Herbert Smith Freehills to have a new CEO next year as Bell and Willis step down

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David Willis and Gavin Bell, joint chief executive officers at Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), have announced today (24 September) that they will step down from their roles next Spring. Willis’ term as managing partner was expected to end in April this year but he agreed to a one-year extension following the merger of Herbert Smith …

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SJ Berwin to collect on unpaid legal fees from Qatari sheikh

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Middle-Eastern high-net-worth individuals are probably the last clients you would expect to be forced to chase for money but SJ Berwin is set to receive over £260,000 in unpaid fees from a Qatari sheikh client in a judgment revealed last week. Reported on Bloomberg Businessweek on Friday (20 September), the decision was handed down by …

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Further PI shake up appears imminent as Pannone votes on Slater & Gordon part acquisition

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Acquisitive Slater & Gordon looks set to acquire the personal injury practice of Manchester-based Pannone as sources close to the firm say it will vote next week in what is tipped to be a done deal. The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) listed firm, which last month announced its acquisition of Manchester-based personal injury firm Fentons, …

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European tax boost for Shearman as it becomes BFs with Tremonti

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Shearman & Sterling has boosted it European tax offering by entering into a ‘best friends’ cooperation agreement with tier one Italian tax practice Tremonti Vitali Romagnoli Piccardi e Associati. The firms have previously worked together on high profile transactions for corporates and financial institutions and will remain fully independent but will now jointly pitch for work …

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Kirkland opens up in Beijing to expand 65-lawyer Chinese operation

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Kirkland & Ellis has expanded its sizeable Chinese footprint by opening an office in Beijing, the top 10 global firm announced today. With 55 lawyers in Hong Kong and 10 in Shanghai, the new Beijing presence will focus on M&A and private equity transactions, international capital markets transactions, fund formation and government enforcement and investigations. …

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Mergers push the top 100 firms back into double digit growth

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A wave of consolidation in the UK legal industry has sparked double digit growth among the top 100 law firms for the first time in five years. The latest Deloitte quarterly legal sector survey today (13 September) revealed a 10.5% increase in fee income generated in Q1 (ending 31 July) compared to the same period last …

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Line up, line up: Twitter, Royal Mail and Foxtons go to market

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After a flurry of initial public offerings (IPOs) earlier in the year, with Esure, Countrywide and Partnership Assurance among the UK companies to go public, a new wave of IPOs are lining up to go to market, including Royal Mail, Foxtons and, most recently in the US, Twitter. Twitter rather aptly tweeted its intentions to …

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Record breaking $49bn Verizon bond issue sees Debevoise and Davis Polk secure lead roles

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Debevoise & Plimpton and Davis Polk & Wardwell have landed roles on Verizon Communication’s record breaking $49bn US bond issue. The deal is bigger than the three previous record sized deals combined: Apple’s $17 billion deal in April, AbbVie’s US14.7 billion last November and Roche Holdings’ $13.5 billion transaction in 2009, according to Reuters, which also points …

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Asia Round-up: Linklaters and Sidley Austin hire in Hong Kong and Singapore while DLA suffers another Singapore exit

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Magic circle lateral hires still happen comparatively infrequently but if they do happen, these days it’s quite often in Asia. The past week has seen Linklaters appoint David Kidd of his own eponymous firm as a partner to lead its pan-Asian restructuring and insolvency practice. He will join the firm in October and be based …

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Revolving Doors: September ushers in hires for Bakers, Clyde & Co, Eversheds, Pinsent Masons and Irwin Mitchell

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A return to business as usual this September has brought a wave of lateral hires including 4,000-lawyer Baker & McKenzie’s recruitment of leading M&A partner Mats Sacklén (pictured) from the London office of McDermott Will & Emery, where he was head of the European corporate practice. Sacklén, who joins Baker’s Stockholm office to bolster its European …

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