Asset management consultant MJ Hudson is terminating the training contracts of its 12 trainee solicitors, The Lawyer has learnt, amid concerns over its financial viability. The Lawyer understands that the terminations, which will be effective as of the end of this month, include trainees at various stages of their contracts. Company concerns have been brewing […]
The Lord Chancellor has announced a total of 95 new King’s Counsel, meaning the number of barristers to receive silk status has fallen for the second year in a row. The latest cohort is 5.9 per cent smaller than the 101 barristers promoted in 2021, which at the time marked a 13 per cent dip […]
Kirkland and Latham top the US 50 law firms in London table in 2021.
Shearman & Sterling and Hogan Lovells have failed to deny speculation that the two firms are in early-stage merger talks after The Lawyer revealed market rumours about how negotiations have begun to emerge. If such talks were successful, the newly-merged firm would have a combined annual revenue of $3.6bn and a London office generating more […]
Asset management consultant MJ Hudson is terminating the training contracts of its 12 trainee solicitors, The Lawyer has learnt, amid concerns over its financial viability. The Lawyer understands that the terminations, which will be effective as of the end of this month, include trainees at various stages of their contracts. Company concerns have been brewing […]
The Lord Chancellor has announced a total of 95 new King’s Counsel, meaning the number of barristers to receive silk status has fallen for the second year in a row. The latest cohort is 5.9 per cent smaller than the 101 barristers promoted in 2021, which at the time marked a 13 per cent dip […]
Kirkland and Latham top the US 50 law firms in London table in 2021.
Shearman & Sterling and Hogan Lovells have failed to deny speculation that the two firms are in early-stage merger talks after The Lawyer revealed market rumours about how negotiations have begun to emerge. If such talks were successful, the newly-merged firm would have a combined annual revenue of $3.6bn and a London office generating more […]
In its century-old history, Teresa Owusu-Adjei was PwC’s first black female partner, and is now its first head of legal who isn’t a lawyer. Having initially trained as a chartered accountant and known as a PwC ‘lifer’ for having remained at the firm ever since, Owusu-Adjei is now tasked with drawing together its legal offerings […]
Talent churn is accelerating among the junior ranks with today’s associates more mobile than the generations before them. The concept of long-term professional loyalty is fading as Gen Z rises. These lawyers ask not what they can do for you, but what your firm can do for them. This generational shift in working attitudes is […]
Hooray, big-ticket M&A is having a mini-revival and so are the firms that make so much of their money out of it. Already in 2024, major European M&A deals to have been announced include International Paper’s £5.8bn planned acquisition of London-listed packaging company DS Smith, which trumped another offer from rival Mondi. Other significant matters […]
On Tuesday last week (9 April), the SRA sought to quell a rising tide of discontent around the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). In its most recent SQE annual report, SRA chief executive Paul Philip said the public and profession could have “confidence” in this “rigorous assessment”. That confidence was short-lived. Yesterday (15 April), Philip was […]
For one firm, the pan-Nordic dream is dead. For another, it’s just begun. Hannes Snellman’s announcement that its Stockholm and Helsinki offices will be going their separate ways later this year represented the end of a strategic gamble that started 16 years ago. Back then, its leadership bet that opening in Stockholm (2008) and Copenhagen […]
It seems that one of the chief attributes of managing partners is wild optimism. You can’t move for law firm leaders committing their firms to hardcore five-year targets – particularly in the upper mid-tier, where we’re hearing of plans to double or even triple revenues by the end of the decade. We’d like some of […]
Debevoise & Plimpton is hiring from Goodwin Procter as it adds a new partner to its London investment funds team. Shawn D’Aguiar is switching to a new US firm in London eight years after joining Goodwin from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM). He was part of a four-partner team move led by then funds head Michael […]
Barclays lost 44 lawyers in its legal team over 2023, almost four times the average number of leavers across the UK’s top banks. The banks with the second highest number of leavers is tied between HSBC and NatWest, with 12 lawyer exits each, according to indicative data. On the other end of the scale, Royal […]
CMS’s promotion numbers have ebbed slightly in its latest round seeing 10 elevated to the partnership in the UK and a total of 54 globally. In 2023, CMS promoted 65 lawyers to partner globally, with 16 of these in the UK, compared with 40 in mainland Europe. For this year the UK cohort is made […]
Another partner from Milbank’s financial restructuring team is set to leave the firm, this time joining Allen & Overy ahead of its merger with Shearman & Sterling. Karen McMaster is the latest partner loss from Milbank following last month’s news of a structured finance team led by partner John Goldfinch moving to Allen & Overy, soon […]
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has promoted 27 lawyers to partnership, with eight making the grade in London. This year’s cohort is smaller than last year, when 32 promotions were announced, but it brings the figure back in line with pre-pandemic rounds. Over half of this year’s cohort has been promoted in the UK and Australia, […]
