The in-house trend towards panel downsizing is again in evidence as AIG today (26 September) revealed a 25-strong list of advisers with a view to ultimately reducing that number to as little as single figures. Phase one of AIG’s Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regional legal panel review – covering AIG’s claims and corporate …
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Barclays has begun the biggest capital raising by a UK bank since 2009 under which Clifford Chance (CC), Sullivan & Cromwell and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer will lead on its initial £5.8bn rights issue, as the global financial institution moves to plug a £12.8bn funding gap. A team from 3017-lawyer Magic Circle firm CC led by London corporate partner Patrick …
After losing Birmingham managing partner Mark Beardmore to Eversheds last week DLA Piper has announced his replacement plus a double hire to boot, as former Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) partner Patrick Somers joins the firm. Somers, who was BLP’s Thames Water relationship partner and led its innovative managed legal services (MLS) division, under which it took over the …
Magic circle lawyers have this week filled a number of senior regulatory and in-house positions, with a Slaughter and May partner unveiled as general counsel of the new Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and a former lawyer named Shell‘s UK legal head; while Clifford Chance‘s head of employee benefits has joined PwC as a director in its …
DLA Piper has suffered further regional losses as Birmingham managing partner Mark Beardmore and head of technology and sourcing Simon Jones depart for Eversheds. Corporate M&A and private equity partner Beardmore, who regularly acts for private equity funders and management teams on management buyouts and secondary buyouts, is thought to have been approached by Eversheds …
Redundancy is a word that has been heard rather less over the quieter summer months but yesterday (9 September) Scottish firm Maclay Murray & Spens confirmed it has made a total of 28 staff redundant. Meanwhile, Midlands firm Shakespeares this week confirmed the launch of a consultation over 19 secretarial roles as Ashurst completes the …
In the second recruit to its Hong Kong office in the last couple of weeks, Linklaters has hired former Allen & Overy (A&O) partner David Kidd to lead its restructuring & insolvency (R&I) practice as the Magic Circle firm strengthens its finance and litigation teams in the region. Kidd, who has operated under his own …
Insurance specialist Kennedys is the latest in line of large English firms conducting raids north of the border over the last year-and-half, sealing a merger with Scotland’s Simpson & Marwick after over a year of negotiations. The 220-partner firm will be initially be known as Kennedys worldwide and Kennedys Simpson & Marwick in Scotland and …
It may be one of its signature practice areas but progressive insurance giant DAC Beachcroft last week (30 August) confirmed five Leeds-based partners will be leaving its market-leading health team for rival specialist Capsticks. Although departure dates are yet to be finalised, Ian Cooper, Rachael Heenan, Robert McGough, Ron Simms and Claire Reynolds will all …
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With mounting pressure on legal teams to up productivity, a handful of pioneering GCs have attempted the fundamental shift towards becoming a commercial centre ‘A lot of people like to be seen to be innovative,’ says Richard Susskind, author of Tomorrow’s Lawyers, ‘but one shouldn’t pursue innovation in and of itself, it’s got to be …
