The legal profession is set to see a spate of downsizing of its real estate holdings according to CBRE’s Professional London report with legal occupiers having breaks or leases expiring covering 4.9m sq ft over the next six years.
Ashurst has made a rare lateral hire from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London, bringing in the firm’s country partner for Australia and co-head of mining and metals, James Wood, to bolster its corporate division.
Gateley has set 8 June as its expected admission date onto the AIM listing, giving it little over a week left to garner interest in what will be the first UK law firm to carry out an initial public offering (IPO).
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has hired Kirkland & Ellis partner Samuel Williamson as it looks to launch an office in Shanghai targeting Chinese enforcement work while King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) also expanded in the region, officially opening in Singapore.
Last week saw a range of firms bolstering key practices areas with a capital markets partner returning to Simmons & Simmons, Nabarro building its disputes resolution group, Jones Day hiring a team in The Netherlands while Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) made a significant appointment.
Creating Shakespeare Martineau, Midland firms Shakespeares and SGH Martineau have confirmed they will merge on 15 June with Andy Raynor (pictured, right) acting as chief executive.
Bird & Bird has made an application to open in Luxembourg as it targets work heading to the new European Unified Patent Court (UPC).
Dentons UKMEA LLP is understood to have increased its revenues by 6% to £155m in the 2014/15 financial year, while net profit rose by 18% to £34m.
Sidley Austin has boosted both its M&A and private equity offering in Southeast Asia with the hire of White & Case partner and Indonesia chief Charlie Wilson into its Singapore office.
Browne Jacobson has, for the second year in a row, posted a rise in turnover of over 10% with the firm generating £58.9m in the 2014/15 financial year – up 17% from last year’s £50.2m
