In-house news: Sullivan closes the book as Waterstones GC

In-house news: Sullivan closes the book as Waterstones GC

Waterstones general counsel Elisabeth Sullivan has left her position after less than a year, today (22 September) announcing she has taken the inaugural GC role at Efficio Consulting. Efficio Consulting is a global management consultancy with offices across Europe, America and the Middle East. In a LinkedIn post today, Sullivan said she would assume her new …

‘A significant loss’: Litigation leaders convene as Google fails in critical €4.1bn antitrust appeal

‘A significant loss’: Litigation leaders convene as Google fails in critical €4.1bn antitrust appeal

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, suffered a serious setback this week as the European Union General Court upheld a European Commission antitrust ruling against the company worth €4.125bn. The case centred on whether Google has used its Android operating system to effectively bar competition. According to the original decision, in 2018 the Android operating system was …

Slower growth at Signature Litigation but staff see increased profit share

Slower growth at Signature Litigation but staff see increased profit share

Disputes-only outfit Signature Litigation has marked its tenth year since inception with a marginal rise in revenues, inching upwards 1.5% from £27.4m to £27.8m. Staff had cause for cheer, however, as they were paid an increased annual profit share of 18.7% in line with Signature’s co-operative model. Last year, when revenues grew by 22%, the …

History of mergers: State of the union

History of mergers: State of the union

‘The global Magic Circle is all American. The reality is that the English Magic Circle are now competing with the next tier down of US firms. So, for a UK Magic Circle firm to merge with a lower tier US firm would likely be accretive.’ So says Charlie Geffen, formerly a partner at Ashurst and Gibson Dunn. He expresses a common pessimism …

Witness training: Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

Witness training: Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

Everything started off so friendly – in the weeks leading up to our visit, Assurety Training had kindly sent Legal Business some branded chocolate. And on the morning of our visit, my fellow reporter Megan Mayers and I were welcomed with coffee and snacks. I naively assumed our visit would be a largely academic affair, …

Quinn Emanuel turns to RPC competition head to boost City practice

Quinn Emanuel turns to RPC competition head to boost City practice

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has appointed RPC’s head of competition, Lambros Kilaniotis, to boost its City antitrust offering. Kilaniotis, who has been with RPC since 2013, is a solicitor-advocate with a dual contentious and non-contentious competition practice. On the disputes side, Kilaniotis has represented claimants on competition damages claims relating to the interchange fees …

Financials 2021/22: Strong year for Scottish independents while Stewarts’ profits balloon 93%

Financials 2021/22: Strong year for Scottish independents while Stewarts’ profits balloon 93%

As financial results season enters the home straight, Scottish leaders Burness Paull and Brodies, as well as London-based disputes firm Stewarts, have announced strong increases to their top and bottom lines. Burness Paull has unveiled a bullish set of financial results, with a 9% rise in turnover to £78.6m and a 7% hike in profit to …

HFW bids for dominance in UAE shipping sector with double Clyde partner hire

HFW bids for dominance in UAE shipping sector with double Clyde partner hire

In a significant move for the Middle Eastern shipping market, sector specialist HFW has hired partners Robert Lawrence and Ian Chung from rival Clyde & Co in Dubai to strengthen its grip in the region. Lawrence and Chung are doyens of the shipping sector in the United Arab Emirates, ranked as ‘leading individuals’ in The …

HFW records slipping profits and revenue as it grapples with Covid recovery

HFW records slipping profits and revenue as it grapples with Covid recovery

HFW attributed a 1% dip in revenue from £200m to £198.7m to a ‘prudent’ reduction in lawyer headcount during the pandemic, while profit per equity partner (PEP) also slipped. PEP was down 2% from last year’s record high of £683,000 to £669,000, which the firm chalked up to the drying up of pandemic-era cost savings: ‘HFW …

Dentons posts promising 14% revenue rise in UK and Middle East as investment hits DAC Beachcroft profits

Dentons posts promising 14% revenue rise in UK and Middle East as investment hits DAC Beachcroft profits

Dentons has become the latest firm to post encouraging financials for 2021/22, announcing a robust 14% increase to its top line across its UK, Ireland and the Middle East (UKIME) business, which reached £260.4m. Much of the growth was driven by a surge in corporate activity, with the UK corporate group seeing revenues hike by …