Allen & Overy has announced the appointment of Hong Kong arbitration partner Matthew Gearing to Queen’s counsel. He is one of only five solicitor-advocates named in the roll call this year, which included the appointment of 95 barristers. Gearing will be formally appointed at a ceremony in London on 14 April 2014. Conferment of silk […]
Weil Gotshal & Manges and Fenwick & West advised Facebook on its $19bn (£11.4bn) acquisition of mobile messaging company WhatsApp. The bolt-on of WhatsApp, which marks Facebook’s biggest acquisition to date, will give the tech giant access to the messaging company’s 450 million monthly users. It is thought to be the world’s biggest internet acquisition […]
Irwin Mitchell real estate partner Rob Thompson will succeed Jon Vivian as head of the firm’s London real estate team on 1 May. He specialises in investment and development work and complex corporate real estate and finance transactions. Recently he led the team that advised Wells Fargo/Lone Star on the acquisition of Eurohypo’s £4bn commercial […]
Partners who moved to Slater & Gordon (S&G) as part of its acquisition of Pannone are to be locked into the firm for three years under the stringent terms imposed on the new joiners. The partners have also agreed to performance-related salaries and restricted share options. The consideration for the takeover by the Australian-listed firm […]
A trio of barristers, including a Brick Court silk and Fountain Court duo, instructed by property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz charged a £126,650 brief fee for a six-hour disclosure appeal last month (30 January 2014). Brick Court barrister Charles Hollander QC, Fountain Court’s Rosalind Phelps and James Duffy were paid £85,000, £22,650 and £19,000 respectively to defend […]
Ashurst’s low cost support base in Scotland is expanding faster than expected, with the firm planning to more than quadruple the number of legal analysts based in the city within the next 12 months. The firm’s Glasgow office currently houses 100 employees, 13 of which are ‘legal analysts’ and the remainder back office staff. However, […]
The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) has appointed a new director general to replace outgoing Adrian Winstanley OBE. Dutch arbitrator Dr Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof was appointed by the succession-planning committee after fending off competition from a shortlist of candidates. She will follow Winstanley who will retire after 17 years in the post on […]
The offshore legal market had a solid 2013, with several firms reporting double-digit increases in turnover and a pronounced pick-up in activity levels. Research conducted for The Lawyer’s annual survey of the 30 biggest offshore firms shows that the overall number of lawyers working in the offshore legal market has not changed much between 2012 […]
Sackers’ senior partner Ian Pittaway knows pensions. In fact, he knows pensions so well that under his watchful eye the UK’s biggest pensions firm has cemented its own comfortable niche in the legal market. Playing a central management role in a 54-lawyer firm, continuing to fee-earn, and acting as an independent chairman or trustee of several […]
Magic circle firm’s private equity crown slips as Latham ‘targets’ superclient Carlyle Clifford Chance’s private equity (PE) team is looking somewhat depleted following a series of exits. The incoming global corporate chief – most likely to be partner Guy Norman following an uncontested election – will have a big job on his hands. The departure […]
After the activity lull last year, offshore firms have regrouped and come out fighting with state-of-the-art technology that takes client service to a new level After a year of substantial change in the offshore legal market in 2012, last year proved to be a much quieter affair. But while there were fewer management changes and […]
Ogier and Carey Olsen climb the charts due to a new ranking method but Maples and Calder still hits top spot 1 Maples and Calder Managing partner: Henry Smith Legal Staff: 713 Fee-earners: 324 Qualified lawyers: 254 Partners: 89 Equity partners: not disclosed (ND) Female partners: 18 Female equity partners: ND Fiduciary Staff: 301 Fee-earners: […]