• June 20, 2013 | International Edition

    Whistle while you work – a happy team is a productive team, and other myths

    Back when the downturn first started to bite, it was an acknowledged – if not popular – fact that many law firms were more heavily resourced than they needed to be, and so for many it was no great surprise when the first wave of redundancies hit the market in 2008-09. Since then, of course, there has been something of a pandemic of job cuts – not least in recent months – as firms take increasingly tough measures to control costs as the long-awaited market recovery fails to emerge. As such, our annual Employee Satisfaction Report (ESR), which this year canvassed the views of almost 4,000 lawyers below partner level at leading firms practising in the UK, has provided a regular barometer of the mood at the junior end of the market.

    1 minute read

  • June 20, 2013 |

    A&O and Norton Rose Fulbright lead as Centrica enters UK shale gas market

    Allen & Overy (A&O) and Norton Rose Fulbright have won leading roles on a £160m deal that has seen Centrica make its entrance into the closely watched UK shale gas market. Centrica, which owns British Gas, has taken a 25% stake in the Bowland shale gas exploration licence in Lancashire after negotiations with UK shale gas explorer Cuadrilla Resources and Australian engineering group AJ Lucas, which previously held 75% and 25% stakes respectively in the fracking fields. A&O won a first-time mandate for Cuadrilla on the deal following a competitive process. The magic circle firm's London-based team was led by corporate partner John Geraghty, with support from tax partner Lydia Challen.

    1 minute read

  • June 20, 2013 |

    Whistle while you work – a happy team is a productive team, and other myths

    Back when the downturn first started to bite, it was an acknowledged – if not popular – fact that many law firms were more heavily resourced than they needed to be, and so for many it was no great surprise when the first wave of redundancies hit the market in 2008-09. Since then, of course, there has been something of a pandemic of job cuts – not least in recent months – as firms take increasingly tough measures to control costs as the long-awaited market recovery fails to emerge. As such, our annual Employee Satisfaction Report (ESR), which this year canvassed the views of almost 4,000 lawyers below partner level at leading firms practising in the UK, has provided a regular barometer of the mood at the junior end of the market.

    1 minute read

  • June 20, 2013 |

    Ashurst's near-shoring move into Scotland – positive job creation or anti-competitive?

    After publicly courting senior partners for almost a year, the Scottish Government's economic development arm scored its first major catch last week when UK top 20 law firm Ashurst announced it is to open a 150-strong support centre in Glasgow. Ashurst's decision to set up a base in Scotland comes after the local Government last summer opened up an incentivised scheme to include law firms that is aimed at attracting international businesses to the country following the success of a similar initiative in Northern Ireland. Belfast has proved an attractive destination in which to open low-cost support centres, with both Allen & Overy (A&O) and legacy Herbert Smith securing financial support from Invest Northern Ireland to launch bases there in 2011.

    1 minute read

  • June 13, 2013 |

    Scots partners brand Ashurst launch as 'unfair' and 'anti-competitive'

    Ashurst's launch of a low-cost base in Glasgow has provoked strong feelings in the Scottish legal market, with senior lawyers voicing concerns over the potential impact of the move. The UK top 20 firm this Wednesday (12 June) declared its intention to build a 150-strong 'near-shoring' base in Glasgow, marking the first launch by an international law firm in Scotland with the financial backing of regional development agency Scottish Enterprise.

    1 minute read

  • June 13, 2013 |

    Transportation, Energy and Infrastructure Team of the Year: Ashurst

    Ashurst's standout deal for this category was its work advising Etihad Rail on the UAE's ambitious project to build a federal railway, the first part of which is due to start operating later this year. For the judges, the firm's role advising on one of the most prestigious transport projects in the Middle East, combined with an impressive range of instructions and client wins, underlined the strength and depth of the firm's transportation, energy and infrastructure practice.

    1 minute read

  • June 13, 2013 |

    Arabian night – the Corporate Counsel Middle East Awards 2013

    The cream of the Middle East legal community gathered in Dubai last month for the second annual Corporate Counsel Middle East Awards. Three hundred guests attended the event on 16 May at The Western Dubai Mina Seyahi hotel to celebrate the achievements of lawyers, law firms and in-house legal departments working across the Middle East. Allen and Overy (A&O), Al Tamimi & Company and The Emirates Group were among the big winners at the awards – which were jointly held by Legal Week and the Corporate Counsel Middle East Group (CCME) – scooping International Law Firm of the Year, Middle East Law Firm of the Year and Legal Department of the Year (Large Team) respectively. The top individual award – General Counsel of the Year – was won by Aluminium Bahrain's Afshan Akhtar. Commenting on the award, chief executive Tim Murray said it highlighted "the priority the company gives to upholding the principles of corporate governance and transparency across the organisation".

    1 minute read

  • June 13, 2013 |

    The AXA man – AXA UK's legal head on getting tough on law firm fees

    Edward 'Ed' Davis is slimmer than his Google images – the result, no doubt, of a recently acquired obsession with cycling. "I'm absolutely passionate about it," he admits, his eyes glazing with thoughts of country lanes or aerodynamic handle bars or whatever it is about the sport that has him hooked. The self-confessed MAMIL (Middle-Aged Man In Lycra) is fortunately wearing a suit and tie and leads the way into a chilly, white-walled meeting room, sparsely decorated with clip-framed AXA promotional posters. He apologises for the temperature and smell of fresh paint as if he is personally responsible – the first indicator that this is a company man through and through. Davis has spent the majority of his career at AXA Group, the French global insurance and asset management giant boasting 163,000 employees in 57 countries. In the UK, the core businesses of AXA Wealth, AXA PPP Healthcare, AXA Commercial and AXA Personal Insurance employ some 13,000 people nationally.

    1 minute read

  • June 13, 2013 | International Edition

    All aboard – Scotland makes debut in near-shoring market

    As market speculation around the potential tie-up between SJ Berwin and King & Wood Mallesons went strangely quiet this week, attention instead refocused very much closer to home. Well, 400 miles away from London, but still distinctly closer than Asia. The reason? Ashurst's decision to build a low-cost back office and legal support centre in Glasgow, which puts the job security of some 350 support staff in London under threat but, at the same time, promises to bring roughly 150 new jobs to Scotland within the next 12 months. And, given the recent upheaval in the Scottish legal market, some might say this second point is no bad thing.

    1 minute read

  • June 13, 2013 |

    All aboard – Scotland makes debut in near-shoring market

    As market speculation around the potential tie-up between SJ Berwin and King & Wood Mallesons went strangely quiet this week, attention instead refocused very much closer to home. Well, 400 miles away from London, but still distinctly closer than Asia. The reason? Ashurst's decision to build a low-cost back office and legal support centre in Glasgow, which puts the job security of some 350 support staff in London under threat but, at the same time, promises to bring roughly 150 new jobs to Scotland within the next 12 months. And, given the recent upheaval in the Scottish legal market, some might say this second point is no bad thing.

    1 minute read