On a roll: Eversheds Sutherland sees December deal flurry carry over

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On a roll: Eversheds Sutherland sees December deal flurry carry over

Eversheds Sutherland corporate head Richard Moulton cannot remember a busier December than in 2017 and believes the January deal market is already gathering pace.

As the transatlantic tie-up marked a year since going live this month, the firm has enjoyed a robust start to 2018. On 4 January, Eversheds advised as British retailer Poundland secured a £180m loan to reduce its reliance on its South African owner Steinhoff International, under investigation following accounting irregularities estimated at £7bn. Continue reading “On a roll: Eversheds Sutherland sees December deal flurry carry over”

Latham and SH cheer as latest silk round bountiful for Red Lion and Garden Court

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Latham and SH cheer as latest silk round bountiful for Red Lion and Garden Court

Arbitrators dominate solicitor appointments amid creation of 119 new silks as Latham does double

Red Lion Chambers and Garden Court Chambers saw six and five of their respective barristers take silk in this year’s QC appointments round, while the number of successful solicitors becoming QCs dipped from last year. Continue reading “Latham and SH cheer as latest silk round bountiful for Red Lion and Garden Court”

Client Intelligence Report: Data view – Big talk on legal ops fails to change buying habits

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Client Intelligence Report: Data view – Big talk on legal ops fails to change buying habits

Anecdotally, in-house budgets are being scrutinised like never before, and law firm billing is starting to catch the attention of chief financial officers.

As almost any general counsel (GC) will tell you, legal teams are coming under sustained pressure to introduce metrics and benchmarks, along with more robust financial management and project management tools, to help demonstrate their grasp on value. In short, procurement methodologies are now being applied to legal services. Continue reading “Client Intelligence Report: Data view – Big talk on legal ops fails to change buying habits”

Life during law: Tom Cassels, Linklaters

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Life during law: Tom Cassels, Linklaters

My family moved from London to Essex in the seventies, we bought a big house with a big garden and were going to live off the land. We were basically seen as the village’s hippies – the obvious background for a City lawyer! It went wrong because my dad wasn’t very good at killing chickens, and I became very attached to a duck. He became a teacher to get an income to buy things.

I never decided I wanted to be a lawyer. I studied law because I wanted a fresh start. The school I went to – a large Essex rural comprehensive – did not traditionally produce Oxbridge candidates and I thought: ‘At least everyone is starting from the same place if I do law.’ But even then, I was clearly going to be a footballer, a rock star or a journalist in my head. Continue reading “Life during law: Tom Cassels, Linklaters”

A dramatic break with lockstep for Freshfields but will it be enough to galvanise the City giant?

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A dramatic break with lockstep for Freshfields but will it be enough to galvanise the City giant?

Nathalie Tidman assesses the Magic Circle firm’s high-stakes partnership shake-up

‘Freshfields has overhauled its partnership for two reasons – to mollify restive partners in leveraged finance and private equity – and to make it moderately easier to recruit in the US,’ notes one former partner. ‘It’s insufficient for both of these purposes.’ Continue reading “A dramatic break with lockstep for Freshfields but will it be enough to galvanise the City giant?”

Mid-pack pacesetters go early with half-year financials as performance matches expectations

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Mid-pack pacesetters go early with half-year financials as performance matches expectations

Two of this year’s best-performing mid-pack firms in the Legal Business 100 (LB100), Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) and Fieldfisher, have continued their run of impressive form with their half-year 2017/18 results.

After quietly establishing itself as one of the strongest firms in the last financial year, WFW recorded a 13% jump in its 2017/18 half-year revenues. Turnover for the first six months of the financial year to 31 October grew to £76.1m, up from £67.6m the previous year. WFW co-managing partner Chris Lowe argued that the strong result was ‘clear evidence of the success of our industry sector-focused model despite a challenging macro-economic environment’. Continue reading “Mid-pack pacesetters go early with half-year financials as performance matches expectations”

DLA Piper chief Picón joins Latham in shock move as Ropes names first female chair

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DLA Piper chief Picón joins Latham in shock move as Ropes names first female chair

In a move that set tongues wagging on both sides of the pond, DLA Piper senior partner and global co-chair Juan Picón is to depart for Latham & Watkins, while Ropes & Gray has selected its first-ever female chair to replace the long-serving Bradford Malt.

Picón’s move to the highest-grossing firm in the world from the one that used to hold that position was fuelled by his desire to spend more time in his native Spain. As such, Picón will take over the role of Latham’s managing partner in the country following the retirement of predecessor José Luis Blanco. He joins at the end of the year from DLA’s Madrid office, bringing corporate partners Ignacio Gómez-Sancha and José Antonio Sánchez-Dafos with him. Continue reading “DLA Piper chief Picón joins Latham in shock move as Ropes names first female chair”