Michael Napier CBE QC steps down as chairman of Irwin Mitchell this month after 40 years at the firm. It’s the end of one long chapter in a career packed with more events than an army of lawyers combined. LB celebrates the career of our 2012 Lawyer of the Year.
After four years of consecutive revenue growth and two transformative mergers in 2011, Weightmans is our National/Regional Firm of the Year. However, there’s no chance of any of it going to the managing partner’s head. Weightmans’ Patrick Gaul (pictured) is as laid back and straightforward as managing partners come. In an unmistakable scouse accent reminiscent …
The firms that appear in Global London are the 50 largest non-UK originated firms in London, ranked by headcount. Total lawyer numbers include partners, associates, assistants and trainees but not paralegals. Partner and lawyer numbers were all requested as full-time equivalent averages for 2011 and all partner hires are up to and including February 2012.
Oil and gas? Renewables? Nuclear? Whichever energy source you’re selling, there’s no doubt that the appetite for power in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) seems almost insatiable. That demand, coupled with the urgent need for infrastructure, is ensuring that even those CEE economies facing the imminent threat of recession are viewing the fulfilment of their …
LB ventures beyond the established elite to highlight five practices blazing a trail in the City. The need to differentiate in the market is paramount. Some firms have always been good at it, while others have struggled and floundered. There is a group of US firms in the City that has now established its strengths. …
With a flurry of US firms luring funds partners from UK rivals, LB finds out why lawyers in this area are hot property. Periodically the City goes through a feeding frenzy of lateral hires. In the past, firms have gobbled up partners in structured finance, restructuring and litigation. The current plat du jour though, is …
Immigration laws are forcing international law firms to advertise jobs alongside retail and fast food companies. Despite this, the number of international lawyers in London is falling. Where have all the US-qualified lawyers gone?
UK law firm Speechly Bircham opened a Zürich office in June 2011, marking the firm’s first venture overseas. Private client partner Mark Summers was relocated to Switzerland to head the new operation alongside two associates, with fellow partner William Hancock joining him at the start of 2012. Speechly’s Zürich offering is further bolstered by international …
Switzerland’s dispute resolution market is in rude health. LB talks to the key players about recent headline cases and what the implementation of new arbitration rules in 2012 will mean The volume of Swiss M&A and capital markets may have flattened out in Switzerland but the global downturn has produced a raft of investor claims …
In the same way the sports media has speculated long and hard these past couple of years on the ‘demise’ of Tiger Woods, much has also been said about the Magic Circle also losing its aura of invincibility since the global financial crisis. The Magic Circle’s relentless pursuit of domination has inspired awe over the …
