US expansion: Clifford Chance boosts Washington office with Bingham structured finance team

Clifford Chance has recruited a five-strong team from beleaguered US firm Bingham McCutchen to its Washington DC office, led by partners Robert Gross and William Cejudo, in a bid to enhance its US structured finance and real estate finance offering.

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2,000 lawyers across 28 offices: Bingham loses out on rescue merger as Morgan Lewis acquires 227 partners

Following much touted speculation of the potential merger between US firms Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and Bingham McCutchen, Morgan Lewis has decided to cherry pick 227 partners.

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Lateral hiring in the Caribbean and the Channel Islands

Philip Jennings of JLegal discusses these key jurisdictions and the opportunities (and challenges) of moving offshore.

The first thing to state is that the sub-heading above defines the importance of Cayman, Bermuda, BVI, Jersey and Guernsey. These are key jurisdictions in the global legal market and the original locations for the major offshore law firms which now have offices in myriad other locations, including in Asia and the Middle East. They are still where those firms have most of their lawyers and where most of their work originates from. The transactional and contentious work carried out under, and sometimes because of,  the laws and regulations of these countries is always high value and cross-border, involving the Magic  and Silver Circle firms on a regular basis. Sometimes the premier City or US firms will instruct the offshore firms on part of a deal or case but also some of the most prestigious clients directly instruct the offshore firms, including global banks and  financial institutions, ultra high-net worth individuals, trust companies and funds.  

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Bingham’s Hong Kong office looks set to close as Akin Gump pounces again

Bingham McCutchen’s Hong Kong office has been put in a precarious position with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld making a two partner hire to take the number of partners joining the firm from Bingham to 28, while remaining capital markets partner Vincent Sum’s future is unclear.

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Scottish firms: Burness Paull awards staff 10% bonus while Shepherd and Wedderburn grows construction team

Scottish firm Burness Paull is awarding a 10% bonus to all its eligible employees across the firm’s three offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow following a strong set of annual results which saw a 20% rise in turnover and a 25% increase in profit.

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