Slater and Gordon has acquired a further two UK law firms, adding a projected £18.7m to annual revenue, and revealed plans to build its UK business to 45% of total financial year 2014/15 revenues.
Both Allen & Overy (A&O) and Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) made hires to strengthen European offices last week, while Gateley hired two partners to bolster its London offering and Arthur Cox turned in-house.
Dentons has continued its rapid expansion with the addition of a new South African office in Johannesburg, while accounts filed at Companies House by Dentons UKMEA LLP have revealed the firm saw a substantial rise in profits as it lowered operating costs and improved turnover.
Michael West reports on how a shift in enforcement will herald a raft of new advisory work At the tail end of last year, the government launched its long-awaited UK Anti-Corruption Plan, a disparate collection of actions, initiatives and priorities aimed at improving the UK’s transparency, strengthening investigation powers and toughening enforcement options. The strategy, …
Osborne Clarke started last week with a hire from King & Wood Mallesons in the City but other laterals saw a focus on the Middle East with Boodle Hatfield’s London hire dealing with clients in the region as well as central Asia while Pinsent Masons and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) both hired in the UAE.
In the first full year of accounts since it merged, Herbert Smith Freehills has revealed its borrowings fell from £178m at the end of the 2012/13 financial year to £141m.
DAC Beachcroft’s latest LLP fillings at Companies House have revealed the firm’s profits available for division among members fell by 18.3% from £31.2m in the 2012/13 financial year to £25.5m in the year to 30 April 2014 as staff costs rose and the firm booked the cost of an IT failure.
In an indication of the legal job market’s growing strength, research analysing vacancy rates at law firms has shown that job openings across England and Wales were up by 48% in 2014 compared to a year earlier, while real estate teams grew fastest in the City.
US banks have started to announce their results for Q4 2014, revealing a large hit to balance sheets from legal expenses with JPMorgan Chase spending $1.1bn and Citigroup $2.9bn, just in the three months to 31 December 2014.
The government has amended the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to reintroduce further discretion in holding judicial reviews, helping the bill to pass the House of Commons last night (13 January) and returning it to the Lords for a third time.
