• May 20, 2008 |

    2008 Assistant Pay League: a Legal Week Wiki special

    Who pays what and how. Your A-Z guide to the pay scales at the top UK and US firms.

    1 minute read

  • May 15, 2008 |

    Linklaters and Freshfields take lead on £182m Centrica Accenture litigation

    Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have landed lead advisory roles on Centrica's £182m action against global consultancy group Accenture. The energy giant is suing Accenture in relation to a customer billing system designed for British Gas that Centrica argues led to a breakdown in customer services and the loss of thousands of customers.

    1 minute read

  • April 30, 2008 |

    Training and education: Power play

    Is the Government's decision to allow private law schools to award degrees a controversial move, or a natural step in the institutions' educational evolution? Choongo Moonga reports

    1 minute read

  • April 30, 2008 |

    The price is right

    Although just a snapshot of the way in which professionals approach the delicate issue of pricing legal work for clients, a recent survey of 260 transactions at a leading mid-market law firm revealed that 72% of quotes were under the final amount billed, by an average of 21%. An additional 12% was also written off before the client's bill was submitted.

    1 minute read

  • April 24, 2008 | International Edition

    Kurer confirmed as new UBS chair after AGM

    UBS general counsel Peter Kurer has been confirmed as the new chairman of the Swiss banking giant following its annual general meeting yesterday (23 April). Kurer, who has been acting as chairman of the board in an interim capacity, takes up the top role with immediate effect, his appointment having been approved with 87% of the vote. Shareholders additionally voted to reduce the terms of the board of directors from three years to just one.

    1 minute read

  • April 24, 2008 |

    Kurer confirmed as new UBS chair after AGM

    UBS general counsel Peter Kurer has been confirmed as the new chairman of the Swiss banking giant following its annual general meeting yesterday (23 April). Kurer, who has been acting as chairman of the board in an interim capacity, takes up the top role with immediate effect, his appointment having been approved with 87% of the vote. Shareholders additionally voted to reduce the terms of the board of directors from three years to just one.

    1 minute read

  • April 24, 2008 |

    Bakers makes second City partner hire of 2008 with K&L Gates property recruit

    Baker & McKenzie has made its second London partner hire since the beginning of the year - bringing in a partner from Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis for its property team.Justin Salkeld is set to join Bakers towards the end of next month and will advise on a variety of real estate work including acquisitions, disposals and lettings.

    1 minute read

  • April 23, 2008 |

    Central and Eastern Europe: Centre of attention

    Law firms that invested in Central and Eastern Europe soon after the fall of the Iron Curtain are enjoying the region's enduring economic boom and seeking shelter from the London gloom. Dominic Carman speaks to partners across the region, from Vienna to Kiev

    1 minute read

  • April 23, 2008 |

    Corporate Counsel: Soft landings

    It is Wednesday afternoon and Paul McNulty is searching for his taxi outside Dulles International Airport. The former deputy attorney general and current Baker & McKenzie partner is just back from an overnighter in Houston, where he spoke to a group of 25 general counsel.His topic? How to handle federal investigations, of course. After all, McNulty did write the memo that governs federal prosecutions of corporations. While general counsel might not like the spectre raised by the McNulty Memorandum, if they have to comply, who better to consult than its author?

    1 minute read

  • April 17, 2008 |

    Bakers makes slick move with lead role on $2.25bn Russian oil merger

    Global law firm Baker & McKenzie has taken a lead role on a cross-border merger worth $2.25bn (£1.14bn). The firm advised West Siberian Resources as it merged with Alliance Oil to form a combined oil company operating across Russia and Kazakhstan. The mandate is a coup for the firm's corporate team, which worked opposite Clifford Chance (CC) on the deal, which took three months to complete.

    1 minute read