Goodwin’s City arm hikes revenue 11% to $74m on the back of lateral bonanza

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Goodwin’s City arm hikes revenue 11% to $74m on the back of lateral bonanza

In another robust year for Boston’s Goodwin, its ever-expansive City arm has seen turnover lift 11% to $74m amid a year of aggressive investment. The double-digit City turnover growth may not be as pacey as last year’s eye-catching 58% uptick to $66.8m, but it speaks of the benefits of investing heavily and sticking to the …

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Akin Gump falls short of last year’s City revenue surge amid global growth and lateral push

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Akin Gump falls short of last year’s City revenue surge amid global growth and lateral push

The London office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld may have failed to maintain 2018’s pacy revenue growth of 28% on the back of a restructuring bonanza, but globally the firm has reported steady global growth amid a sustained lateral push. City turnover was broadly flat in 2019, rising only 1% to $125.1m from …

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Ropes ups the ante in the City talent war with £130k NQ pay package

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Ropes ups the ante in the City talent war with £130k NQ pay package

In a bold play for the Boston-bred firm, Ropes & Gray has increased its London NQ salary by 8% to £130k plus bonus. The move means a notable uptick on the previous City NQ rate of £120k and present a boon for Ropes’ appeal to young lawyers at a time of internal transition and increasing …

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Freshfields under financial and reputational fire in Germany as cum-ex tax scandal rolls on

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Freshfields under financial and reputational fire in Germany as cum-ex tax scandal rolls on

Marco Cillario and Nathalie Tidman report on Freshfields’ role in the tax scandal rocking Germany It is not often that a law firm makes headlines outside the legal media, yet the name Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is rapidly becoming a regular feature of German newspapers. That is bad news for the City giant. How bad, many …

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The vision thing – Sizing up the big issues set to shape law through the 2020s

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The vision thing – Sizing up the big issues set to shape law through the 2020s

The last decade emerged with the shockwaves of the banking crisis still making themselves felt on the profession. Having just made a series of job cuts in major markets the like of which had never been seen in the legal industry, the mood was infused by uncertainty, the brutal realities of austerity and the sudden …

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Deal View: After years of missed opportunities Weil flirts with a broader City advance

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Deal View: After years of missed opportunities Weil flirts with a broader City advance

Investment in Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ City arm has long come in fits and starts, avoiding broader M&A ambitions to become a well-regarded private equity player, while arguably being outpaced by US rivals Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Questions also linger around who will lead when Mike Francies, its …

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Sponsors, pharma and tech fire up deal activity despite a subdued year for marquee M&A in Europe

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Sponsors, pharma and tech fire up deal activity despite a subdued year for marquee M&A in Europe

A dearth of megadeals in 2019 did little to dampen the spirits of dealmakers with buyout teams capitalising on the ongoing private equity boom while wider pharma and tech deals drove bid activity. On the face of it, headline figures from Mergermarket speak of a subdued year, with global M&A activity declining 6.9% from 2018 to …

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‘Unlikely to be repeated’: SDT justifies sanctions in Freshfields’ Beckwith misconduct case

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‘Unlikely to be repeated’: SDT justifies sanctions in Freshfields’ Beckwith misconduct case

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s (SDT) controversial decision to fine instead of ban Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Ryan Beckwith was because his misconduct was ‘a lapse in his judgement’ and ‘unlikely to be repeated’. The SDT published today (4 Feburary) its judgment detailing its full reasons after the tribunal last October fined Beckwith £35,000 and ordered …

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Hello Newman: Milbank loses restructuring partner to Skadden’s relative City hiring spree

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Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom continues to turn heads with its uncharacteristic hiring spree in London, this time in the form of Milbank restructuring partner Peter Newman. A firm not famed for aggressive recruitment drives, the move is notable for being Skadden’s third London lateral recruit within the last six months, after it benefited from …

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