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  • November 3, 2008 |

    Trowers completes LLP conversion

    Trowers & Hamlins has become the latest firm to convert to a limited liability partnership (LLP). The conversion took place at the beginning of last month (1 October) and will initially apply to the firm's London, Manchester and Exeter offices.The top 40 UK firm's Middle East offices will remain separate from the LLP, while the Cairo office will continue to operate as Trowers & Hamlins LLC.

    1 minute read

  • October 31, 2008 |

    It's bonus time

    Since bonuses were introduced by law firms in the late 1990s as a way to limit the long-term effects of salary inflation, amounts paid out - and the hoops that lawyers have to jump through in order to get their hands on the cash - have varied wildly between firms. Some firms give tens of thousands of pounds to lawyers regardless of individual performance, while others require Olympian levels of all-round commitment in return for sums that could probably be more easily obtained through a few after hours' shifts at the local pub.We take a look behind the main bonus systems operating at the major City and regional firms and assess what the future of bonuses in the legal world is likely to be.

    1 minute read

  • October 30, 2008 |

    Iceland Govt instructs Lovells in wake of financial meltdown

    Lovells has been bought in by the Icelandic Government to advise on any potential claims that it might make against the UK Treasury in the wake of the country's recent banking collapse. The mandate comes against the backdrop of a war of words between the UK and Icelandic Governments after three banks - Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir - were taken into the hands of the Icelandic authorities earlier this month.Iceland's foreign minister, Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, slammed the UK Government's use of anti-terror laws to seize around £4bn worth of assets from Landsbanki, while Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the behaviour of the Icelandic Government was "totally unacceptable" in the face of the scale of the country's economic crisis.

    1 minute read

  • October 30, 2008 |

    Top firms line up for 2008 British Legal Awards

    Ashurst, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters have been named among the nominees for a number of top accolades at the 2008 British Legal Awards. The trio have been shortlisted for the coveted law firm of the year award alongside Baker & McKenzie, Eversheds and Latham & Watkins.Linklaters has been shortlisted for three further awards, including cross-border M&A team of the year, while Freshfields is among the nominees for M&A team of the year. Allen & Overy also secured nominations in both of these categories.

    1 minute read

  • October 30, 2008 |

    Ex-A&O chief Beringer takes College of Law role

    The College of Law has appointed former Allen & Overy (A&O) senior partner Guy Beringer as a non-executive governor on its board. Since retiring from his second term as senior partner at A&O earlier this year, Beringer has also been appointed a non-executive director of investment managers Fleming Family & Partners and a non-executive member of the board of Her Majesty's Courts Service.

    1 minute read

  • October 30, 2008 |

    Lehman and recession fears batter confidence but half expect growth

    Business confidence at top commercial law firms has been further battered by gloomy economic news in the current quarter - but nearly one in two partners still expect their firms to achieve revenue growth this year.Conducted a month after the market-shaking collapse of Lehman Brothers and in the week that senior politicians conceded the UK is now in recession, the Legal Week quarterly Big Question business confidence poll fell to its lowest-ever recorded level.Just 6% of respondents predicted revenue growth of more than 10% over the next 12 months, the fourth quarter that confidence has fallen in the poll. As recently as last year 60% of respondents were regularly predicting double-digit increases in turnover. The findings also indicate firms have revised their growth projections downwards since the last poll in July, when two-thirds of respondents were still expecting revenue growth.

    1 minute read

  • October 29, 2008 |

    Cleary and Slaughters pair up to advise Glaxo on $210m Egyptian acquisitions

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Slaughter and May have teamed up to advise GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on its $210m (£128m) acquisition of some of Bristol Myers Squibb's (BMS's) Egyptian assets. The pair worked opposite DLA Piper on the deal, which sees GSK buying BMS's Egyptian mature products business

    1 minute read

  • October 24, 2008 |

    Herbert Smith adds Moscow partner with A&O hire

    Herbert Smith is set to add a partner in Russia with the hire of a lawyer from Allen & Overy's (A&O) Moscow office. Ed Baring, who has been a senior associate at A&O in Moscow since 2001, is expected to join Herbert Smith at the beginning of December. He will become the ninth partner in the firm's Moscow office and the third dedicated finance partner.Baring, who trained at Slaughter and May, focuses on bank lending, trade, acquisition and real estate finance and securitisation. He will work closely with Moscow finance partner Alexander Currie, as well as London-based partner John Balsdon, who has an active Russia-related practice.

    1 minute read

  • October 22, 2008 |

    Dealmaker: Nick Segal

    Nick Segal, one of the leading partners in Freshfields' restructuring team, talks war zones, BCCI and Northern Rock

    1 minute read

  • October 22, 2008 | International Edition

    Macfarlanes advises PE bidder circling beleagured Baugur as asset sale looms

    Macfarlanes is among a group of firms in line to benefit as potential bidders emerge for the assets of troubled Icelandic investor Baugur. The firm is advising regular private equity client Alchemy Partners, which is understood to have held talks with Mosaic Fashions, one of Baugur's major British investments. Corporate partners Ian Martin and Simon Perry are leading the Macfarlanes' team advising Alchemy. Mosaic - the company behind High Street names including Oasis, Coast and Karen Millen - has turned to Manchester-based Heatons for advice on any potential bid.

    1 minute read