Europe may be stuck in the doldrums and the UK property market mired in a five-year slump but no one seems to have told West End boutique Forsters, which posted a revenue rise of 16% in its latest financial year.
Total fee income at the 120-lawyer firm grew to £32.5m for the 2012/13 year, up from £28m, while profits increased 11%. Profits per equity partner (PEP) rose 6% to £431,000 from £392,000 in 2012, while earnings per partner grew 3% to £308,000.
Of the long list of changes I had in mind for Legal Business when I agreed to join the title as editor in chief, perhaps the biggest was a root-and-branch overhaul of the magazine’s online presence. In beta form, at least, you are looking at our first major step in achieving that aim with the launch today of a totally new and much improved website.
Slaughter and May today (30 April) became the first major City law firm to announce a review of its associate pay bands – triggering minor rises in the underlying rates its lawyers earn from trainee level to three years post-qualification.
Newly-qualified see salaries rise from £61,500 to £63,000; one year PQE pay rises £500 to £69,500; two year PQE from £76,500 to £78,000; three year PQE earn an extra £1,500 at £87,500. Trainee salaries are up by £1,000, increasing to £39,000 in year one and £44,000 in year two. The rises kick in from 1 May.
As partnerships continue to take a cautious approach to profit distribution, SJ Berwin has confirmed that it has released profits that it withheld in February.
The firm’s profit per equity partner (PEP) increased by 1% between 2011 and 2012 to £635,000 with revenues up 1% to £180.1m. According to the firm, the February distribution was held back as a matter of caution in light of a large tax bill in January.
The practice is becoming increasingly commonplace – in March, Field Fisher Waterhouse withheld their partner distribution, citing the firm’s investment plans as the reason for the delay. The firm saw its PEP drop by 16% in 2011/12 to £434,000 against a revenue increase of 4% to £97.6m.
TLT has been named as the BBC’s sole provider advising on property legal services across its estate in England and Wales.
Legal Business understands that the tender saw TLT up against heavyweight property firms including Hogan Lovells and Nabarro. The broadcaster’s incumbent property adviser was Bond Pearce.
TLT’s 17-strong real estate team, which operates across the firm’s Bristol and City offices, includes head of real estate Andrew Glynn, property litigation partner Mark Routley, and partner Stephen Elliott who joined TLT’s City office from Hogan Lovells in 2011.
Unusually for a firm that has averaged 10% growth over the last five years and posted a 22% leap in profit per lawyer in 2011/12, national firm Hill Dickinson has announced a review of its UK business today (30 April), which could lead to redundancies.
The firm, which employs more than 1,400 people including 190 partners, confirmed it would be reviewing its range of services and geographical reach, which it anticipates will lead to the restructuring of a number of unspecified teams.
Partner promotions continue apace with Magic Circle firms Clifford Chance (CC) and Linklaters the latest to announce their numbers, the majority of which are in Europe.
CC welcomed 20 new lawyers to its partnership, with three-quarters of those promotions spread across Europe, while Linklaters promoted 24 partners, of which 19 were in Europe.
Taylor Wessing has more than doubled its partner promotions this year to 16, of which only one is in its City office.
City private client lawyer Kirstie McGuigan was made up to partner while the firm’s other promotions were spread across Munich (four), Berlin (two), Frankfurt (one), Dusseldorf (two), Hamburg (one), Budapest (one), Vienna (one), and Prague (two), Bratislava (one).
Commerzbank has today (26 April) lost its appeal in its high-profile four-year battle over unpaid bankers’ bonuses – one of the largest cases against a bank to run since the credit crunch.
Represented by Linklaters, Germany’s second largest bank will have to pay €52m to 104 London-based bankers, unless it obtains leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
A three-year battle to bring libel law into the 21st century came to a close yesterday (25 April) as the Defamation Bill received Royal Assent.
The Defamation Act 2013 will mean that companies and individuals bringing a libel claim are now required to show serious harm – including serious financial loss for a company – to establish a claim.
