Paul Verrico, health and safety expert at Eversheds, has commented on the tough new health and safety fines proposed for UK businesses. He said: ‘Courts have been criticised in the past for massive inconsistencies in sentence — a Crown Court in Manchester may impose a very different level of fine on the same organisation as […]
Simmons & Simmons has re-elected managing partner Jeremy Hoyland for a second four-year term that will commence on 1 May 2015. The vote took place last week at a partner conference in Madrid. Hoyland joined Simmons in 1989 as a trainee and qualified into the London banking and capital markets department in 1991. He became […]
Morgan Lewis & Bockius and Bingham McCutchen’s negotiations have finally concluded. The result has not been a merger, or in fact a takeover, but a vote to admit 227 out of the 307 Bingham partners into its fold. Morgan Lewis is set to reach the 2,000-lawyer threshold and has added three new offices (two in […]
Travers Smith has hired Kirkland & Ellis financial services partner Stephanie Biggs – the firm’s first lateral partner hire in nearly four years. Sitting within Kirkland’s private equity team, Biggs specialises in particular in asset management regulation. She was a partner at Kirkland since 2009, having previously worked at legacy SJ Berwin and Macfarlanes. At […]
DLA Piper is seeing mounting exits from its London litigation group with at least two partners set to flee the firm for US rivals in the coming months. Long-serving international disputes partner Nick Marsh has resigned to join Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, while banking disputes specialist Ioannis Alexopoulos is currently in talks with Bryan […]
The banking litigation team at Walker Morris has been named Law Firm of the Year by Mortgage Finance Gazette in recognition of its investment in its specialist legal expertise. The award reflect the team’s expertise in complex recovery cases, mortgage fraud and professional negligence and the fact that the team serves a nationwide client base covering […]
Bird & Bird has been replaced by Fladgate on the £4bn battle between the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and shareholders over a 2008 £12bn rights issue amid disagreements over fees. Bird & Bird partner Steven Baker was replaced by Fladgate partner Steven Mash on Friday (14 November) ahead of the next costs hearing scheduled […]
Morgan Lewis & Bockius has “voted to admit” 227 Bingham McCutchen partners in a move that will see Morgan Lewis grow to almost 2,000 lawyers in 28 offices. The firm announced its decision on Friday evening after months of merger negotiations with Bingham and speculation over whether the tie-up would succeed. This announcement means that […]
The Lawyer’s weekly leadership interviews have become a fixture among readers; you’re accessing them in droves. Catch up with the movers and shakers in private practice every Friday, and remind yourself of their thinking by clicking on to our most recent interviews below. Charles Russell Speechlys’ Carter: “An incredible amount of work needs to be […]
There’s no disputing the prolific rise of independent financial advisers on deals – the likes of Lazard and Rothschild, who are instructed by companies to ensure that their transactions run smoothly. In fact, have a quick glance back to The Lawyer’s analysis of main list IPOs on the London Stock Exchange between 1 January and […]
Confidence in the future of the legal profession is at an eight-year high in a marked about-turn from the gloom of the past few years, new research has found. Smith & Williamson’s annual survey of law firms found that 96 per cent of respondents were confident about the coming year – with 15 per cent […]
HMRC has doubled down on accountancy and law firms, issuing 1,502 disclosure notices in the last year for information on clients that are subject to criminal tax investigations. HMRC issued 1,502 disclosure notices to professional services firms for information about former and current clients from March 2013 to March 2014. This is a slight increase […]