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  • June 5, 2009 |

    Elite firms take lead roles on Rio's $15bn rights issue and BHP JV

    Linklaters, Slaughter and May and Herbert Smith have all advised on Rio Tinto's $15.2bn (£9.5bn) rights issue and joint venture with one-time merger partner BHP Billiton. The roles come in the wake of this week's collapse of Rio's $19.5bn (£12.1bn) deal with Chinese resource giant Chinalco, with Rio opting against a tie-up after shareholder concerns that the deal was not in the best interests of the mining company.

    1 minute read

  • June 4, 2009 |

    Clydes targets India market with local alliance

    Clyde & Co has sealed an Indian alliance, signing an agreement with three-office local firm ALMT. Clydes said the two firms will work together to jointly develop Indian business, with an intention of merging when local Indian Bar rules allow it.

    1 minute read

  • June 4, 2009 |

    Field Fisher names new senior partner after election

    Field Fisher Waterhouse has named corporate partner Nicholas Thompsell as its new senior partner following a contested election. Thompsell saw off competition from dispute resolution partner Stephen Gibbs to replace Jon Fife in the role.

    1 minute read

  • June 4, 2009 |

    Simmons registers Japan and Middle East practices as LLPs while UK waits

    Simmons & Simmons has incorporated its Middle East and Japanese practices into a limited liability partnership (LLP) structure ahead of plans to launch a UK LLP. Simmons, the only top 10 City law firm aside from Slaughter and May not to have adopted the structure, registered Simmons & Simmons Middle East LLP and Simmons & Simmons Japan LLP at Companies House on 22 April.

    1 minute read

  • June 4, 2009 |

    Top UK firms engaging in debate as clients push for real ground on billing

    If the general message from hard-pressed clients is that they are expecting real ground on costs this year from advisers, research from Legal Week suggests that the message is getting through to private practice. General information on billing policies from the UK's 10 largest law firms by revenue, reveals that at least half of the group have put in effect blanket freezes in charge-out rates this year with DLA Piper, Herbert Smith, Eversheds and Ashurst all confirming they have put benchmark rates on hold.

    1 minute read

  • May 28, 2009 |

    UK elite bow to clients with plans for rate freeze

    At least half of the UK's top 10 law firms have this year put in place blanket freezes in charge-out rates according to Legal Week research, which shows advisers finally responding to clients' cost concerns.A Legal Week review of billing policies at the UK's largest firms found DLA Piper, Eversheds, Herbert Smith and Ashurst have effectively frozen headline billing rates in response to the recession.

    1 minute read

  • May 28, 2009 |

    Hengeler Mueller introduces set partnership route for associates in new six-year strategy

    Hengeler Mueller has revamped its associate career track, introducing a formal six-year route to partnership. The German law firm will now decide whether its associates will make the partner grade within six years, in a clear 'up or out' strategy. The system is similar to that of its UK ally Slaughter and May, which operates a seven-year career track.

    1 minute read

  • May 27, 2009 |

    Thomson vocal

    A year on from the merger between the Thomson Corporation and Reuters - which created the world's largest information multimedia news agency - and there has still been no review of the new company's fused panel of UK legal advisers. And according to Daragh Fagan, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) general counsel (GC) for Thomson Reuters Markets division, there are no plans for one.

    1 minute read

  • May 21, 2009 |

    Top 50 set for fee falls but City firms hold steady

    A substantial number of top 50 law firms will this year unveil falls in revenue despite many City practices maintaining fee income at 2008 levels.Initial indications for the 2008-09 financial year are that a slight majority of firms will see falls in revenue - comprising the first fall in legal service demand in recent memory - while profits will fall by more than 10% in many cases.However, a number of major City firms are on course to post broadly static revenues or modest increases, including Herbert Smith, Lovells, Simmons & Simmons and CMS Cameron McKenna. This group is, however, generally expecting falls in profitability.

    1 minute read

  • May 21, 2009 |

    Editor's comment: Blood from a stone

    If law firms' willingness to talk financial results is an indication of performance, then 2008-09 is certainly a very different year compared to what leading law firms have become used to. So while in a typical year, you have already seen a good selection of numbers by this point, this year it has taken Legal Week's entire news team to open the batting. Still, the general picture seems reasonably clear: major firms as a whole are set to be down in revenue against 2008, perhaps as much as 5%, while average profits will have fallen in the region of 10%-15%. That's dramatically down on the growth seen over the last 15 years, with top 50 firms even in their TMT-hangover of 2002-03 managing revenue growth of 5.1%.

    1 minute read