Irwin Mitchell has announced today that it will form ABS venture IMe Law with insurance company Esure. The launch is Irwin Mitchell’s sixth ABS-related initiative since 2012. It tops more than a decade of work with Esure, the company best known for the brand Sheila’s Wheels. The new venture is designed to simplify the litigation process […]
Parabis has begun a consultation affecting some 41 staff over the future of its Bristol and Colchester offices. In a statement, the firm said it was seeking to rationalise its national network of offices to achieve “a better, more efficient match between teams and workloads”. Group commercial director Tim Roberts said: “It is not unusual […]
The start of August is usually prime time for the City’s dealmakers to ditch their files for flip flops. But this year it seems that there are more than enough deals to keep lawyers holed up in their offices over the summer months. One big chunk of that action comes courtesy of emerging markets, which […]
Stephenson Harwood is set to open its office in Seoul in the autumn, after being granted a licence to practice in the jurisdiction by the Korean Ministry of Justice. The firm hired shipping and finance partner Michael Kim, who previously headed DLA Piper’s South Korea office, in February (7 February 2014). Having helped the firm […]
European investment group Aurelius has hired former Sky legal adviser Kimberley Whitaker as its first-ever UK head of legal. Whitaker, who took up her new role in March, has worked as a legal adviser both for Sky and UBM in the past two years. Prior to that, she spent stints as an associate at Freshfields […]
The Lawyer’s UK 200 season is well and truly upon us and figures for The Lawyer’s Bar Top 30 are rolling in. It’s clear that London’s top commercial sets are dominating, with the UK’s four magic circle chambers growing combined estimated turnover from £164.5m to £236.2m last year. However the bar is anything but immune […]
The UK bar’s four leading sets have grown their turnover over the past five years from £164.5m in 2009/10 to £236.2m last year, UK200 data has revealed. According to figures gathered for The Lawyer’s annual Bar Top 30 report (which include estimates), Brick Court, Fountain Court, One Essex Court and Essex Court continue to reign […]
Pinsent Masons has continued to dominate legal advice to the Aim market, increasing its yield of clients from 53 to 57. The rise enabled Pinsents to pull further ahead of its closest rival Memery Crystal during the quarter ending 5 July 2014, upping its lead from 10 to 13 clients. According to the latest data […]
Commercially sensitive data and information (or trade secrets in old money) are more important than ever – and more vulnerable than ever. Businesses and their lawyers need to be on constant guard to protect vital nuggets – and now the EU is lending a hand with a soon-to-be-implemented directive. As usual with Brussels, literalism is […]
The High Court has ruled that a failure by Hill Dickinson to obtain a guarantee over the condition of a yacht sold by property tycoon Christian Candy did not lead to its client’s losses. Hill Dickinson partner James Lawson had assured his client Michael Hirtenstein post-purchase that the €4.5m yacht came with a personal guarantee […]
Mark Brandon’s forthright opinion article on the future shape of the legal market continues to have the market talking and commentators commenting. In case you missed it, Brandon’s points include his contention that US firms will eventually be dominant in London, that Vereins have had their day and that the modern obsession with process is […]
When it was reported in The Lawyer on Wednesday that marketing heads in top 60 law firms are paid up to £477,000, the comment boards lit up with fee-earners slamming such an apparent waste of money. My personal favourite: “Wow! Amazing that such an easy job can be rewarded so well.” (30 July 2014). Perhaps […]