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  • March 15, 2011 |

    Bakers latest to sign on to College of Law's tailored fast-track LPC

    Baker & McKenzie has become the first firm outside of the magic circle to switch to a fast-track Legal Practice Course (LPC) with the College of Law. The international firm has announced that it is set to switch to the condensed course from next summer, with the first set of trainees due to start the seven-month course in July 2012. From then on, the course will run twice a year to accommodate both the March and the September intakes.

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  • March 14, 2011 |

    Closer ties - a new era for Switzerland's law firms?

    The Swiss legal market is so well established and its clients so well served by large and reputable local firms operating within an entirely stable and predictable regime that the country often falls below international firms' radar – but not so of late. Not only are new legislative changes to the cantonal civil procedure system being touted by some as the most important reforms since the beginning of the 20th century, but as countries such as the UK come to terms with tightening tax measures, local Swiss lawyers are reaping the benefit of a growing hub of international businesses from large bluechips to lucrative hedge fund managers now headquartered in Zurich and Geneva.

    1 minute read

  • March 9, 2011 |

    Bakers wins top spot as primary UK adviser for L'Oreal

    L'Oreal has appointed Baker & McKenzie as its primary UK legal adviser, following a review by the beauty products giant of its external legal advisers in the region. The cosmetics company appointed Bakers at the end of last year after a competitive tender process, cementing a longstanding relationship between the firm and L'Oreal.

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  • March 8, 2011 |

    Bakers & Kirkland lead on Kuoni's $720m Gullivers Travel acquisition

    Baker & McKenzie and Kirkland & Ellis have taken lead roles on Swiss travel group Kuoni's $720m (£445m) purchase of British rival Gullivers Travel Associates (GTA). Kuoni instructed Bakers on the deal, which is a part of the Swiss company's efforts to develop its online travel business. The firm fielded a team led by London corporate chief Tim Gee.

    1 minute read

  • March 7, 2011 |

    Mishcons tops law firm rankings in annual best employer list

    Leading City law firms have again failed to make the grade in The Sunday Times' annual 100 Best Companies to work for rankings, with Mills & Reeve the sole representative from the UK's top 50 law firms by revenue. Mills & Reeve features at number 90 in The Sunday Times' rankings, compared with number 72 last year.

    1 minute read

  • March 1, 2011 |

    US invaders back on the offensive

    The number of partner promotions in the City offices of US law firms is on track to exceed last year's tally, with 33 new partners made up in London in 2011 so far out of a global promotions total of 382. Legal Week's annual survey of US firms' lateral partner hiring and internal appointments found there have been only five fewer partner promotions in London so far this year than in the whole of 2010.

    1 minute read

  • February 22, 2011 |

    Law firm bankruptcies - rescues gone wrong?

    The email from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe chairman Ralph Baxter to newly-tapped Coudert Brothers chair Clyde Rankin on 12 February 2005 was short, friendly and direct: "Skip, congratulations on your election. I look forward to seeing you this week. Let's talk on Monday." The message, it turned out, wasn't just an electronic high-five from one firm leader to another. It was also the start of what evolved into talks between Baxter and Rankin about a possible merger of their firms. The email's inclusion in a lawsuit filed in December against Orrick by the administrator overseeing the bankrupt Coudert estate underscores where those talks led.

    1 minute read

  • February 22, 2011 |

    The Global 100: The tracks of my tiers

    Once again, it's merger-talk season. There was a flurry of activity last year that culminated in the various Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, Norton Rose and Squire Sanders & Dempsey transoceanic combinations. They were notable because they all opted to organise as Swiss vereins rather than single-profit sharing partnerships, and all were motivated, at least in part, by a desire to get bigger so they could compete for work and talent that was waiting for those firms that, well, got bigger. The wooing continues. Consultants log George Clooney-esque air miles trying to complete promising law firm mergers. And partners seek to convince themselves either that they're not being acquired or that an acquisition is necessary to have a chance at becoming one of the Select 17 (or whatever) who will stand astride the known world, someday really soon.

    1 minute read

  • February 21, 2011 |

    Simmons disputes partner joins Bakers in HK

    Baker & McKenzie has added to its Hong Kong dispute resolution practice with the hire of Simmons & Simmons partner James Kwan. Kwan, who is set to join Bakers on 1 March, joined the Simmons partnership in Hong Kong in 2008 from Allen & Overy's Dubai office, where he was a dispute resolution consultant. His practice focuses on international commercial arbitration and litigation, with a particular emphasis on infrastructure, engineering and energy disputes.

    1 minute read

  • February 16, 2011 |

    No more half measures: can Barlows' management prove the doubters wrong?

    "We're focusing on stability," says Barlow Lyde & Gilbert senior partner Simon Konsta. And who could query those sentiments? Despite having built a reputation as one of the City's top insurance and litigation firms, Barlows has had an unhappy recent history. The last 15 years have been marked by a series of strategic shifts, while over the last five years financial performance has increasingly lagged behind its peer group. Since 2007 the firm has made repeated efforts to update its management and reshape its practice, with Barlows moving to refocus its business around its insurance core. The result has been a series of partner departures and a firm still searching for the stability Konsta cites.

    1 minute read