BLM takes 30-lawyer team from Slater and Gordon to launch commercial practice

Posted on | Blogs |

In another blow to the flagging UK arm of Slater and Gordon (S&G), 33 of the firm’s lawyers have departed to staff insurance specialist BLM’s new commercial advisory practice. The team, which includes 11 partners, has joined BLM today (2 October) to run the new practice which will be spread across the firm’s Manchester and …

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‘Big shoes to fill’: Bristows appoints Cohen as new joint managing partner

Posted on | Blogs |
‘Big shoes to fill’: Bristows appoints Cohen as new joint managing partner

Bristows has become the latest Legal Business 100 firm to elect a female leader, today (20 September) appointing life sciences co-head Liz Cohen as its new joint managing partner. The appointment of Cohen (pictured), who joined the firm as a trainee in 1999 and made partner in 2008, follows the passing of the hugely popular …

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Law Society settles ‘mortifying’ market abuse case with training provider

Posted on | Blogs |
Law Society settles ‘mortifying’ market abuse case with training provider

In a move that should draw a line under a controversial competition dispute, the Law Society has settled with online training provider Socrates after it was found to have abused its dominant market position by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) over training tied to its conveyancing accreditation scheme. Socrates had issued the claim last year, …

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‘A more modern way’: as litigation bankrollers move into portfolio investment, funding edges further into the disputes mainstream

Posted on | News review |
‘A more modern way’: as litigation bankrollers move into portfolio investment, funding edges further into the disputes mainstream

Tom Baker charts the evolution of dispute funding from case-by-base institutional backers Litigation funding has been a growing aspect of the dispute resolution sector for a decade now, but news this summer that two law firms have entered into broader partnerships with funders highlights the emergence of a more fundamental role for such bankrollers.

The cutting edge

Posted on | In-House |
The cutting edge

During Apple’s earnings conference call in May, chief executive Tim Cook discussed the company’s long-running and bitter dispute with Qualcomm, a company that manufactures internal components for the iPhone. ‘Qualcomm is trying to charge Apple a percentage of the total iPhone value. They do some great work around standard-essential patents, but Qualcomm’s component is only …

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Legal Business 100: The second 50 – Eyes on the prize

Posted on | Analysis LB100 2017 |
Legal Business 100: The second 50 – Eyes on the prize

As the debate over the future of London as a legal hub in a post-Brexit world rages on, London boutique firms and City practices that occupy the second half of the Legal Business 100 (LB100) have quietly got on with business. While in 2015/16 this group of firms was arguably the strongest-performing in the LB100, …

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‘Unprecedented in scale’: City bluebloods advise as Tata separates UK pension scheme

Posted on | News review |
‘Unprecedented in scale’: City bluebloods advise as Tata separates UK pension scheme

Travers Smith, Slaughter and May and Hogan Lovells all advised as Tata Steel last month signed a long-awaited agreement to separate its business from the £15bn British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS), in what is the largest pensions scheme restructuring ever in the UK. As a result of the separation, achieved through a regulated apportionment arrangement, …

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