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  • September 20, 2011 |

    RBS Insurance turns to RSA to recruit new general counsel

    RBS Insurance (RBSI) has turned to RSA Insurance for its new general counsel and company secretary. RSA's group legal director, Humphrey Tomlinson, is set to join RBSI, where he will be tasked with building the Bromley-based insurer's standalone legal and secretariat functions ahead of its divestment from RBS Group.

    1 minute read

  • September 16, 2011 |

    DWF agrees College of Law LPC deal as Pinsents widens access to legal career

    DWF has become the latest law firm to agree an exclusive deal to send all of its future trainees to study at the College of Law. The College will provide the Legal Practice Course (LPC) to all of DWF's future trainees from later this month, with the students able to study at any of the law school's eight UK locations.

    1 minute read

  • September 15, 2011 |

    How the top international law firms stack up in Asia

    Clifford Chance: 366 lawyers across eight offices. Hong Kong - 138 lawyers including 32 partners, Singapore - 72 lawyers including 15 partners, Tokyo - 51 lawyers including nine partners, Shanghai - 22 lawyers including five partners, Beijing - 29 lawyers including six partners, Bangkok - 16 lawyers including two partners Sydney - 21 lawyers including seven partners Perth - 17 lawyers including seven partners Key deals include: • advising the underwriters on Prada's Hong Kong listing; • advising the underwriters on Glencore's dual listing in Hong Kong and London; and • advising the managers on Volkswagen's dim sum bond - the first by a German company.

    1 minute read

  • September 15, 2011 |

    Bird & Bird Paris partner duo exit to join Salans

    Two senior Bird & Bird partners have left the firm's Paris office to join Salans in the French capital. Intellectual property (IP) partner Isabelle Leroux and tax partner Anne Quenedey joined Salans on 1 September, bringing with them three associates each as well as one counsel.

    1 minute read

  • September 14, 2011 |

    Battle royale - the tussle for global dominance shifts eastward

    With elite Wall Street firms finally breaking into Hong Kong law, the stage is set for a high-stakes struggle across Asia between the world's top law firms. Georgina Stanley and Simon Petersen report

    1 minute read

  • September 14, 2011 |

    Ladbrokes brings in e-billing to scrutinise firms ahead of review

    Ladbrokes has introduced an electronic billing and online performance review system for its legal advisers ahead of a review of the gambling company's eight-strong panel next year. The e-billing and law firm appraisal system, introduced this month, allows Ladbrokes' in-house team, which is headed by general counsel Jonathan Adelman, to assess firms according to criteria including 'value for money', 'responsiveness' and 'commerciality'.

    1 minute read

  • September 14, 2011 |

    Top firms break ground with project to boost access to law, but challenge has only begun

    Despite already being touted as a landmark for the industry, the law firms behind the initiative aimed at improving access to the profession are hoping to substantially expand the number of firms 
backing the scheme. The scheme launched with 23 major firms across the UK and Ireland but the backers of the project to hand work experience to under-privileged children believe it will be essential to secure the active support of more law firms before addressing the considerable challenge of building links and co-operation with a broad base of schools nationally.

    1 minute read

  • September 14, 2011 |

    The rush down under – how Australia belatedly met global law

    When Squire Sanders & Dempsey became the latest international law firm to enter the Australian legal market last month, the move had as much to do with Asia as it did Perth's booming energy and resources sector. Given the strong trade flows between Perth and Asia, where the firm already has offices in Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, the move to merge with the majority of Minter Ellison's Perth arm was fuelled by a desire not only to tap into one of the G20's best-performing economies but to use it as a platform to bolster its Asian practice.

    1 minute read

  • September 9, 2011 |

    23 major law firms come together for ground-breaking diversity initiative

    Twenty-three UK and Irish law firms have come together for a groundbreaking initiative to boost social mobility in the profession with a wide-ranging work experience scheme. The project, dubbed PRIME, will see the firms involved commit to provide significant work experience programmes for state school children from non-privileged backgrounds in a profession-wide bid to improve social diversity in law.

    1 minute read

  • September 9, 2011 |

    Ashurst's Cookson exits to join DLA Piper as London real estate chief

    DLA Piper has boosted its real estate practice with the hire of senior Ashurst partner Simon Cookson as the firm's new London real estate chief. Cookson was previously Ashurst's European real estate chief, and also held a position on the firm's board.

    1 minute read