Boutique firms CM Murray, Hierons and Maurice Turnor Gardner have joined forces with chartered accountants Buzzacott to go to market as a one-stop-shop for professional practices. Collectively dubbed the Professional Practices Alliance, the firms aim to pool their resources in a bid to capture the lion’s share of advisory work to professional services firms. In […]
Blackstone Chambers’ Ben Jaffey and Tom Cleaver have been drafted in by Bhatt Murphy on behalf of a group of internet service providers (ISPs) that have launched a legal claim against the Government over surveillance. Bhatt Murphy director Mark Scott has instructed the public law duo on the claim filed against Government monitoring organisation GCHQ […]
It’s nearly a year since Barclays named the former general counsel of Pittsburgh-headquartered PNC Financial Services Group, Bob Hoyt, as general counsel and there is plenty of change in the air. Hoyt has reorganised the legal team, resulting in the creation of a global financial crime team headed by former litigation and investigations director Jonathan […]
The Lawyer Awards, in association with Travelers, is the biggest night of the legal year. The top prizes went to RPC, No5 Chambers, Jones Day, PayPal and Royal Mail among others. To find out more about the winners, read below. RPC triumphs as Firm of the Year at The Lawyer Awards In-house interview: Yum! Brands […]
While some areas of the civil bar are thriving, there is little doubt that others are fighting for survival. Nowhere is this more obvious than at the junior end of the profession. It is essential then to get a clear picture of what is going on. How many wannabe advocates are joining the barrister ranks? […]
HM Revenue & Customs is forced to defend its policy of charging VAT on biscuits and not cakes in what is a tough taste challenge for the Scottish courts It wasn’t too long ago that retail giant Marks & Spencer (M&S) fought HM Revenue & Customs in the courts over the revenue’s historic decision to […]
There was a time when Barclays’ legal panel made for complicated reading. With over 100 firms featuring across a general advisory roster and 15 sub-panels, it took some getting to grips with. But, no more. After eschewing biennial reviews at the start of last year, the bank has unveiled its first new roster since 2011 […]
Osborne Clarke’s head of technology Mark Webber and head of telecoms Angus Finnegan have both left the firm, moving to Fieldfisher and Reed Smith respectively. Finnegan was recruited by Osborne Clarke in 1998, after working opposite the firm’s former head of IT and telecoms Simon Rendell on a deal. He arrived after spending four years […]
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) turned over £800m in its first full year as a merged firm, with a net profit of £232m giving it a margin of 29 per cent for 2013/14. Following the combination of the respective firms’ profit pools and subsequent restructure of the combined firm’s remuneration system, average profit per equity partner […]
Bond Dickinson has made up four associates to partner in the second promotions round since the 1 May 2013 merger between Bond Pearce and Dickinson Dees. All four of this year’s new partners are women. Last year (8 May 2013) the firm unveiled six new partners as its merger went live. In 2012, Bond Pearce […]
Gateley has announced one hire and two promotions across the Leicester and Nottingham offices. The Nottingham operation has recruited Paul Simpson as corporate senior associate and promoted William Cursham to construction associate. In Leicester, commercial dispute resolution (CDR) lawyer Claire Herbert has been promoted to associate. Simpson advises on corporate matters including private equity, management […]
DLA Piper has received the 2014 Beacon of Justice Award from the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA). The award is given to law firms that create and implement innovative legal strategies to aid those unable to afford counsel. Over the past year, DLA Piper lawyers have devoted about 45,000 pro-bono hours to innovative […]