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  • May 26, 2010 |

    China: Years of the dragon

    On Tuesday 4 May at 7:30am a car arrived to pick up former Lovells Beijing managing partner Robert Lewis from his house in the Shunyi district of the Chinese capital, a part of town popular with expats. As it weaved its way off the estate and onto the traffic-choked main road leading to the city centre, Lewis thought about what lay ahead for him at AllBright Law Offices, the Chinese law firm where he was about to start his first day's work. His decision to join the firm, where his brief is to overhaul AllBright's structure and expand its Beijing office to match its market-leading offering in Shanghai, is one Lewis has been edging towards for years now, and he maintains it is unrelated to Lovells' recently concluded merger with US firm Hogan & Hartson.

    1 minute read

  • May 19, 2010 |

    Bakers reappoints Senior for third term as London office chief

    Baker & McKenzie has appointed Gary Senior for a third term as the international firm's London managing partner. The firm's steering group took soundings form the City partnership, after which Senior was appointed unopposed, with his new three-year term starting this September.

    1 minute read

  • May 19, 2010 |

    Wall Street's legal elite stage recovery but fees fall at US top 100

    Wall Street's leading law firms have defied gloomy predictions to stage a notable comeback in 2009, emerging as the top performers among the US's 100 largest law firms. Financial results for 2009 from Legal Week's US sister title The American Lawyer show that the 13 New York firms with profits per equity partner (PEP) of more than $2m (£1.3m) overcame the toughest trading conditions for a generation to raise partner profitability by 3%.

    1 minute read

  • May 19, 2010 |

    The Am Law 100: Lessons of the Am Law 100

    It could have been worse. That's the best that can be said for last year's performance from The Am Law 100, the top-grossing law firms in the US. Three of the four key categories that have been measured for 25 years - gross revenue, headcount and revenue per lawyer (RPL) - fell, while profits per equity partner (PEP) barely increased by 0.3% - up $3,463 (£2,300) to $1.26m (£840,000). But on average, even the bad results weren't nearly as dire as many firms had feared just a year ago. Overall, gross revenue was off by 3.4% and headcount dropped by about 1%. The firms earned a total of $64.8bn (£43.2bn), down roughly $2.3bn (£1.5m). And, in the first year-on-year reduction in headcount since 1993, they cut their lawyer labour force by 1,219 to 80,772. For all the heated attention paid to layoffs, about half the firms actually increased their numbers last year. RPL, which we regard as the most telling economic indicator, was down $15,697 (£10,400) to $802,381 (£534,000), a 2% decline. This was the second consecutive year in which RPL fell, another sign of the toll of the weak economy.

    1 minute read

  • May 11, 2010 |

    Tax and pensions

    Baker & McKenzie sizes up the burden on employers trying to provide a pension, while Macfarlanes provides a timely introduction to estate planning for married couples...

    1 minute read

  • May 11, 2010 |

    Spanish firm makes CC litigation partner hire

    Spanish law firm Araoz & Rueda has bulked up its litigation and insolvency practices with the hire of ex-Clifford Chance (CC) litigation partner Inigo Rodriguez-Sastre. Rodriguez-Sastre joins Araoz in Madrid from CC's local office to head up the litigation and insolvency practices.

    1 minute read

  • May 5, 2010 |

    McDermott sees London structured finance chief depart firm

    McDermott Will & Emery has lost its London head of securitisation and structured finance Paul-Michael Rebus. Rebus' next move is currently unclear but it is understood that McDermott's City structured finance practice is set to see further losses in the coming weeks.

    1 minute read

  • May 5, 2010 |

    Tax and pensions: Pensions in peril

    A recent ruling on the IMG case underlines the perils for employers trying to counteract their growing pension burden. Arron Slocombe reports on the issues when moving away from defined benefit schemes

    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 27, 2010 |

    Bakers appoints former M&A chief as head of City corporate team

    Baker & McKenzie has appointed Tim Gee as its London head of corporate, replacing long-serving partner Michael Caro. Gee, who previously headed the firm's global M&A group, will take up the new role on 1 May. He has been a partner at Bakers for 16 years, having joined the firm in 1984.

    1 minute read