Filter This View

  • August 4, 2009 |

    Bringing up the kids - or bringing in the dough?

    Earlier this month, Legal Week surveyed over 200 senior City partners on their perception of firms' approach to women in the profession as part of its regular Big Question survey. Following an unprecedented level of response, here are some of the best comments

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2009 |

    There's more to life than PEP (or let's get Travers off the naughty step)

    Journalists are sometimes criticised for making lawyers overly focused on profits. The theory is that the profession has become overly bent around the one metric of profits per equity partner (PEP) and that the media has played its part by publishing those numbers. Personally, I think the idea that the media introduced greed to an innocent and unsuspecting profession is nonsense. The legal profession has grown rapidly in recent years, and when that happens to any industry you get more transparency. That's a natural development of a healthy business services market, and it comes with the territory. I also don't know of any industry where a core measure of profitability hasn't become well established.

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2009 |

    Trio of firms hit rich seam on $488m bid for goldmining company

    A raft of firms including Norton Rose, Shearman & Sterling and Ashurst have lined up to advise on AngloGold Ashanti and Randgold Resources' joint $488m (£295m) bid for Moto Goldmines. The counterbid, which sees the two mining companies trying to beat Canada's Red Back Mining $466.8m ($282m) bid for Moto, would give AngloGold a 50% indirect interest in the company if Randgold's bid goes ahead.

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2009 |

    Top 50 case study: Norton Rose

    Norton Rose set itself apart from most of its top 10 City rivals over the last financial year after launching a bold initiative to avoid redundancies and hiking turnover by more than 5%. The firm posted a 5.7% increase in revenue to £314m against a 17.3% drop in profits per equity partner (PEP) to £517,000. The climb in turnover means the firm beat the average by revenue growth across the top 10 City firms, which was enough to take Norton Rose into the overall UK top 10 - knocking Ashurst into 11th place.

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2009 |

    Twelve months in recession and more to come - top lawyers reflect on an uncertain market

    Top 50 leaders give their perspective on an extraordinary 12 months - and their expectations for the year ahead

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2009 |

    UK firms with strongholds on the continent come out ahead

    Continental Europe has proved an important international stronghold during the last financial year, with the firms heavily invested in the region seeing revenues inflated by the strength of the euro. The weakness of the pound against the euro and dollar demonstrated the importance of international spread, with Lovells joining the growing rank of firms including Linklaters and Clifford Chance (CC) making more than half of their revenue outside London.

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2009 |

    UK law leaders suffer PEP plunge but revenues hold steady

    The UK's top law firms have suffered a dramatic fall in profitability and a shrinking market in what has been confirmed as the worst trading conditions for the profession since the early 1990s.

    1 minute read

  • July 29, 2009 |

    Mixed fortunes for £100m-plus City firms as profits fall by 23%

    Firms in the City-based £100m group have fallen further behind the magic circle over the last financial year. The 11 firms in the group, which include all of the City top 10 outside the magic circle as well as CMS Cameron McKenna, SJ Berwin, Bird & Bird, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), Denton Wilde Sapte and Nabarro, on average saw turnover drop by 2%, with profits per equity partner (PEP) down by just over 23%.

    1 minute read

  • July 23, 2009 |

    Ashurst takes Europe role for Intel on €1bn EC fine appeal

    Ashurst has won the lead European adviser role for Intel on its appeal against one of the largest fines ever dished out by the European Commission (EC). Last May Intel was handed a penalty of €1.06bn (£914m) by the EC for anticompetitive behaviour and abusing its leading position in the market for the production of microchips, in a case which dates back to the beginning of the decade.

    1 minute read

  • July 23, 2009 | International Edition

    Commentary: Private equity - tough for the committed, worse for the rest

    It's not easy to write about private equity right now – half of London's buyout partners seem to have headed to the beach early and, in the current market, who can blame them? With deal volumes plummeting and brand name houses including Candover, Permira and Terra Firma going through very public difficulties, there does not seem much reason to stay in the office.

    1 minute read