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  • November 6, 2008 |

    Clydes posts double-digit revenue growth for H1

    Clyde & Co has become the latest City firm to reveal its turnover figures for the first half of the financial year, posting double-digit revenue growth. The top City firm boosted revenues by 10% for the H1 period with the firm bringing in £83.6m, up from £76m last year.Clydes attributed the growth to an increase in commercial litigation and its international network of offices, in the particular the Middle East - where the firm is seeing an increase in corporate activity - and the Americas, which is heavily focused on litigation.

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  • November 6, 2008 |

    Perks of legal life

    The rewards offered to lawyers extend beyond the financial into all sorts of gratis goodies. Legal Week Student takes a look at some of the more bizarre perks on offer

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  • November 5, 2008 |

    Freshfields, Ashurst take flight on Lufthansa's €400m BMI bid

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Ashurst have landed lead roles in Lufthansa's bid to take a controlling stake in UK airline BMI, in a deal valued at a reported €400m (£314m).Freshfields won an instruction from the German national airline, which announced last week that it is to take a further 50% stake in BMI. London-based corporate partner Sundeep Kapila led the team for the magic circle firm.The firm has advised Lufthansa regularly in the past, including on the establishment of a freight airline with DHL Express in 2007.

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  • November 5, 2008 |

    Milbank Tweed and Slaughters pick up £2bn sale of Abbey train leasing arm

    Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and Slaughter and May have taken lead roles on the estimated £2bn sale of Abbey's train leasing arm Porterbrook to a Deutsche Bank-led consortium, in one of the largest leveraged acquisitions of the year in the London market. Milbank scored the lead role for the acquiring consortium, including Deutsche bank, Lloyds TSB and Antin Infrastructure Partners - a BNP Paribas-sponsored infrastructure fund. The US firm fielded a team out of its London office under corporate partner Stuart Harray, along with finance partner Suhrud Mehta and tax partner Russell Jacobs.

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  • November 5, 2008 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 6/11/08...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; the pick of the day's posts; and more

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  • November 5, 2008 |

    Ashurst grows H1 turnover by 7.5% to £158m

    Ashurst has posted a 7.5% increase in turnover for the first six months of the financial year, with revenues rising to £158m from £147m in the same period last year. Despite the figures falling some way short of last year's equivalent increase of 25%, the results mark a strong performance for the firm in the tough economic climate. The firm's core practice areas of private equity, leveraged finance and structured finance have all felt the pinch in recent months.Managing partner Simon Bromwich (pictured) commented: "The economic situation remains challenging and it is clear that all firms will face a tough second six months. That said, Ashurst's performance remains good and we are continuing to build on the significant progress of recent years.

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  • October 31, 2008 |

    Bakers set for Abu Dhabi office launch

    Baker & McKenzie is set to open its third office in the Gulf with the launch of an Abu Dhabi arm later this year. The new office will mark the firm's 69th base worldwide, and will specialise in banking and finance, corporate and M&A, private equity, securities, capital markets, projects arbitration and real estate.Former Prague managing partner Boris Dackiw will head up the office, leading a team of 50 lawyers. He will also become managing partner of the Gulf region.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • October 30, 2008 |

    UK firms eye Singapore entry via newly-liberalised licences

    At least six City firms have applied for new liberalised licences to practise local law in Singapore, including Ashurst, DLA Piper, Herbert Smith and Norton Rose.Around five licences are expected be awarded under the system, which goes beyond the current local joint venture (JV) model which allows foreign firms to practise local law in restrictive alliances with local firms. Around 20 firms are thought to have applied for the licences.Clifford Chance (CC) and Allen & Overy (A&O) - both of which have local joint ventures - are also believed to have applied for a licence, although both firms declined to comment. A number of US law firms are also known to have applied.The Singapore Ministry of Law has said it will take around two months to process the applications under the so-called qualifying foreign law practice (QFLP) scheme following the deadline for submissions earlier this month (9 October).Linklaters and Lovells both stated that they were happy with their JVs and have, therefore, not applied. JVs already in place are also set to be transformed to 'enhanced joint ventures' as a part of the scheme, enabling further access to the local legal market.Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which ended its Singapore JV with Drew & Napier last year, has previously stated it will not attempt to re-enter the market. Top 15 UK law firms Eversheds, CMS Cameron McKenna and Simmons & Simmons, none of which have a Singapore presence, said they have not applied for a licence.In contrast to the generally unpopular JV regime, the new licences will allow foreign firms wider freedom to employ locally-qualified lawyers. Applying firms will be expected to demonstrate their commitment to the local market. However, the liberalised model has been criticised in some quarters for only offering around five licences."The true benefits are that you will be able to offer a full service to international clients. Being able to get a licence will fill a gap which is there - so that we could advise all international clients also on regional transactions," commented Herbert Smith Singapore head Austin Sweeney.Norton Rose Singapore-based dispute resolution partner Guy Spooner said: "It is a development and a chance to do work that we cannot do now. We feel it is a step in the right direction, especially since it is regarded as a first, rather than last, step."

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