and see what happens."

    1 minute read

  • January 23, 2008 |

    The outsourcing guide

    It is now commonly accepted business practice to adopt outsourcing as a means of refocusing organisations on core matters, reducing non-core operational risk, improving quality and staff morale and reducing cost. Although law firms have been relatively slow on the uptake to date, the legal sector can still take advantage of outsourcing and offshoring. Magic circle giant Clifford Chance has led the field by moving back office and secretarial support to its own office in India, in order to carry out much of the company's administrative work. The outsourcing programme is expected to yield more than £9.5m in annual savings. Similarly, Pinsent Masons announced a deal to offshore its bulk typing and transcription services as part of a move to change the role of its secretaries.

    1 minute read

  • January 16, 2008 | International Edition

    Big four cast long shadow in deal league but nationals gain ground

    It was a good year for London's big four in the key M&A markets, no doubt, but 2007's wildly uneven corporate market also drew a strong performance from firms such as Eversheds and Pinsent Masons. Echoing its market-leading performance in Legal Week's primary adviser tables, which track lead corporate roles on Europe's largest deals, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer topped the full tables for European M&A, according to recently-released research from Mergermarket.

    1 minute read

  • January 16, 2008 |

    Big four cast long shadow in deal league but nationals gain ground

    It was a good year for London's big four in the key M&A markets, no doubt, but 2007's wildly uneven corporate market also drew a strong performance from firms such as Eversheds and Pinsent Masons. Echoing its market-leading performance in Legal Week's primary adviser tables, which track lead corporate roles on Europe's largest deals, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer topped the full tables for European M&A, according to recently-released research from Mergermarket.

    1 minute read

  • January 9, 2008 |

    Pinsent Masons the latest firm to offer associates an alternative career route

    National giant Pinsent Masons is set to introduce an alternative to partnership, making it the latest in a line of major law firms to look at modernising its traditional career path.

    1 minute read

  • January 7, 2008 | International Edition

    Camerons captures £572m Carillion-McAlpine deal

    CMS Cameron McKenna has scored a lead advisory role opposite elite City firm Slaughter and May as construction company Carillion acquires Alfred McAlpine in a £572m deal. Camerons corporate partner Gary Green and senior partner Richard Price led the team acting for support services company Alfred McAlpine, assisted by James Parkes and Catherine Beckett.

    1 minute read