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  • March 3, 2010 |

    Department of defence

    BAE Systems general counsel Philip Bramwell likes to delegate. Last year he charged UK chief counsel Roger Wiltshire with handling the defence company's recently concluded review of its UK legal advisers - its first panel review in 12 years. And he has just handed the job of re-assessing the group of law firms BAE uses for its international work to Andrew Guest, chief counsel for Saudi Arabia.

    1 minute read

  • March 3, 2010 |

    Garrigues tops 2009 Spanish results as revenues rise by 13% to €300m

    Spain's leading independent law firms have posted strong results for 2009, with only Cuatrecasas Goncalves Pereira bucking the trend and announcing a dip in revenues. Garrigues, the country's largest law firm, has led a trio of firms posting double-digit increases in turnover to break through the €300m (£272m) mark. The firm, which operates a different financial year to its rivals running from September to August, grew revenues by 12.6% in 2008-09, taking it from €296.8m (£262m) to €334.3m (£303.5m).

    1 minute read

  • March 1, 2010 |

    Slaughters takes headline role for Prudential on $35bn AIG Asia buyout

    Slaughter and May and Debevoise & Plimpton have scored advisory roles on Prudential's high-profile plans to purchase the Asian assets of American International Group (AIG) for more than $35bn (£23.3bn). The two insurance groups are in advanced discussions over the sale of US Government-controlled AIG's subsidiary AIA, with Prudential this week (1 March) confirming both the discussions and the suspension of its shares as a result.

    1 minute read

  • February 24, 2010 |

    The outsourcers are coming

    The news that Microsoft is sending out legal work to a team of lawyers at legal process outsourcing (LPO) provider CPA Global in India is the latest indication that one of the most talked-about trends in recent years is no flash in the pan. That the announcement followed the defection earlier this month of former Rio Tinto managing attorney Leah Cooper to a business development role at CPA only adds further credence to the growing acceptance of legal outsourcing - particularly since Cooper herself was the driving force behind an agreement struck between CPA and Rio last June that saw a team of CPA lawyers take on work such as document review and legal research for the mining giant.

    1 minute read

  • February 24, 2010 |

    Eversheds rated as top law firm brand in 2010 Superbrands rankings

    Eversheds has been named as the law firm with the strongest brand in this year's Superbrands survey. The UK top 10 firm is the highest ranked firm in the legal category, improving its position on 2009 when it was placed third behind the top-ranked Linklaters and Clifford Chance (CC) in second place.

    1 minute read

  • February 17, 2010 |

    Clients lack awareness of demands of value-added services, say partners

    Leading City partners believe that many clients do not have a realistic view of the time and cost of providing value-added services such as secondments, despite holding the services in high regard. The latest Legal Week Big Question survey found that while more than 90% of respondents believe clients hold additional services in high regard, more than two-thirds (67%) of partners believe clients have an unrealistic view of the time and cost that law firms spend on value-added offerings.

    1 minute read

  • February 17, 2010 |

    Flat earth blues

    Working in-house often means rewarding tasks and a better work/life balance - but it can also mean a flatter career trajectory. Alex Aldridge talks to leading general counsel about how they're keeping lawyers motivated

    1 minute read

  • February 17, 2010 |

    Ex-Hengeler partner who spent just a week at Milbank joins German indie

    German independent firm P+P Poellath + Partners has recruited former Hengeler Mueller partner Wolfgang Grobecker for its Munich office. Grobecker made headlines in January as a rare departure from German bluechip firm Hengeler, when he announced that he was joining US firm Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy to pursue a more international career.

    1 minute read

  • February 12, 2010 |

    Linklaters signs up to shortened LPC as firm cuts maintenance grant

    Linklaters' future trainees will see their Legal Practice Course (LPC) slashed from a year to just over seven months as part of a new-look course with the College of Law. The law school will run the fast-track LPC course for Linklaters' students from January 2011, taking on two intakes a year in January and July.

    1 minute read

  • February 10, 2010 |

    A&O and Linklaters among winning firms in rare BAE adviser review

    Aerospace and defence giant BAE Systems has completed the first major review of its external legal advisers in the UK for more than a decade, with law firms including Allen & Overy (A&O) and Linklaters among those making the grade. The review, which kicked off last summer under the leadership of chief UK counsel Roger Wiltshire, has seen the company formalise its relationship with 16 law firms as well as three sets of barristers chambers.

    1 minute read