‘Disputes arise when there is disruption, and it seems to me there’s just about every type of disruption at the moment.’
With this, Julian Copeman, a disputes partner at Herbert Smith Freehills neatly summarises market expectations for 2023. It is going to be a busy year. Continue reading “‘With economic downturn, the need to pull the trigger on claims intensifies’ – leading City litigators look at the key disputes trends for 2023”
An analysis of The Legal 500 rankings underlines some of the key factors driving the Hogan Lovells-Shearman merger talks
From a Legal 500 perspective, Hogan Lovells dwarfs Shearman & Sterling in terms of total rankings, with three times as many spots across the UK, US, EMEA, Asia-Pacific and Latin America – 343 to 113. Continue reading “A not-so-equal footing: rankings data highlights Hogan-Shearman contrasts”
The largest six Swiss verein firms have pursued varying expansion strategies over the past decade – Ben Wheway looks at what The Legal 500 data reveals
The six biggest international verein firms have transformed their global footprint over the past decade, stepping into new markets around the world via mergers, alliances and targeted expansion. Rankings data drawn from The Legal 500’s global guides provides useful insight into the scale of this change, as well as the relative rates of growth among the group. Continue reading “Verein check: how the big six global players have grown over ten years”
Legal 500 data highlights the contrast between the laser-focused firms cleaning up in core markets and the wide footprint of the global giants
While the upper echelons of the Global 100 are inevitably dominated by US heritage firms with a global footprint, a re-ordering of the group by Legal 500 rankings presents a notably different hierarchy. Continue reading “Size matters: which Global 100 firms have the most Legal 500 rankings?”
I grew up in a shipbuilding town in the north. Barrow-in-Furness.
Bill Bryson described it as ‘the very worst town in England’. It brought with it a sense of community back in the day. I’m working class and I kind of bring my middle-class self to work.
My mother is only 18 years older than me. My dad worked in the shipyards. He was frequently on strike for months at a time. I remember one summer my mother, who was a lab technician and worked in a school, went to work in the fish and chip shop at the end of the street so that we could have dinner. I grew up in that kind of cauldron of crypto communism. I was disrespectful of authority for authority’s sake.
Continue reading “Life During Law: Karen Seward”
Latham & Watkins has had a busy November, picking up several multi-billion-dollar instructions across the sports, retail and telecoms sectors. Among the other firms securing lead roles are US peers Skadden, Paul Weiss and Orrick and Magic Circle competitors Linklaters and Allen & Overy (A&O).
Following Latham’s lead role in the £4.25bn acquisition of Chelsea FC earlier this year, the firm has been instructed by Manchester United as it pursues a potential sale.
Continue reading “Latham scores lead role in Man Utd’s potential sale as US outfits advise on Tom Ford deal”
For many law firms, the end of the year marks elections for various leadership positions. This year has been no exception, with DLA Piper, Osborne Clarke, TLT and Goodwin all voting in new management.
DLA has turned to IP litigator Ruth Hoy as its new office managing partner in London, taking over from London leadership stalwart Tom Heylen, who will move into the new role of UK client and sectors partner.
Continue reading “In with the new: Big Law rings in the changes amid City leadership shake-up”
Partners from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), Davis Polk and Eversheds Sutherland have secured advisory roles on the administration and £3.4m sale of online furniture retailer Made.com to Next.
In early November, Made.com filed notice of its intention to appoint administrators, advised by a HSF team led by London restructuring partner John Chetwood and including City corporate partners Ben Ward and Caroline Rae. Since the administration, 320 Made.com jobs have been axed as the company collapsed.
Continue reading “HSF, Davis Polk and Eversheds act on Made.com collapse as market expects FTX fallout”
Ask any City partner about the current state of the market, and they will point to a softening in the M&A market in line with the clouds gathering over the economy. It seems no one told Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk, who recently completed a highly-publicised acquisition of social media giant Twitter. The initially hostile takeover pulled in some of the US’ premier law firms, but events since suggest that the legal proceedings may be only just beginning.
Musk’s headline-grabbing acquisition was completed in October. According to filings, the total payment was $44bn (£38.1bn), making the transaction one of the largest M&A deals of 2022. It also saw the company taken private, having previously been listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Continue reading “Musk’s Twitter takeover sparks legal feeding frenzy, but leaves more questions than answers”
After yet another galling sexual misconduct episode to blight the profession, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has come out swinging after accusations it was slow to act.
In October 2021, former Eversheds Sutherland trainee Thomas Hagyard was jailed for eight years after being convicted of two counts of assault by penetration, and two counts of sexual assault. Hagyard had joined Eversheds only a month prior. Continue reading “SRA defends year-long striking off process for Eversheds trainee convicted of sexual assault”
