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  • October 31, 2007 |

    The Bar: Team spirit

    Today's commercial barristers need to be different. They can no longer get away with the 'eccentric genius' profile that still persists in some media depictions of the profession. They must understand the clients they are representing as much as their solicitors, and one of the main attributes instructing law firms insist on is that they are team players. Not only must they have the skills needed to win work and cases in the 21st century commercial arena, the process put in place to achieve the status of Queen's Counsel (QC) since 2005 has meant that the hurdles to jump from pupil to silk have got higher. And questions remain about the future of the Silk system. Last month the selection panel warned that the second round of QC awards was unlikely to be announced before January - 18 months after the first batch of silks were unveiled under the revamped kitemark.

    1 minute read

  • October 31, 2007 |

    Corporate Counsel: The success scale

    The task of ranking law firms, for years the preserve of hefty legal directories, now appears to be a challenge that a handful of major clients are ready to take on. In this case, corporate counsel who are under pressure to show they are getting value from their legal spending are searching for ways to monitor, codify and, perhaps even share information on the performance of external counsel. This is not, in itself, new. Stumbling attempts to rank advisers began to emerge in the late 1990s with the introduction of panels and commoditisation of some areas of legal services. However, such attempts were generally stuttering and unsuccessful.

    1 minute read

  • October 31, 2007 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 1/11/07...

    The five most popular articles on legalweek.com today; the pick of the day's posts; a brilliant new Career Clinic dilemma; and loads more

    1 minute read

  • October 24, 2007 |

    Top-tier SA firm launches City branch

    Leading South African law firm Webber Wentzel Bowens is to launch in London next month after hiring UK corporate partner Vaughn Harrison from rival Werksmans.

    1 minute read

  • October 24, 2007 |

    A&O bags a hat-trick as electronics deal marks third billion-pound role this month

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has bagged its third multibillion-pound deal so far this month after securing a lead role advising French electronics supplier Sonepar on its A2.5bn (£1.7bn) bid for Dutch rival Hagemeyer.

    1 minute read

  • October 24, 2007 |

    Uria Menendez launches Eastern Europe practice

    Slaughter and May best friend Uria Menendez has launched an Eastern European practice with the opening of its Warsaw office earlier this month (10 October). The office will be headed up on the ground by corporate lawyer Agustin Redondo, with Madrid-based partner and senior management member Romana Sadurska managing the firm's Polish and Eastern European desk.

    1 minute read

  • October 19, 2007 |

    A legal education

    BPP Law School has held off competition from rivals including the College of Law to retain its trophy client - the City Legal Practice Course (LPC) consortium.

    1 minute read

  • October 19, 2007 |

    Know your leader

    Leadership undoubtedly makes a difference to a law firm's performance, as well as morale among staff. Depending on their style, a managing or senior partner considers factors such as job satisfaction, commitment to the firm, levels of innovation and fee income in their leadership approach. Encouraging a supportive culture within a firm is crucial to keep retention rates down, whether that is done by the managing partner walking the floor regularly, or by holding regular firm-wide meetings for staff to air their grievances.

    1 minute read

  • October 17, 2007 |

    Steady mid-market in Q3 helps firms ride out credit squeeze

    A resilient third-quarter showing from the UK mid-market helped firms such as Clifford Chance (CC), DLA Piper, Linklaters and Eversheds ride out the current turbulence in global deal markets.

    1 minute read

  • October 17, 2007 |

    Deal Week Dispatch: 17/10/2007

    Deal Week Dispatch brings readers an early taster of news from Legal Week's unparalleled deals coverage, with A&O, Shearman and Platt & Fishwick among the movers and shakers

    1 minute read