Womble Bond Dickinson is facing a multimillion-pound negligence claim filed by former clients over a failed real estate redevelopment project in Kensington. The claimants, businessman Kristian Siem, property developer Steven Wake and his company Chapters, were advised by WBD senior counsel (then partner) Robert Drewett in their redevelopment project in 2017. They allege that the […]
Ryanair launches fresh battle for the skies Budget air travel behemoth Ryanair launched a part 7 claim against the UK’s air traffic control operator, NATS (National Air Traffic Services) in the Commercial Court on Friday (19 April). The part 7 claim, which seeks monetary redress for claimed damages, is set to tackle “general commercial contracts […]
Cooley is set to defend social networking and dating app Grindr in a High Court class action launched by Austen Hays, a new collective actions firm owned by Gateley. The claim alleges that Grindr is in breach of UK data protection laws for sharing sensitive data with third parties for commercial purposes without their users’ […]
Moderna takes on Pfizer in Covid-19 patent clash Pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Moderna are due to go head to head in the Patents Court tomorrow (23 April) for a 16-day trial concerning the Covid-19 vaccines they developed during the pandemic. Freshfields is representing the claimant Moderna, while Pfizer is being represented by Taylor Wessing for […]
Womble Bond Dickinson is facing a multimillion-pound negligence claim filed by former clients over a failed real estate redevelopment project in Kensington. The claimants, businessman Kristian Siem, property developer Steven Wake and his company Chapters, were advised by WBD senior counsel (then partner) Robert Drewett in their redevelopment project in 2017. They allege that the […]
Ryanair launches fresh battle for the skies Budget air travel behemoth Ryanair launched a part 7 claim against the UK’s air traffic control operator, NATS (National Air Traffic Services) in the Commercial Court on Friday (19 April). The part 7 claim, which seeks monetary redress for claimed damages, is set to tackle “general commercial contracts […]
Cooley is set to defend social networking and dating app Grindr in a High Court class action launched by Austen Hays, a new collective actions firm owned by Gateley. The claim alleges that Grindr is in breach of UK data protection laws for sharing sensitive data with third parties for commercial purposes without their users’ […]
Moderna takes on Pfizer in Covid-19 patent clash Pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Moderna are due to go head to head in the Patents Court tomorrow (23 April) for a 16-day trial concerning the Covid-19 vaccines they developed during the pandemic. Freshfields is representing the claimant Moderna, while Pfizer is being represented by Taylor Wessing for […]
Sports law is increasingly competitive in the UK. As big money flows into many sports, more and more firms are seeking to take the field. But at the Bar, one chambers continues to lead the pack. So for this week’s Spotlight, we explore the history, structure and success of Blackstone Chambers’ sports law group. The […]
It’s a 90-minute train journey to London and two hours from Bristol. At £29 per sq ft, grade A office rents are a third of the average £90 per sq ft City firms pay. And it has an abundance of lawyers. Slowly but steadily, Southampton is slipping into the mid-tier consciousness as a city in […]
Talk of associates losing faith in the partnership track is nowhere to be seen at Addleshaw Goddard, which recently unveiled its largest round to date. The partnership count is currently running at 429 – up 75 per cent from the 245 it housed back in 2019. Those promotions show a firm that is bullish about […]
1 May is a big day for many in the legal industry, not just the thousands of people at Allen & Overy and Shearman who have now combined officially. Scores of lawyers become partners today after a wave of promotions, meaning that also – in the great circle of life – plenty of veterans are […]
The significance of the unstoppable growth of US-headquartered firms in London isn’t solely about jaw-dropping scale, although the size of headcount and revenue at some of these big City beasts is truly head-turning. Notably, several US firms have doubled down on their investment in London of late, and not just Paul Weiss. While the New […]
It has been over four years since the UK first went into lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s four years since the world went crazy and stocked up on toilet roll, since staff had to bundle up their laptops and work on makeshift garden furniture desks, and since most of the nation actually looked […]
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has upped its newly qualified (NQ) solicitor salaries to compete with the US market. NQ salaries have increased from £125,000 to £150,000. There have also been changes to trainee compensation. First-year trainees will see an increase of £6,000 as salaries rise from £50,000 to £56,000. Second-year trainee salaries will increase from £55,000 […]
Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) is continuing its innovation strategy rollout with the introduction of a new programme for its trainee solicitors. Following the launch of its ‘advanced client solutions’ (ACS) team in early April, the firm has now brought in Russell Up, a scheme designed to have each trainee deliver four innovation projects throughout their two-year training […]
Davis Polk & Wardwell has recruited from Paul Hastings’s finance team, expanding its partnership ranks in the City to nine. The small City outfit has hired Luke McDougall from Paul Hastings. McDougall focuses on UK and cross-border acquisition finance and restructuring, acting for senior lenders, junior lenders and borrower groups on a variety of capital […]
Having returned to the legal market after seven years in retirement, Graham White has been named as senior partner of McDermott Will & Emery’s London office, along with a new managing partner. Private equity lawyer White, who joined McDermott this year after leaving Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson in 2017, has taken on the […]
A week after losing a private equity duo, Travers Smith is set for another partner exit – this time from its infrastructure finance team to Sidley Austin. Partner Ben Thompson has exited the firm and is joining Sidley Austin. Thompson joined the firm in September 2021 from Weil Gotshal & Manges, where he was a […]
