QC appointments have declined for the fourth year running with the number of applicants also on a downward path. In this year’s annual silk round, announced on 27 February, just 84 QCs were appointed from a total of 183 applicants. This was down from 88 awards in 2012 and 120 in 2011 from 214 and …
Continue reading “Falling QC appointments reflect fears for criminal Bar’s prospects”
Foreign firms in London made bulking up their senior ranks their key priority in 2012, with average partner headcount hitting an all time high, according to the 11th annual Legal Business Global London survey. The overall number of partners at Global London firms climbed from 1,296 in 2011 to 1,325, proving that the Capital is …
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If there was any remaining doubt that the lot of the modern general counsel at a major bluechip is a challenging but increasingly well rewarded role, news last month of a controversial bonus round at Barclays should put that to rest. The bank announced on 20 March that it was awarding nine executives a total …
Continue reading “Barclays law chief gets £3.7m share award”
The 11th annual Legal Business Global London survey shows that US firms in the City are playing to win. UK rivals should watch every move. Lock up your associates. Chain down your partners. The Americans still want to take your lawyers (and lunch). This year’s Global London survey emphatically confirms that leading US law firms …
CMS Cameron McKenna is to scale back its staff outsourcing agreement with Integreon just three years into its ten-year contract. The news comes four days after Osborne Clarke confirmed it will dramatically reduce its own use of the outsourcing provider. Duncan Weston, CMS managing partner, today (28 March) confirmed that the firm is considering turning …
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Private client leaders Speechly Bircham and Withers are set to merge, potentially creating a 600-lawyer, £170m practice that will fit easily into the top 25 of the Legal Business 100. News of the union was revealed by RollonFriday on 22 March. On paper the union would make strategic sense. The two firms have almost identical …
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Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has appointed 14 new partners, with just under half of the promotions made in London. The Magic Circle firm made up six associates in the City, boosting partner headcount in its corporate, finance, dispute resolution, employment and tax practices.
Osborne Clarke (OC) is set to withdraw the majority of its outsourced staff from provider Integreon and bring them back in-house four years after initially striking the deal. The firm will transfer roughly 65 of the 75 support staff, who were first assigned to Integreon in 2009, back to its offices, with two jobs thought …
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Litigation support business, Proven, had hired former Herbert Smith senior partner Lord David Gold as its chairman. Gold, who currently runs litigation advisory firm David Gold & Associates, will sit on Proven’s board, which includes former BP general counsel and executive vice president Peter Bevan, and former Director of Public Prosecutions River Glaven QC. London …
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Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) partners received more bad news this morning as it emerged that top litigator Ted Greeno has resigned to join US disputes leader Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. The departure represents arguably the most high profile contentious practitioner to join a US law firm in London directly from private practice and will …
Continue reading “Top HSF litigator Greeno defects to Quinn Emanuel’s City arm”
