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  • December 12, 2013 |

    British Legal Awards 2013: who won what - and why...

    A run-down of all the winners at this year's British Legal Awards, including full details of the judging panel's reasoning for each award.

    1 minute read

  • December 5, 2013 | International Edition

    Bonus season – the pros of treating junior lawyers fairly, if not equally

    Back in May, Legal Week tallied up the number of law firm jobs placed at risk of redundancy over the previous 12 months. The figure reached was a rather shocking 1,300, including some 750 jobs that had actually been cut at that point. Since then, the number of firms announcing redundancy programmes has slowed dramatically, although not completely. Several firms including DWF, Taylor Wessing and Bond Dickinson have made cuts – particularly following mergers and back office outsourcing deals.

    1 minute read

  • December 5, 2013 |

    Bonus season – the pros of treating junior lawyers fairly, if not equally

    Back in May, Legal Week tallied up the number of law firm jobs placed at risk of redundancy over the previous 12 months. The figure reached was a rather shocking 1,300, including some 750 jobs that had actually been cut at that point. Since then, the number of firms announcing redundancy programmes has slowed dramatically, although not completely. Several firms including DWF, Taylor Wessing and Bond Dickinson have made cuts – particularly following mergers and back office outsourcing deals.

    1 minute read

  • December 5, 2013 |

    Davis Polk's City base tops client rankings for quality of advice

    Davis Polk & Wardwell's drive to build an English law practice in London has been endorsed by its clients after they gave it the top ranking for legal advice in the annual Legal Week Intelligence Client Satisfaction Report. News that the Wall Street firm leads the field for quality of legal advice comes hard on the heels of its hiring of a fourth English law partner – Ashurst finance partner Nick Benham – and its launch of a London trainee scheme.

    1 minute read

  • December 4, 2013 |

    Weil, Kirkland and Links act on RBS's disposal of WorldPay

    Linklaters, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Kirkland & Ellis have secured roles on Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) sale of its remaining 20% stake in WorldPay to private equity firms Advent International and Bain Capital. RBS was advised on the disposal of the payment processing operator by Linklaters corporate partner Anne Drummond.

    1 minute read

  • December 4, 2013 |

    Cleary, Slaughters and KWM act on banks' €1.7bn rate-rigging settlement

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Slaughter and May and King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin (KWM) have taken roles as eight global banks reach a settlement with the European Commission (EC) for forming illegal cartels to rig interest rate derivatives. The EC today (4 December) fined eight banks - including the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Deutsche Bank - a total of €1.7bn (£1.4bn) for their roles in rigging interest rates in euro- and Japanese yen-denominated derivatives.

    1 minute read

  • December 3, 2013 |

    Linklaters plans merit-based element for associate pay

    Linklaters is set to introduce a performance-based salary model for London-based associates with post-qualification experience (PQE) of two years or more. The firm said the new remuneration structure will ensure the firm remains "highly competitive". The new pay system forms part of the firm's 'Our Deal' - a recently launched commitment to the partnership. The new structure will come into effect from 1 May 2014 and will ensure salaries better reflect individuals' contributions. The firm is not making changes to its existing bonus structure.

    1 minute read

  • December 2, 2013 |

    Slaughters bumps up bonuses as new appraisals system kicks in

    Slaughter and May has increased the bonuses it pays to its fee earners and staff, with associates now set to earn up to 12% on top of their regular pay package. The firm brought in a new appraisal process for its associates earlier this year in a move to bring in merit-linked pay, resulting in "some differentiation" in discretionary bonuses paid to fee earners.

    1 minute read

  • November 28, 2013 |

    Return of the independent – how independent law firms are outperforming global rivals in Germany

    It is 23 years since international firms were first allowed to practise local law in Germany. Glance down the list of today's top 20 German firms (by number of lawyers and by revenue) and 75% of them are familiar magic circle names and Wall Street powerhouses, supplemented by a range of UK and US firms with global ambitions. It goes deeper: of the top 50 firms, barely a third are independent. But something interesting has been happening in Germany – from Frankfurt to Stuttgart, the independents are fighting back. Recent data shows that independent firms' annual revenues have increased by 6%-7%, the best figures among independents in all European jurisdictions, while their international counterparts have flatlined. Andreas Urban, managing partner at mid-size independent Heuking Kuhn, says: "There is stagnation among the top law firms – if you look at the top 10, many of them have relatively low growth rates, very flat. A lot of firms below that are developing higher growth rates. There is a shift by clients going to these firms."

    1 minute read

  • November 24, 2013 |

    Magic circle duo land lead roles on China insurance deal

    Slaughter & May is acting opposite Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on Swiss Re's US$493m acquisition of 4.9% stake in China's third biggest life insurance company. The deal, which closes today, is part of a wider initiative by Swiss Re to tap China's burgeoning life insurance market, which is thought to rank number five in the world.

    1 minute read