More firms set to repay bank if targets missed
Barclays is planning to extend the value account system it introduced in 2014, where law firms are required to pay a rebate if they fail to hit their value targets, to all external advisers as part of its current panel review.
Continue reading “Barclays to extend value accounts framework as part of latest panel review”
Launch of US corporate review follows UK panel selection
Pearson, the largest education company and book publisher in the world, has launched its US corporate panel review after finalising spots on its litigation roster for the region. The US changes come after Pearson finalised its UK roster in recent months with the help of Accenture.
Continue reading “Pearson kicks off second US panel review after finalising litigation roster”
Pitching himself as an outward-facing leader has paid off for Linklaters M&A heavyweight Charlie Jacobs (pictured), who won the firm’s senior partner election last month.
Jacobs defeated competition from corporate colleagues Jean-Pierre Blumberg and Aedamar Comiskey to be elected the new senior partner at the Magic Circle firm.
Jacobs will replace Robert Elliott when he finishes a five-year term at the end of September.
The fashion is for UK firms to announce good results early and first out of the blocks this year have been Osborne
Clarke (OC), Forsters, TLT and Browne Jacobson all posting robust results for the financial year 2015/16.
OC was the first of the Legal Business 100 to release figures this year, with a 23% rise in global revenues to €236.3m. As the firm posted a UK revenue rise of 17% from £96.5m in 2015 to £112.9m, managing partner Ray Berg identified OC’s sector focus as a factor in its continued success.
Norton Rose and Dentons follow suit as offshoring takes flight
DLA Piper is to cut 200 business support jobs in the UK in a move that will see the firm make one of the largest law firm redundancies since the aftermath of the financial crisis. The restructuring comes as other Legal Business 100 firms, including Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) and Dentons, decided last month to also cut back-office jobs.
Continue reading “DLA to cut 200 UK jobs as global firms trim support roles”
NQs at Freshfields receiving £17.5k extra
Newly-qualified (NQ) solicitors at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have received the largest bump in pay of the Magic Circle so far this year, taking home around 25% more than last year.
At Freshfields, NQ pay packets have been boosted by an extra £17,500 after the firm announced it would be folding in its discretionary bonuses, with pay set to rise 26% to £85,000 on last year’s figure of £67,500. The move follows a freeze last year.
The decision by Linklaters to spin off part of its Shanghai office in a bid to then merge with it at a later date, comes as part of a significant push by Magic Circle firms to practise local law in China.
Having already scoped out the local market for a suitable target to form a joint venture with under new Shanghai Free-Trade Zone (FTZ) rules, which permit domestic law firms to tie-up with international giants and practise local law, Linklaters has decided to go it alone.
Continue reading “Magic Circle chase Chinese law as Linklaters launches Shanghai spin-off”
Three NRF laterals boost German practice
Dentons has targeted two more regions for European growth, launching an office in Munich alongside plans for a back office in Poland.
In a bid to boost its corporate offering in Europe, Dentons is launching its Munich office this summer with the recruit of three partners from Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF). Alexander von Bergwelt will serve as managing partner for the Munich office, and will be responsible for building and leading the new team. He specialises in corporate, private equity, restructuring and litigation.
Continue reading “Dentons opens in Munich and looks to Warsaw for back-office”
Clyde & Co is advising global metals group Liberty House Group, one of the key UK bidders looking to acquire Tata Steel’s UK assets.
In May, Liberty House confirmed it had formally submitted its bid for Tata Steel’s UK assets, including its biggest UK plant, Port Talbot Steelworks. The company has already successfully acquired Tata Steel’s Scottish plate-making facilities in Lanarkshire. The company is one of two UK firms to have submitted a bid, the other being management buyout group Excalibur Steel.
Continue reading “Clyde & Co acts for Liberty House in bid to acquire Tata Steel’s UK assets”
Linklaters has advised on the development and financing of the first two UK offshore wind projects to obtain financing under the government’s new ‘Contract for Difference’ (CFD) regime, worth £2.6bn and £1.3bn respectively.
The Magic Circle firm advised on the construction and financing of the offshore windfarm Beatrice located in the Outer Moray Firth, worth £2.6bn, and advised the developers on the £1.3bn long-term financing for the development of one of the world’s largest offshore windfarms, the Dudgeon windfarm off the east coast of England.
