‘Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!’ exclaims Oliver Brettle, White & Case’s London executive partner, before getting up and heading for the door. Given an amicable discussion of the considerable recent growth of White & Case’s City arm, the reaction to a question about the firm’s disputes practice seems a little abrupt.
The London contingent of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has recently moved across the road into premises so new they do not yet have a postcode recognised by Google Maps. The irony is not lost if you consider the firm’s role as counsel to Google on some of the most high-profile antitrust cases in recent …
Magic Circle firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May have rejuvenated longstanding client relationships to win lead roles on Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis’ $13bn sale to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) of its minority stake in their consumer healthcare joint venture. The deal, announced on today (27 March), sees London-listed GSK buy the 36.5% stake in the …
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has become the penultimate Magic Circle firm to publish statistics on the disparity between male and female employee earnings, performing well ahead of its peers to date. The firm today (22 March) revealed it pays male staff on average 13.9% more than female fee-earners, a gap which closes to 13.3% when the …
Continue reading “Freshfields trounces rivals as Global 100 firms release gender pay stats”
Kirkland & Ellis has hiked revenues by more than $500m to overtake Latham & Watkins as the world’s highest-earning law firm, as revenues surged to $3.165bn. The Chicago-bred giant today (22 March) announced its results for the 2017 financial year, confirmed a 19% hike in revenues against $2.65bn the previous year. Profit per equity partner (PEP) …
The old days when the only ways in and out of a Magic Circle partnership were promotion and retirement (forced or otherwise) seems like ancient history with this week already seeing Allen & Overy (A&O) make a rare City hire as Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer loses one of its own in Europe. A&O’s move sees the firm …
The string of sexual harassment scandals that are blighting the legal profession shows no sign of stopping, with Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) becoming the latest firm to fire a partner following claims of workplace misconduct. An unnamed male partner based in Australia was suspended from the partnership on 9 March, after an internal investigation discovered …
Continue reading “#MeToo: HSF latest firm to axe partner after sexual harassment allegations”
Allen & Overy has become the latest magic circle firm to reveal the sizeable gulf between male and female employee earnings. The firm on Monday (12 March) published its figures for gender pay brackets ahead of the 4 April deadline required by legislation brought in last year.
Given that it has been so well telegraphed that the $10m lateral was coming to the Square Mile, the shock among City peers at the hire of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer private equity veteran David Higgins (pictured) has been, well, shocking. ‘Outrageous’, ‘obscene’ and ‘mildly appalling’ are among the reactions from peers. One hopeful partner at …
Continue reading “Comment: A shock to the system as Freshfields heavyweight departs”
Weil, Gotshal & Manges has scored an 18% global rise in profits per equity partner (PEP) as London turnover soared 33%, while Debevoise & Plimpton recorded a 17% PEP increase against a 12% revenue uptick. Fellow US firm Reed Smith has finally returned to growth after two consecutive years of decline, increasing its top line …
