Life during law: Jonny Earle, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

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I don’t take anything for granted. I’ve been lucky, had some good breaks and people have invested time in me.

I can’t sing or dance. My partner thinks I’m like Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when I dance. That’s one reason I went into law. I fancied doing something City-based. I didn’t know what. I came out with my degree and thought: what do I want to do? I applied for a law summer scheme to see what it was like and that was it.

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Clifford Chance begins review of lockstep points to encourage high achievers

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Nearly 18 months after voting through modifications to its remuneration system, Clifford Chance (CC) has kicked off a firmwide review of where partners should sit on its lockstep in a bid to curb under-performance and retain star partners.

The firm traditionally operated a lockstep system with a single profit pool, where partners spent three years as juniors before progressing on to the equity ladder, which ranged between 40 and 100 points.

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EMEA GC leads legal restructure following $16.5bn Tyco-Johnson Controls merger

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Eversheds sole adviser mandate to be reviewed next year

David Symonds, EMEA general counsel (GC) for merged entity Johnson Controls International (JCI), is leading a restructure of the company’s legal function following the completion of the $16.5bn combination of Johnson Controls and Tyco International in September.

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KWM looks outside the City as it elects new European leaders during turbulent period

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King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) European partnership chose two new leaders last month, electing corporate partners Tim Bednall and Michael Cziesla as managing and senior partner for the legacy SJ Berwin practice.

The elections were triggered by the early retirements of managing partner William Boss and senior partner Stephen Kon, who return to full-time fee-earning, and come amid a turbulent 18 months for the Global 100 firm. The new leaders take their posts after the firm has missed profit distributions, seen global revenues fall, made a cash call and has been forced to restructure the partnership, with 24 legacy SJ Berwin exits.

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‘No mood for a contested election’: Clydes opts for stability with new senior partner Konsta

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Insurance head steps up as Burns switches roles

The partnership at Clyde & Co has avoided a divisive leadership contest as global head of insurance Simon Konsta won an uncontested election to become the firm’s new senior partner last month.

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Dentons Nextlaw becomes largest global referral network of more than 290 firms

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Dentons has officially launched its free-to-use Nextlaw Global Referral Network, signing up 291 firms to make the largest referral network by firm count in the world.

The network now has access to more than 19,000 lawyers in more than 160 countries. Scottish firms MacRoberts and Lindsays both joined, as well as offshore firms Ogier, Appleby, Carey Olsen and Walkers and more than 70 US firms.

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‘I didn’t see anyone not put their hand up’: CMS, Olswang, Nabarro vote for merger

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Madeleine Farman, Matthew Field and Kathryn McCann speak to those inside and outside the fence

‘A merger was definitely going to happen. That was obvious when I was at CMS four years ago,’ a former CMS Cameron McKenna partner tells Legal Business. ‘It is another great scheme; I don’t feel that the firm’s brand has improved since I left. I know from people inside that the network, although they make a great show of it working well, doesn’t really work as well as it should.’

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Search for BP legal head begins as Bondy departs for Reckitt Benckiser

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BP’s group general counsel (GC) Rupert Bondy, one of the most high-profile in-house leaders, is to step down from his role by the end of the year to head up Reckitt Benckiser (RB)’s global legal team as senior vice president (SVP), GC and company secretary.

Last month BP announced internally that Bondy would step down at the end of 2016 to pursue another opportunity, with no current replacement for the role.

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