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  • May 10, 2010 |

    Slaughters heads up raft of advisers as BA price-fixing case collapses

    The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has dropped criminal proceedings against four British Airways (BA) executives accused of price-fixing. The case, which was being heard in Southwark Crown Court in front of Mr Justice Owen, collapsed following the discovery of new email evidence last week. In a statement, the OFT said: "The OFT has decided to withdraw its criminal proceedings against four current and former BA executives for price-fixing. Following the OFT's decision, the four defendants were acquitted by the jury at a hearing this morning."

    1 minute read

  • May 7, 2010 |

    Freshfields follows magic circle rivals with salary band increases

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has decided to increase the levels of its lockstep pay bands after restarting its associate track earlier this year. As of 1 May, the firm's newly-qualified rate, which was reduced last year, has been increased by £1,000 to £60,000, while one-year qualified lawyers have received a £2,000 raise to £68,000.

    1 minute read

  • May 7, 2010 |

    Slaughters adjusts associate salaries as firm restarts lockstep

    Slaughter and May has restarted its associate lockstep and overhauled its salary bands, as the firm narrows the pay gap between its one and three-year qualified lawyers. The new pay structure, which is effective as of 1 May, will see the firm's salaries now range from a newly-qualified (NQ) rate of £61,000 to £82,000 for solicitors with three years' post-qualification experience (PQE).

    1 minute read

  • May 5, 2010 |

    Eversheds wins competitive tender to advise John Lewis pension trustees

    Eversheds' pensions team has secured a mandate as the official advisers to the trustees of the John Lewis pension scheme following a competitive tender process. Eversheds London senior partner and pensions head Anthony Arter will lead a six-lawyer team appointed as the ongoing advisers to the trustees of the £2bn John Lewis Partnership Trust.

    1 minute read

  • May 5, 2010 |

    Shell overlooks former key adviser Slaughters after panel overhaul

    Royal Dutch Shell has finalised a global panel review which has seen former principal corporate adviser Slaughter and May miss out on a formal appointment. It is understood that magic circle rivals Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy will now share the sought-after global M&A work for the energy company.

    1 minute read

  • April 29, 2010 |

    Simmons joins Standard Chartered UK roster after adviser review

    Simmons & Simmons has won a place on Standard Chartered's UK panel as the bank completes a review of its advisers. The UK top 15 law firm is the only new addition to the panel after the bank decided to reappoint all six of its current UK advisers.

    1 minute read

  • April 28, 2010 |

    Powering into the FTSE 100

    In December last year, energy company Aggreko joined the heavyweights of the stock market, entering the FTSE 100 for the first time following an 18% rise in its share price. For the company's director of legal affairs, Peter Kennerley, who joined from Scottish & Newcastle in October 2008, it feels good to be back. "When I was in the process of moving from Scottish & Newcastle [a FTSE 100 company until it was de-listed following its takeover by Heineken and Carlsberg in April 2008], my chief executive, Rupert Soames, joked that if I came on board he'd guarantee we would get into the FTSE 100. So it looks like he's fulfilled that side of the bargain," he says.

    1 minute read

  • April 22, 2010 |

    OC signs up to exclusive College of Law training deal

    Osborne Clarke (OC) has become the latest firm to seal an exclusive deal to send all of its City trainees to study at the College of Law. From September 2010, the college will provide the Graduate Diploma in Law, the Professional Skills Course and the Legal Practice Course for all of OC's future trainees.

    1 minute read

  • April 21, 2010 |

    Media and internet: The content business

    Once, life was simple in the media business. Media companies produced content - though they didn't call it that - for the masses. Film studios, record companies, publishers and broadcasting groups either owned or had significant control over distribution channels for that content. Life was also much simpler for media lawyers. Work was filled with low-level litigation, turning out fairly standard copyright agreements and, if you worked for one of the acquisitive media conglomerates, bringing in external counsel for intermittent bouts of empire building

    1 minute read

  • April 19, 2010 |

    The top-rated Indian TV show about corporate lawyers - really

    "Ah, Friday night . Time to kick back and relax. Hey, The Firm is on. Corporate lawyers talking about corporate law. Great show. Tonight, Jeff Smith of Cravath Swaine & Moore is talking about SEC rules on climate change disclosure? Excellent." That imaginary train of thought doesn't come from The Twilight Zone . It's from India, where The Firm: Corporate Law in India , airing on TV18, is all the rage.

    1 minute read