Yet that was the target set by DWF back in 2012 when it continued a merger spree through a deal with Biggart Baillie. That deal followed a tie-up with Midlands insurance firm Buller Jeffries, Claimsbase and Fishburns in January last year and then the pre-pack acquisition of Cobbetts. Still that all-important milestone remains just out […]
IP firm Mathys & Squire is the first legal tenant of the Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe. The firm has signed a 15-year lease for 28,500 sq ft on the fifteenth floor of the iconic building, joining other business tenants including broadcaster Al Jazeera, venture capital group Foresight and hospital group HCA. Partner […]
Allen & Overy is advising Société Générale on the disposal of its private banking business in Singapore and Hong Kong to Singapore’s DBS Bank, which turned to Allen & Gledhill and Clifford Chance for advice. Allen & Overy (A&O) is advising the French bank in the assets sale, which has a total value of $220m. […]
Leaving a major law firm to launch a boutique is becoming so commonplace now that it is an accepted career move for a partner or senior associate at a large player. And boutiques are springing up weekly across Europe. In fact in the last fortnight there have been three launches – two in Germany and […]
Over the last few months the IPO market has really started to come back, whether in the US, London or Hong Kong. Good news, then, for Freshfields, DLAPiper, Davis Polk, Ashurst and Simpson Thacher, to name just a few of the firms scooping listing work Freshfields wins lead role on Poundland IPO DLA Piper, Fenwick […]
Having invested £17m on expansion and added £44.9m to the firm’s top line in doing so, DWF managing partner Andrew Leaitherland is now focused on recovering the firm’s profitability through successful integration. At the moment DWF’s profit margin is barely above the 11 per cent it was in 2008, when it was turning over £66m. […]
The London office of Paul Weiss has hired a practice development specialist to manage its referral relationships in the UK. The New York firm, which does not currently have any English law capability, operates a best friends network with firms that include Slaughter and May, Nabarro and Macfarlanes. Former Baker & McKenzie business development manager […]
I was worried that a property developer would snap this up and turn it into yet another residential development. I like a bit of Gothic in a property and this is a fine example. And whilst the owner of this beauty is a residential developer he is also an hotelier and it is as an […]
Coach company National Express has hired Burges Salmon banking and transport partner Sandra Forbes as general counsel. Her exit to the coach company comes after transport head Nick Olley left for the Department for Transport (13 September 2013). Forbes spent 23 years at Burges Salmon, where she is currently head of the firm’s corporate and financial […]
Eversheds tax expert Ben Jones has commented on the taxation measures announced in the 2014 UK Budget. Jones said: ‘The increase and extension of the AIA [annual investment allowance] was the chancellor’s headline business tax announcement, with the 100 per cent increase being a particular surprise. ‘This incentive has the widest application of the Budget’s […]
BP has kicked off its first UK legal panel review since March 2011, as the current roster’s three-year mandate draws to a close. The panel is currently home to eight firms, including Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. CMS Cameron McKenna, Field Fisher Waterhouse, Herbert Smith Freehills, Norton Rose Fulbright, Olswang and Pinsent Masons also have […]
Burges Salmon has prioritised women and finance work in this year’s promotions round, with four lawyers joining the partnership – one more than last year. The rise comes following a drop in the number of new partners made up in 2013 compared to the previous year (30 April 2013). In 2012 Burges Salmon promoted seven […]