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  • November 7, 2007 |

    Deal Week Dispatch: 7/11/2007

    Deal Week Dispatch brings readers an early taster of news from Legal Week's unparalleled deals coverage, with Ashurst, Norton Rose and Travers Smith among the movers and shakers

    1 minute read

  • November 7, 2007 |

    ...Legal Week Lunchbox: 7/11/07...

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

    1 minute read

  • November 6, 2007 | International Edition

    H1 results: SJB turnover up 22%, Lovells up 10%

    SJ Berwin and Lovells have become the latest firms to unveil double-digit turnover increases for the first half of the year, with the City duo reporting rises of 22% and 10% respectively. SJ Berwin has seen its half-year turnover rise by almost a quarter to reach £99m - putting the top 20 City practice on track to break the £200m mark for a full financial year for the first time. Last year SJ Berwin reported a year-end turnover of £189m.

    1 minute read

  • November 6, 2007 |

    H1 results: SJB turnover up 22%, Lovells up 10%

    SJ Berwin and Lovells have become the latest firms to unveil double-digit turnover increases for the first half of the year, with the City duo reporting rises of 22% and 10% respectively. SJ Berwin has seen its half-year turnover rise by almost a quarter to reach £99m - putting the top 20 City practice on track to break the £200m mark for a full financial year for the first time. Last year SJ Berwin reported a year-end turnover of £189m.

    1 minute read

  • November 5, 2007 | International Edition

    Links corporate man boosts Debevoise London

    Debevoise & Plimpton has bolstered its London M&A practice with the hire of a partner from Linklaters. Guy Lewin-Smith, who has been a partner with the magic circle firm since 1994, is set to join the US firm's City arm in early 2008. It is the third high-profile appointment for Debevoise's London office in little more than three months. Last month it brought in former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith QC to head its European litigation practice, having announced the hire of former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer investment funds partner Anthony McWhirter at the end of July.

    1 minute read

  • November 5, 2007 |

    Links corporate man boosts Debevoise London

    Debevoise & Plimpton has bolstered its London M&A practice with the hire of a partner from Linklaters. Guy Lewin-Smith, who has been a partner with the magic circle firm since 1994, is set to join the US firm's City arm in early 2008. It is the third high-profile appointment for Debevoise's London office in little more than three months. Last month it brought in former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith QC to head its European litigation practice, having announced the hire of former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer investment funds partner Anthony McWhirter at the end of July.

    1 minute read

  • November 2, 2007 |

    City giants shake off credit crunch for strong H1 results

    A clutch of leading City firms have shaken off the impact of the credit crunch to announce strong first halves for the latest financial year. A&O became the first firm to announce its half-year figures earlier today (2 November), charting a 16% increase in revenues for the most recent six-month period, while Ashurst saw turnover surge by 25% compared to the equivalent period last year.

    1 minute read

  • November 1, 2007 |

    Watson Farley/Chadbourne merger talks hit delays

    Long-running merger talks between New York law firm Chadbourne & Parke and City outfit Watson Farley & Williams appear to have stalled. While negotiations between the two firms, which kicked off in January this year, are still continuing, Legal Week has learned that the issue of a potential merger took a back seat during a recent Watson Farley partners' conference.

    1 minute read

  • November 1, 2007 |

    Susskind predicts demise of lawyers in IT-led future

    Top business lawyers have played down talk that increasing commoditisation and use of IT will bring about the death of the industry, following claims made by leading technology expert Richard Susskind. The predictions come in Susskind's new book, The End of Lawyers?, in which he says the legal profession needs to undergo a significant transformation to avoid extinction. He argues that lawyers need to ask themselves what elements of their workload could be undertaken more cheaply and efficiently as "the market is unlikely to tolerate expensive lawyers" for work that can be better done by "smart systems and processes"

    1 minute read

  • November 1, 2007 |

    Ashurst joins the London LLP gang

    Ashurst has become the latest firm to convert to a limited liability partnership (LLP). The top 10 City firm will officially become an LLP on 1 November after months of internal debate. Its offices in Italy, Japan and Sweden will not join the LLP but will remain separate legal entities affiliated with the partnership. Ashurst's conversion leaves Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Slaughter and May and Simmons & Simmons as the only top 10 City firms still to convert.

    1 minute read