A Consumer Rights Bill published on Wednesday (12 June) is set to radically overhaul the rights of consumers in the digital age but could open the door to US-style class actions, lawyers warn.
The Bill was one of many announced in the Queen’s speech at the state opening of Parliament in May, and if enacted, will enhance consumer rights by making them easier to understand and streamline complex areas of consumer legislation into a single bill.
Nabarro’s profit per equity partner (PEP) has risen by 30% over the past financial year, figures released by the firm today (13 June) reveal.
Preliminary figures show the firm’s net profits increased by 11% from 2012-13, while PEP has risen from £332,000 to £430,000 during the same period.
The firm’s annual turnover is up by 2.6% from £113.4m in 2011/12 to £116.3m in 2012/13.
Slaughter and May is advising Punch Taverns on its £2.4bn securitised debt restructuring as the UK’s largest pub company warns creditors it could face administration.
On Monday (10 June) a powerful group of lenders rejected plans to reduce the pub group’s interest payments to £32m a year. Slaughters led by corporate partner David Johnson is advising longstanding client Punch, which owns around 5000 pubs across the UK.
Major law firms continue to appropriate ideas from legal process outsourcing with Ashurst today (12 June) announcing a venture to create a 150-strong unit in Glasgow to support its practice.
The venture, which will launch later this year, will cover back office support and volume legal work, initially covering areas like document review in litigation and corporate.
The landmark divorce battle between Yasmin and Michael Prest has come to an end as the Supreme Court today (12 June) ruled Prest should hand over properties held by companies under his control.
The ruling – the most significant divorce case to reach the UK’s highest court since the 2010 judgment in Radmacher v Granatino – has been touted as instrumental in establishing whether London remains a key forum for resolving big-money divorce cases. The case has also been watched for its impact on the court’s treatment of the corporate veil, which protects company assets.
London dominated the lateral hiring scene over the past week with firms including US Chadbourne & Parke, Allen & Overy (A&O), Eversheds and Pinsent Masons strengthening their City offering.
Chadbourne’s 36-lawyer London office, which acts a hub for the firm’s emerging and developing markets practice, has hired banking and finance partner Partha Pal from the City arm of top 15 US firm Sidley Austin.
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain has become the second City firm today (11 June) to announce a high double digit increase in revenue, with turnover up by 20% for 2012-13.
The top 50 LB100 firm has seen its revenue rise from £68m in 2011-12 to £82.1m this year. Its profits are yet to be announced.
It’s a cliché that you can’t do large legal mergers without some fallout, a truism that Norton Rose Fulbright now has the chance to contemplate, as it emerges that its Festival Towers Dubai office is likely to move in the wake of its merger this month.
Dubai is one of the few international jurisdictions where Norton Rose and US partner Fulbright & Jaworski had overlapping offerings, which has resulted in a clash of personalities. The two firms combined on 3 June forging a top 10 global practice in revenue terms.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is to recruit an additional 10 junior barristers to join the team involved in the defence of the multi-million damages claims brought by the Tchenguiz brothers.
Last year property tycoons Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz sued the SFO for more than £200m after the agency made serious mistakes in its investigation of their role in the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing, of which they were executives.
Clyde & Co has posted a 17% hike in turnover for 2012-13 as the firm continues to reap the benefits of its 2011 merger with Barlow Lyde & Gilbert.
The insurance focussed firm’s revenues have increased from £287m in 2012 to £336.6m in 2013, amidst a sluggish prevailing European economy. According to chief executive Peter Hasson, without including Barlow’s revenues, Clyde & Co would have reported a single digit growth of around 6%.
