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  • July 15, 2009 |

    Linklaters to retain 75% of September qualifiers

    Linklaters is holding onto 50 of its 66 trainees due to qualify in September, giving it a retention rate of 75%. Of the 66 qualifying three resigned before the process started, which would give the magic circle firm a retention rate of 79% when based only on those applying for jobs.

    1 minute read

  • July 14, 2009 |

    Nationwide completes first UK legal panel

    Nationwide Building Society has completed its first ever UK panel, with five firms making the grade. Allen & Overy (A&O) is the only magic circle firm to have been appointed to the roster, joining Eversheds, Burges Salmon, Olswang and Nabarro on the panel.

    1 minute read

  • July 14, 2009 |

    Links and Slaughters in on Resolution merger bid

    Linklaters and Slaughter and May have landed key roles advising on potential merger talks between insurers Friends Provident and Resolution. Linklaters has stepped in to advise long-standing client Friends Provident on the talks, with corporate partner Owen Clay taking the lead role for the firm.

    1 minute read

  • July 9, 2009 |

    Confidence edges up as firms bank on Asia

    Business confidence at City law firms has edged up, driven by hopes of a swift recovery in Asia, with more than a third of partners now expecting revenue growth over the next 12 months. The latest Legal Week business confidence survey found 42% of responding partners were expecting increases in fee income at their own firm over the next year, including 18% who were expecting fee income growth of more than 5%.

    1 minute read

  • July 9, 2009 |

    GE appoints CC and Ashurst to Europe adviser roster

    General Electric (GE) has finalised its European non-M&A legal panel, with a clutch of UK firms winning roles including Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy (A&O), Ashurst and Norton Rose.

    1 minute read

  • July 9, 2009 |

    Diageo hands CMS pan-Euro mandate and reviews advisers

    Diageo has handed CMS Cameron McKenna a flagship appointment, with the UK firm and its eight-firm CMS alliance appointed as preferred adviser for commercial work across continental Europe. The news comes as the drinks giant - which owns brands including Guinness and Smirnoff - launches an informal review looking at how it can cut legal spend globally without creating a formal legal panel.

    1 minute read

  • July 9, 2009 |

    Santander and JP Morgan put legal advisers under review

    Banco Santander is finalising a shake-up of its external advisers in the UK, as JP Morgan has launched a review of its preferred law firms. Santander has turned to procurement company Aquanima for the first review of its merged UK panel, which covers the legacy Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley brands.

    1 minute read

  • July 8, 2009 |

    Deals hit a low but M&A lawyers wary of predicting turning point

    Freshfields and Links top UK and Euro tables, but overall figures fell

    1 minute read

  • July 2, 2009 |

    CC's cautionary tale of scale (or how City firms fell out of love with big)

    With financial results from CC, Freshfields and Linklaters coming out pretty much as expected, I haven't currently got much to add. You can feel the tectonic plates of the industry and its hierarchy shifting, but that has been evident since late 2008. However, there is one aspect that stands out from talking to City firms, and that is the extent to which the concept of scale has become almost a bogeyman for top law firms. In particular, there is much discussion from Linklaters and Freshfields about how no one cares about size anymore. What else could explain both firms making so little of ending CC's long reign as the UK's largest law firm in revenue terms?

    1 minute read

  • July 2, 2009 |

    GE appoints CC and Ashurst to Europe adviser roster

    General Electric (GE) has finalised its European non-M&A legal panel, with a clutch of UK firms winning roles, including Clifford Chance and Ashurst. DLA Piper, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Baker & McKenzie are also among the firms appointed to GE's 80-firm roster.

    1 minute read