‘It sits squarely in the SFO’s wheelhouse’: criminal investigation launched into Axiom Ince as regulators and ex-employees grapple with aftermath

Posted on | News review |
‘It sits squarely in the SFO’s wheelhouse’: criminal investigation launched into Axiom Ince as regulators and ex-employees grapple with aftermath

A criminal investigation has been launched into Axiom Ince, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced last month. Seven individuals have been arrested in connection with the investigation and searches have been carried out across nine sites. More than 80 SFO investigators, alongside Metropolitan Police officers, went to locations across the South-East of England on the …

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Banking and Finance perspectives: Chris Kandel

Posted on | Analysis Banking and Finance Yearbook 2023 |
Banking and Finance perspectives: Chris Kandel

I actually started practising law in California, way back in the dark ages. I moved over here for two years, and I’ve been here ever since. I never really intended to be a lawyer in London at all. My lifetime ambition was to be a criminal lawyer in Baltimore. My early career could be characterised …

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Slaughters’ outgoing senior partner Cooke to follow fellow grandees in post-retirement pivot

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Slaughters’ outgoing senior partner Cooke to follow fellow grandees in post-retirement pivot

Slaughter and May’s eminent senior partner Steve Cooke has become the latest law firm leader to embrace a change of direction post-retirement with the news that he is to join PR agency Brunswick Group. Cooke (pictured) will finish his term as Slaughters’ senior partner on 30 April 2024 after which he will join Brunswick as …

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Revolving Doors: Disputes hiring picks up pace as Global 100 players make key appointments

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Revolving Doors: Disputes hiring picks up pace as Global 100 players make key appointments

Allen & Overy has hired cyber security incident response partners, Ffion Flockhart, and Charlie Weston-Simons, with Flockhart taking on the role of global head of cybersecurity.  The pair previously worked together at Norton Rose Fulbright, where Flockhart was global co-head of information governance, privacy, and cyber security. The team will assist clients with cyber incidents …

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SFO opens criminal investigation into Axiom Ince

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SFO opens criminal investigation into Axiom Ince

A criminal investigation has been launched into Axiom Ince, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced today (14 November). Seven individuals have been arrested in connection with the investigation and searches have been carried out across nine sites. More than 80 SFO investigators, alongside Metropolitan Police officers, went to locations across the southeast of England early …

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International round-up: Global 100 firms expand in the Middle East and Asia

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International round-up: Global 100 firms expand in the Middle East and Asia

Ahead of our annual Global 100 report in our November/December issue, firms have made concerted efforts to consolidate and expand in the Middle East and Asia in recent months. Bird & Bird has announced a new office in Shenzhen, to be led by the firm’s Greater China intellectual property practice co-head Hank Leung, a Legal …

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New brooms for Travers Smith as partnership elects Gillen to senior partner

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New brooms for Travers Smith as partnership elects Gillen to senior partner

Travers Smith today (6 November) announced the election of Andrew Gillen as senior partner. With a term commencing on 1 January 2024, Gillen will succeed acting senior partner Siân Keall, who has been in the role, first in a part-time capacity since January 2023, and then full-time since 30 June following Kathleen Russ’s decision to …

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Axiom Ince appoints administrators as Law Society questions compensation fund levy

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Axiom Ince appoints administrators as Law Society questions compensation fund levy

Axiom Ince has filed documents with the High Court to appoint Neil Bennett, Alex Cadwallader and Andrew Poxon of Leonard Curtis as joint administrators. They will be responsible for closing the firm’s business, realising its assets, and reporting to its creditors. The joint administrators will operate separately from intervening agents Gordons, Shakespeare Martineau and Stephensons, …

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LB100 – The second 25: Riders of the storm

Posted on | Analysis |
LB100 – The second 25: Riders of the storm

It has been another muted performance from the second 25, typically the strongest-performing group in the LB100 historically. Average revenue may be up 8% to £180.4m – in line with the LB100 as a whole – but revenue per lawyer (RPL) stayed flat at £289,000. Profit per lawyer (PPL) barely moved at £74,000 and neither …

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Social mobility: An invisible problem

Posted on | Analysis |
Social mobility: An invisible problem

‘We have yet to make significant strides in fostering systemic change for social mobility. Our focus around diversity and inclusion has only been for the past 15 to 20 years, while the legal industry has a history spanning hundreds of years. So, when we gauge the progress made in proportion to this vast timeline, it …

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