JD Journal » uk law firms

Clifford Chance Paying Spring Bonuses

joshua — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:04:51 +0000

Following a trend started by US firms, Clifford Chance has become the third “magic circle” firm to pay a spring bonus to its US associates. The bonus, announced last week, will be paid to US associates in New York and Washington DC, based on seniority and performance. At the low end, the bonus is lower than rival UK firms Freshfields and Linklaters. Clifford Chance is starting the bonus scale at $2,500, compared to Linklaters $7,500. The top end amount is the same, at $20,000, however associates with three years less experience will qualify for the top end bonus at Clifford Chance compared to the other two firms.

Kennedys Merges with Portugese Partner

joshua — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:44:10 +0000

After six years as an associate firm, Almeida & Athayde has merged with London based Kennedys and is now the firm’s 8th office outside of the UK. Kennedys opened its first US based office in Miami last September. According to the firm, this move is part of a global drive to become a leader in insurance/reinsurance law and reflects the growing importance of the Iberian peninsula for targeting the Portugese speaking countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

In addition to Miami and Portugal, Kennedy’s has nine offices in the U.K and international offices in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates.

Linklaters Paying Spring Bonus to US Associates

joshua — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 18:56:44 +0000

In yet another sign that things are looking up in the legal industry, Linklaters became the second Magic Circle firm to announce spring bonuses for its US based associates. Freshfields announced its spring bonuses last week, following a string of New York firms breaking the ice.

Linklaters will pay associates in its US offices as well as US-qualified associates outside the country between $7500 and $20,000 dollars at the end of April. These bonuses match the scale set by US firms like Cravath and Cleary Gottlieb.

Linklaters has 26 offices in 19 countries and is one of the five members of the “Magic Circle” of prominent UK law firms.

Morning Update

joshua — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:55:57 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Monday, February 21. Today we celebrate the lives of George Washington and Abraham Lincolns and by extension 235 years of history. Here’s a quick look bat at Friday’s news…

DLA Piper is opening up in Miami…

UK firm Emmets is adding 100 positions…

and The California Bar Association is asking US News and World Report to add a diversity category to its law school rankings…

Emmetts Adding 100 Positions

joshua — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:38:43 +0000

UK law Firm Emmetts announced that it is planning to add 100 new positions this year. The firm, which operates three offices in the UK, will hire 60 new lawyers and 40 support staff. The move is based on a surge in negligence claims against companies, according to the firm.

Emmetts was founded in 2004 by husband and wife Richard and Lindsay Emmett. Originally operating out of their home in Preston, the firm has grown rapidly and now takes in around 1000 new clients per month from three offices in Preston, Longridge and London.

Clifford Chance Expands into Australia

joshua — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 01:00:48 +0000

Clifford Chance is moving into the Australian market by merging with two boutique firms. Chang, Pistilli & Simmons and Cochrane Lishman Carson Luscombe will become Clifford Chance offices as of May 1. The firm says that this is not targeted at Australia so much as it is part of a broader plan for Asian expansion.

Chinese investments in Australia have rapidly grown, particularly in the energy and mineral markets, and the two local firms joining up with Clifford Chance are both corporate law boutiques. An investment into the Australian legal market is an indirect investment in the growth of Chinese foreign investments.

Clifford Chance is one of the UK’s “magic circle” of law fims. With approximately 3,200 legal advisers and 30 offices in 21 countries, it is one of the top ten global law firms measured by number of lawyers and by revenue.

Another Partner Departs from Howrey LLP

marvins — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:49:41 +0000

Howrey LLP, a global law firm with over 700 lawyers, continued to suffer from partner losses as Mark Hodgson, the firm’s London managing partner and IP specialist, joins the increasing number of partners who have exited from the law firm in the last 12 months. Hodgson, who is now a lawyer at Field Fisher Waterhouse, is the fourth partner to depart from the firm’s London office. The departure of Hodgson leaves the Howrey’s London headquarters with only four full-time lawyers: litigator John Evans and antitrust partners Geert Goeteyn, Shaun Goodman and Tom McQuail.

Robert Ruyak, global managing partner and chief executive of Howrey, explained that the firm is currently in the process of trimming down its European operations to shift its strategy to a network of referral partners. “Due to very difficult and repetitive conflict issues in the IP area, we made a strategic move to reduce significantly our on-the-ground European IP practice.”

Howrey has also suffered a series of losses across its offices in Europe. As of today, about 19 partners and 30 associates have exited Howrey’s offices in various headquarters that include Amsterdam, Madrid, Brussels and Paris.

Lockstep Returns to Linklaters

joshua — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:57:51 +0000

UK-based firm Linklaters, which last year lowered associate pay raises, announced it is returning to full lockstep compensation for its associates and that performance-related bonuses will also be issued to its top performers.

According to LegalWeek, newly-qualified associates at the firm will earn the equivalent of $93,428 in base salary. Salaries will then move up the ladder on an annual basis to $103,291 and $110,886.

