Top 10 stories: 1-7 January 2016
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer featured in three of the top 10 stories on TheLawyer.com last week as the New Year kicked off with a range of stories from across the legal market.
Slaughters partners embrace “man of action” Cooke as senior partner
As Steve Cooke prepares to step into Chris Saul’s shoes at the end of April, his appointment as Slaughter and May’s senior partner could just signal a new style of leadership for the firm.
White & Case drafts in Kennedys on “typo” prof neg claim
White & Case has instructed Kennedys to defend a multimillion-pound professional negligence claim brought by a former client over a typo that led to a failed oil deal. Claimant Sterling Global Capital (SGC) alleges White & Case partner Marc Polonsky made a critical mistake while writing up a business development agreement. The typo, in which […]
Brown Rudnick picks up Stewarts litigation partner Colston
Brown Rudnick has hired Stewarts Law commercial litigation equity partner Jane Colston in London.
A&O staff cash in with 22 per cent bonus hike in 2014/15
Allen & Overy’s (A&O) staff and partners all saw their remuneration rise last year with staff bonuses across the firm rising by 21.6 per cent, the firm’s LLP accounts have revealed. The accounts show that the firm’s highest-earning partner last year received £2.89m, up 36.9 per cent from £2.11m in 2013/14. This was some 62 […]
Agilent fills GC gap with internal promotion
US technology company Agilent has announced the promotion of assistant general counsel Michael Tang to the role of general counsel, effective immediately.
Dentons seals hire of 75-strong MAB banking litigation team
Dentons has confirmed the hire of Matthew Arnold & Baldwin’s (MAB) banking and finance litigation team, comprising 11 partners and another 64 fee-earners.
Landmark Supreme Court decision confirms role for penalties doctrine
Late in 2015, the year that marked the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, the UK Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision on contractual penalty clauses. The decision in Cavendish Square Holding BV v Talal El Makdessi [2015] preserves the place of the centuries-old penalties doctrine at the legal high table. However, the approach to […]
Slaughters elects M&A boss Cooke as senior partner
Slaughter and May has elected M&A head Steve Cooke as senior partner, replacing Chris Saul, who retires at the end of his term in April. Cooke will serve as the firm’s head for a five-year term. The appointment follows 15 years at the helm of Slaughters’ M&A practice. Cooke had been tipped for the top […]
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Mishcon gears up for next decade with hire of Axiom’s UK head
Mishcon de Reya has hired the London general manager of alternative resourcing business Axiom in the newly created role of chief strategy officer. Nick West, a lawyer who previously worked at Lexis Nexis, joined Mishcon yesterday (6 January) as part of the firm’s senior management team. Axiom is best known as a provider of technology-enabled […]
MoFo makes up first London lawyer since 2008 in latest promotions round
Morrison & Foerster (MoFo) has promoted 12 new partners across the world, making up its first London partner since 2008. Capital markets of counsel Scott Ashton is the sole London partner promotion, having joined MoFo as an associate in 2005. He was formerly an associate at fellow US firm Sullivan & Cromwell for two years. […]
SRA reports Leigh Day to tribunal over document shredding claim
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has referred Leigh Day to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) over allegations the firm shredded a document integral to the £31m public inquiry into the treatment of Iraqi detainees. It emerged the SRA launched an investigation into the human rights firm in 2014 following news the document had been destroyed […]