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  • March 26, 2013 |

    Gold joins litigation venture launched by ex-Slaughters and SJB leaders

    Former Herbert Smith senior partner Lord Gold has taken up a new role as chairman of litigation support company Proven. Proven was launched in 2009 by former Slaughter and May senior partner Tim Clark and ex-SJ Berwin chief David Harrel.

    1 minute read

  • March 24, 2013 |

    Freshfields promotes six in the City in 14-strong partnership round

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is making up six new partners in London as part of a 14-strong haul worldwide. Almost half of the magic circle firm's new partners are in its City headquarters, where corporate lawyers Sam Newhouse (energy), George Swan (financial institutions) and finance lawyer Denise Ryan (high yield/leverage finance) will join the partnership from 1 May.

    1 minute read

  • March 21, 2013 |

    Staff costs soar as top UK firms pay out almost 50% of revenues

    The UK's top 30 law firms spent almost half of their combined turnover on staff costs during the last financial year, with the total bill coming to £4.5bn. Legal Week analysis of limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts filed with Companies House for the 2011-12 financial year shows total staff costs for both lawyers and support staff accounted for 42% of fee income, with the total amount spent rising by 7.3% year-on-year.

    1 minute read

  • March 21, 2013 |

    UK duo lead as RBS gives up control of Direct Line

    Allen & Overy (A&O) and Slaughter and May have led on a deal that has seen the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) give up control of UK insurer Direct Line with a £507m share sale. RBS, which sold a 34.72% share in Direct Line when it listed on the London Stock Exchange last year, has now sold a further 15.3%, reducing its stake in the insurer to just below 50%. A&O City corporate partner David Broadley advised RBS on the sale, while Slaughters corporate partner Andy Ryde provided counsel to Direct Line. Linklaters corporate partner Dan Schuster-Woldan and managing associate James Wootton represented the banks.

    1 minute read

  • March 21, 2013 |

    Olswang makes three partner promotions in London and Berlin

    Olswang has promoted three lawyers to its partnership, including two in London, in the firm's latest partner promotion round. Corporate senior associate Nick Crosbie and technology of counsel Matthew Phillips will both be elevated to partner status in London on 1 May.

    1 minute read

  • March 21, 2013 |

    Slaughters makes up two London lawyers in annual partnership round

    Slaughter and May has made up two of its London associates to partner in the magic circle firm's 2013 promotions round. James Stacey and Lisa Wright, both of who trained at the firm, will join the partnership as of 1 May this year, taking the number of partners at the firm to 117, 106 of whom are based in London.

    1 minute read

  • March 14, 2013 |

    Lands of opportunity – charting the rise of Africa as an attractive destination for deal lawyers

    With much of the world economy in the doldrums, Africa is an increasingly attractive prospect for investment. And while it's risky to generalise about 54 countries, there is a theme of increased sophistication when it comes to the deployment of legal services across the continent. Nuno Antunes, director at Miranda, a practice that has a long-standing alliance in Africa, describes the situation as something of an 'economic conundrum', given the rate at which Africa is growing compared to the rest of the world. He also notes an increasingly long-term approach to investment in the continent. "Short-term gains are not easy, if they ever were, in the current volatile economy," he says.

    1 minute read

  • March 14, 2013 |

    A&O and Slaughters called in once more as RBS cuts Direct Line stake below 50%

    Allen & Overy (A&O) and Slaughter and May have led on a deal that has seen the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) give up control of UK insurer Direct Line with a £507m share sale. RBS, which sold a 34.72% share in Direct Line when it listed on the London Stock Exchange last year, has now sold a further 15.3%, reducing its stake in the insurer to just below 50%.

    1 minute read

  • March 14, 2013 |

    Bingham, Skadden and MoFo enjoy strong year in London as revenues rise

    Bingham McCutchen, Morrison & Foerster and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom all saw London revenues climb in 2012 as the rank of US firms unveiling last year's financial results continues to grow. Bingham saw City revenues rise by 11% during the last calendar year to $54.7m (£36.6m) compared with $49.1m (£32.9m) in 2011, with around 50 lawyers clocking up average revenue per lawyer of $1.158m (£776,000), compared to firmwide revenue per lawyer of $969,000 (£649,800).

    1 minute read

  • March 8, 2013 |

    Access to the legal profession: a student's perspective

    The practice of law is undoubtedly changing. The profession is now much more diverse and accessible than it was 50 years ago. However entering the law is still notoriously difficult, with barriers at every stage of the process; from funding studies, to past performance, to gaining the much coveted training contract.

    1 minute read