Coming on like 2009 – Weil Gotshal becomes the first major NY firm to announce job cuts this year

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Job cuts Weil, Gotshal & Manges

So far the wave of redundancies that have rippled through the UK legal profession has not been replicated across the Atlantic but that may be about to change with news on Monday (24 June) that Weil Gotshal & Manges is to cut around 170 staff.

The New York-based law firm announced the move internally in a package of cuts expected to impact on 60 associates, around 7% of its non-partner lawyer ranks, and 110 support staff, citing what it described as the ‘new normal’ of low growth.

In addition, Weil is to cut the compensation for some partners and the firm said it would be ‘de-emphasising’ its complex commercial litigation practice in Houston and Boston.

Middle East: Dentons ends period of upheaval in Kuwait with decision to close local office

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Restructuring Dentons

Dentons’ partnership has voted in favour of shutting its Kuwait office following a review, bringing to an end a turbulent chapter in the region.

The firm, which has had an office in Kuwait since 2008, only in January entered into a new association with local lawyer Jamal Ahmed Al-Shehab, replacing its association with International Legal Group.

In-house: Facebook and Diageo fill top GC roles

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In-house DiageoFacebook

Social networking giant Facebook and global drinks brand Diageo both this week announced appointments to fill their top legal positions.

Facebook confirmed yesterday (20 June) that it has appointed Colin Stretch to succeed company general counsel (GC) Ted Ullyot as vice president and general counsel from 5 July, following Ullyot’s announcement in May that he would be stepping down.

All or nothing: Only a handful of DBAs entered into as confusion reigns over hybrid model

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Litigation Calunius CapitalHerbert Smith Freehills

‘It’s an extraordinary thing – hundreds of lawyers should have entered into Damages-Based Agreements (DBAs) by now.’

So says Leslie Perrin, former managing partner and senior partner of Osborne Clarke who is now chairman of litigation funding group Calnius Capital, with around £40m of capital to invest in litigation.

Instead, DBAs, which came into force under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and entitle a lawyer to claim a percentage of their client’s damages by way of fees, have failed to take off at all and Perrin adds: ‘The confusion around the regulations has been such that I don’t think more than a handful of DBAs have been entered into all across the country.

Lawyers On Demand launches new pay-as-you-go model as demand increases for flexible staffing

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Innovation Berwin Leighton Paisner

As senior private practice and in-house lawyers increasingly turn to flexible staffing options to manage their costs, Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP) Lawyers on Demand (LoD) has extended its offering in the marketplace by adding a pay-as-you go, remote services model.

The new service, LoD on Call, will operate alongside the firm’s existing secondment model, now rebranded LoD on Site, which launched in 2007 and spun out from BLP in June 2012. Both are aimed at helping corporates and law firms to cost effectively manage the inevitable peaks and troughs in workflow.

CC to boost London corporate and regulatory insurance capability with hire of NRF’s Ashley Prebble

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Strategic recruitment Clifford ChanceNorton Rose Fulbright

Clifford Chance (CC) has hired Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) corporate insurance partner Ashley Prebble as the Magic Circle firm aims to boost its Lloyds and London market and general insurance capability.

Prebble, who will work closely with the firm’s private equity and regulatory teams, specialises in corporate and regulatory insurance work including initial public offerings (IPOs), mergers and acquisitions, Part VII transfers, distribution agreements and regulatory matters.

Insurance: Mills & Reeve takes up last of DLA’s defendant insurance team as CMS snares RPC head

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Strategic recruitment DLA PiperMills & Reeve

Mills & Reeve and CMS Cameron McKenna boosted their offerings at opposite ends of the insurance spectrum this week, taking staff from the Birmingham office of DLA Piper and the City office of RPC respectively.

Top 50 UK firm Mills & Reeve acquired a nine-strong defendant insurance practice from DLA, marking the conclusion of DLA’s withdrawal from the typically lower margin area of law, as first announced by the top 10 firm last year.

Comment: Don’t push your luck with partnership

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Leadership DLA PiperHogan LovellsNorton Rose Fulbright

Do law firms take partnership for granted? They really shouldn’t as the model has served them so well. Just consider the case. Partnership aligns management and ownership. This has helped large law firms to avoid the patchy governance and rewards-for-mediocrity seen at public companies over the last 20 years and drives partners to a pure form of performance pay. It is inherently long-term and as such has a strong record in promoting independence and ethical standards. And given that law isn’t a capital-intensive trade – at least once you cross the Rubicon of international expansion – partnership is workable (if not ideal) from a financing point of view.

Two birds, one stone – A&O finance veterans joins Co-op team as GC as firm acts on rescue

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Corporate Allen & Overy

Securing a major deal and having one of your partners take a senior role with the same client is a nice trick to pull off but Allen & Overy (A&O) appears to have managed that this week after securing a lead role on the Co-op’s rescue plan and ‘donating’ a veteran partner to the lender’s management team.