One trick pony – BLP to retain MLS in wake of partner departures

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‘Two people leaving doesn’t mean the whole business collapses,’ says Neville Eisenberg, Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP) managing partner of 14 years, of the latest departures to hit the firm and, in particular, its Managed Legal Services (MLS) division. MLS, which has struggled to make any headway in its model of absorbing in-house teams and effectively …

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Resurgence in debt and equity capital markets sees Allen & Overy claim top spot for issuer and manager roles

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Allen & Overy (A&O) has topped Thomson Reuters’ table of legal advisers on global debt and equity capital markets work for the first half of 2013, landing roles on 456 deals. The Magic Circle firm came out in first place for both manager and issuer roles, advising on 350 and 106 deals respectively. Clifford Chance, which …

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Financial results 2013: BLP confirms bad year as revenues drop by 5%

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It appears today (19 July) is a good day to try and bury bad news. With Dundas & Wilson earlier revealing significant falls in revenues and profit, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has confirmed suspicions that it has had a bad year: revenues are down 5% from £246m to £233m. The firm has yet to announce …

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Comparing apples with, err, pears: Dentons’ financials show slight increase in revenue as Withers and Travers reveal numbers

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If the financial results of 2013 are useful for one thing, it will be to remind us of the sheer volume of transcontinental mergers, nearly-ran mergers, and the growth in popularity of the Swiss verein model. The tail end of the financial reporting season has seen Dentons post its first, broadly flat set of results …

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European movers: Bakers bolsters Madrid office with team of 20 as Hogan Lovells launches in Luxembourg and Wragges takes on Paris team

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In many ways it is a curious time to be building up corporate and finance capability in the depressed Spanish market but Baker & McKenzie has significantly bolstered its strength in its largely third-tier Madrid office with the hire a local team of 20 lawyers from Mayer Brown’s former Spanish ally, Ramón y Cajal, including five partners. Two …

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Benchmarking global law firms is getting harder – HSF issues partial post-merger results suggesting PEP down to £750k

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Pity the reporters covering the legal industry as the rash of international mergers and differing profit structures has seen law firms increasingly attempt an ad hoc approach to disclosing their financial performance. Very much in this spirit, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) today (17 July) took the unusual step of releasing its financial performance for just …

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A high-stakes global play – SJ Berwin to vote next week on tie-up with Asian giant King & Wood Mallesons

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Arguably the most ambitious deal to hit the global legal market since the 2010 tie-up between Hogan & Hartson and Lovells looks set to go ahead as it emerges that SJ Berwin is to vote next week on its proposed merger with Asia-Pacific giant King & Wood Mallesons. Legal Business understands that SJ Berwin partners …

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Reed Smith set to earn nearly £1m from Savile mandate as BBC criticised for £5m bill

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Reed Smith has received nearly a million pounds in legal fees as a result of assisting in the BBC’s investigation into the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal as the corporation comes under criticism for spending a total of £5m of licence fee payers’ money on three reviews. The BBC’s annual report today (17 July) revealed that …

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Deal Watch: sporting metaphor alert as Dechert, HSF and DLA Piper score high-profile football roles

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The balance sheets of most English clubs may be shakier than Villa’s back four, but when it comes to raising your deal-doers’ profile there’s still nothing like acting for major football teams. Among the advisers getting off the bench (sorry) are Dechert, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Squire Sanders on the sale of Fulham Football …

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Can’t make an omelette – newly-merged Norton Rose Fulbright sees exodus in Middle East

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So far the high-stakes merger between Norton Rose and US practice Fulbright & Jaworski has been sealed with minimal fall-out but a prominent exception has been confirmed in the Middle East with an eight-partner team quitting the legacy Houston law firm’s Dubai arm for a rival. Baker Botts today (16 July) confirmed the hire of …

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