Bircham Dyson and Pitmans seek reversal of revenue fortunes with £52m merger bid

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Bircham Dyson and Pitmans seek reversal of revenue fortunes with £52m merger bid

The partnerships at City law firm Bircham Dyson Bell (BDB) and Reading headquartered Pitmans will this month vote on a proposed merger to create a £50m-plus firm. A merger would be good for a partner headcount of 80, while overall staff numbers would be 404. A combined revenue of about £52m would put the merged firm close …

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Revolving doors: Holiday lull over with spate of lateral hires at home and abroad

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Revolving doors: Holiday lull over with spate of lateral hires at home and abroad

In the most significant move of last week, Baker McKenzie has hired Sidley Austin’s former City managing partner Matthew Dening, who re-joins the firm after leaving as partner in 14 years ago. As co-head of Sidley’s London finance team, the hire is a significant addition for Bakers as it sets about strengthening its structured capital markets …

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Start me up: Highly-rated legal AI platform Kira secures a record $50m in private equity backing

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Start me up: Highly-rated legal AI platform Kira secures a record $50m in private equity backing

In a significant benchmark for the legal tech sector, leading AI platform Kira Systems has sealed $50m of private equity backing from New York-based Insight Venture Partners, as legal tech companies continue to prime for growth. The investment, announced today (5 September), is the first external backing the AI company has received since its inception …

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Revolving Doors: Summer recruitment round ends with Global 100 firms hiring in the City and Asia

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Revolving Doors: Summer recruitment round ends with Global 100 firms hiring in the City and Asia

The summer holiday recruitment round officially finished last week, with DLA Piper and Pinsent Masons making significant moves in London, while Eversheds Sutherland  and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan continued the recent wave of Asia hires with additions to their IP and litigation offerings respectively. DLA Piper announced the hire of construction and infrastructure partner Sarah …

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Deal watch: Slaughters leads on Wonga collapse and joins Skadden, Ashurst and CC on £3.9bn Costa deal

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Deal watch: Slaughters leads on Wonga collapse and joins Skadden, Ashurst and CC on £3.9bn Costa deal

Slaughter and May has landed key roles on the high-profile collapse of payday lender Wonga and Coca-Cola’s £3.9bn acquisition of national coffee house Costa, joined by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Clifford Chance (CC) and Ashurst. The demise of Wonga, the UK’s largest payday lender, was confirmed yesterday (30 August) amidst a flood of compensation claims …

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Revolving Doors: Sullivan & Cromwell ends City recruitment hiatus as White & Case lead firms strengthening in Asia

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Revolving Doors: Sullivan & Cromwell ends City recruitment hiatus as White & Case lead firms strengthening in Asia

There are signs the summer hiring lull is coming to an end after Sullivan & Cromwell and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) made significant London plays, while White & Case led an array of firms looking East. Sullivan & Cromwell broke a five-year duck in the City by hiring Jeremy Kutner from Shearman & Sterling. Kutner, who was …

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Revolving Doors: Jones Day makes it a brace in the City as Clifford Chance loses partner in-house

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Revolving Doors: Jones Day makes it a brace in the City as Clifford Chance loses partner in-house

Away from the headline laterals last week, Jones Day was the only firm to make moves in London after securing a double hire to bolster its finance offering, while Clifford Chance (CC) lost a London partner to in-house in Hong Kong and Hausfeld strengthened in Berlin. Jones Day has set about reinvigorating its City offering …

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Revolving Doors: City laterals slow as Hogan Lovells lose corporate partner to Dechert, while CC and Herbert Smith make moves abroad

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In a lull for City recruitment, Dechert made the only significant London hire last week, with Kennedys recruiting in the regions and Clifford Chance (CC) hiring in New York. Dechert brought in Hogan Lovells M&A and private equity partner Robert Darwin, with the Philadelphia-based firm looking to strengthen its corporate life sciences group. The London-based Darwin had …

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Into the mainstream: another big New Law exit sees EY acquire Riverview Law

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Mere months after New Law pioneer Lawyers On Demand (LOD) secured private equity backers to position itself as a global player, fellow alternative legal services business darling, Riverview Law, has been acquired by Big Four accountancy firm EY. The financial details of the deal, announced today (7 August), were not disclosed, but Riverview’s turnover is …

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White & Case doubles up in the City in continued disputes drive

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White & Case doubles up in the City in continued disputes drive

White & Case is continuing its aggressive City expansion with two disputes hires, the firm’s eighth and ninth laterals this year. Contentious construction and engineering partner David Robertson is joining White & Case’s arbitration team from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP), while Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft litigation partner Steven Baker joins the firm’s commercial litigation practice.