DAC Beachcroft deepens relationship in Malaysia with application for joint venture

Last month DAC Beachcroft became one of a few firms to take advantage of the liberalisation of the Malaysian market as it applied to the country’s Bar council for a joint venture (JV) licence with Kuala Lumpur-based association firm Gan Partnership.

According to Gan Khong Aik, one of four partners at Gan Partnership, the two firms have been in a formal association for the last four or five years. The Malaysian practice, which specialises in corporate commercial, dispute resolution and intellectual property is hoping to expand its offering in reinsurance and insurance through formalising its relationship further with DAC.

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‘We have enough of a say’: Squire’s Peter Crossley on retirement, leadership and the US

Victoria Young talks to the long-serving Europe and Middle East managing partner

When Legal Business last profiled Squire Patton Boggs’ UK legacy firm Hammonds in 2005, the cover line was ‘Bad habits’ – profits had slumped, lock-ins had been introduced and outgoing partners were considering legal action. New managing partner Peter Crossley pledged to get his house in order.

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Deal watch: Corporate activity in April 2016

FORSTERS AND SLAUGHTERS LEAD ON TATA STEEL SELL OFF

Forsters and Slaughter and May acted on Greybull Capital’s rescue deal to buy Tata Steel’s European long products business, which includes the Scunthorpe steel works employing 3,500 people. Slaughters advised Tata, while Forsters acted for family office Greybull.

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Life During Law: Stephen Paget-Brown, Travers Smith

My career couldn’t be better. Nice work, nice clients, good money… The culture of this firm lends itself to being an enjoyable place to work. We don’t have the bureaucracy or warfare other firms have.

I started at Clifford Turner. Matthew Layton was still in shorts. The head of commercial litigation in the early 1980s was a South African called Leon Boshoff – very tall, powerfully built… Behind that fearsome appearance he had a razor-sharp mind. One of the cases involved Lloyd’s of London. He took them on four square. He taught us to be fearless and not judge a situation by: ‘Well, this is a reputable institution, they can’t have done anything wrong.’ Drill down. Find the evidence. Form your own judgement.

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Reform underway as Dentons shakes up profit-sharing arrangement in China

Following its landmark combination with Dentons to create a 7,500-lawyer legal giant, legacy Dacheng is restructuring its practice to reduce the number of profit pools from 15 to five.

With Dentons striving to integrate what is now the world’s largest law firm by employee headcount, the China arm of the firm, headed by senior partner Jinquan Xiao, has carried out a reorganisation to create increased profit-sharing between the firm’s 44 Chinese offices.

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Outgoing Slaughter and May senior partner Saul to launch mediation boutique

Slaughter and May’s longstanding leader, Chris Saul, will launch a mediation boutique once he retires from his role as senior partner on 30 April.

Saul, who is retiring from the UK’s most profitable law firm after eight years at the helm, is planning to launch a mediation firm later this year. In what is an unusual move for a corporate lawyer, Saul will set up a mediation consultancy called Christopher Saul Associates this autumn to provide dispute resolution advice to corporates. Saul registered the new firm with Companies House at the start of March.

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Over the Atlantic: London outperforms stateside practices in top US firms

White & Case edges ahead of Latham in the City with £185m turnover

A series of US firms have seen London office revenues grow faster than other parts of their business as the European markets prove buoyant for players such as Latham & Watkins, White & Case and Debevoise & Plimpton.

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Picón prepares to push DLA Piper upmarket as Sir Nigel Knowles makes that last goodbye

Tom Moore looks to the future of DLA as he meets the firm’s latest leader

Juan Picón’s face now adorns the WhatsApp group ‘Executive Rules’, used by DLA Piper’s leadership to share videos of karaoke nights, office yoga sessions and champagne moments, while running the world’s second largest law firm by revenue.

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