Linklaters UK human resources director, Caroline Rawes, explained the move to LegalWeek: “We look carefully at our salaries on an annual basis and take into account what the market is doing and we thought it would be appropriate to reward, both in pay and bonus, the contribution that our associates have made to the firm over the last 12 months.”

Last year, Linklaters reduced the percentage-raise of associates to between 2% and 4%.

Linklaters has 26 offices in 19 countries and is one of the five members of the “Magic Circle” of prominent UK law firms.

Appleby Opens Offshore Office

joshua — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:57:05 +0000

The UK’s Appleby will open a new office in Guernsey, Channel Islands in the spring of 2010. Appleby’s Guernsey office will focus on corporate, commercial, private client, litigation, insolvency and restructuring law. Two group partners in the corporate team, Barney Lee and Helen Crossley, and Jeremy Le Tissier and Gavin Ferguson in the Litigation/Insolvency and Private Client/Trust teams join David Clark, a banking partner in Appleby’s London office, in leading the new Guernsey office.

Appleby has 79 partners and over 200 lawyers in twelve offices including locations in Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, London and Hong Kong. In 2009 Appleby opened new offices in the Seychelles, Bahrain and Zurich.

HBJ Gateley Wareing Buys Out Small Firm

joshua — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:16:39 +0000

UK firm HBJ Gateley Wareing has bought out Olivers WS. Olivers, with offices in Edinburgh and Hawick, is a specialized practice composed of 4 solicitors and staff dealing with residential real estate.

The HBJ group was formed in 2006 with the merger of Henderson Boyd Jackson and Birmingham’s Gateley Wareing. It has 500 attorneys working in offices throughout the UK and a base in Dubai.

Hogan Lovells Merger is on Track

joshua — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:35:08 +0000

Last night the partnerships of both Hogan & Hartson and Lovells finished voting on the proposed merger and it has been approved on both sides of the Atlantic. As of May 1, 2010, the two firms will become one mega trans Atlantic entity called Hogan Lovells. Although the new name wasn’t announced until mid November, Lovells snagged the hoganlovells.com address back on October 2nd.

The combined firm will instantly become one of the world’s largest with over 2,500 attorneys around the globe and revenues in the range of $2 billion.

UK Firms Take the Lead in Dubai Crisis

joshua — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:26:14 +0000

The economic crisis in Dubai is creating a large amount of legal work for firms involved in the debt restructuring negotiations. Firms with deep roots in the country are getting the bulk of the work, and most of those are UK firms. Clifford Chance has scored big as the primary advisor to Dubai World. On the other side of the table, Ashurst and Allen & Overy each represent major creditors. Ashurst is taking the lead for a group of creditors that hold notes from Nakheel, Dubai World’s property unit. Allen & Overy is advising a group of commercial banks that have loaned money to Dubai world and its subsidiaries.

Hogan & Hartson and Lovells to Become Hogan Lovells

joshua — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:50:03 +0000

Merger talks are still underway between US firm Hogan & Hartson and the UK’s Lovells, but one importnat hurdle has now been cleared. The partners of both firms have agreed on a name. If the merger goes through, the firm will be known as Hogan Lovells, leaving Nelson Hartson out in the cold. Hartson and Hogan met in Los Angeles in the ’20′s and by 1938 Hartson was a named partner in the firm.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I was secretly hoping for Hogan Lovells Hartson.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:27:19 +0000

Today is Friday, November 13th, and here’s a look back at yesterday’s news.

Foley & Lardner snag a prominent IP lawyerfrom Sheppard Mullin…

Baker Hostetler open an office in Chicago…

Intel and AMD have reached a $1.2 billion settlement…

and according to a survey from PWC, UK firms are feeling the pinch…

Anyone interested in the history of the superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th might enjoy this article…

UK Firms Feel the Pinch

joshua — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:58:00 +0000

The top 100 UK firms by revenue dropped saw profits decline by an average of 30% last year, according to a new report out from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The largest decline in income came in the second tier of firms, those listed at #11-25, where partner per partner profits were down by 28%. Firms in the “magic circle”, the top ten, had per partner profits ranging from 850,000 to 1.4 million pounds, which was still a 21% drop from last year.

Hogan & Hartson in Merger Talks with Lovells

joshua — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:51:42 +0000

Hogan & Hartson has begun negotiating a merger with UK firm Lovells. Talks are still in the early stages and obviously when two firms of this size merge, there are a large number of issues to discuss. In particular, US and UK firms use very different account methods and different partnership distribution schemes, which will have to be reconciled before a merger can go forward.

Founded in 1904, Hogan & Hartson is the oldest major law firm headquartered in Washington, DC. It is a global firm with more than 1,100 lawyers in 27 offices worldwide, including offices in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Lovells is an international law firm with over 300 partners and around 3,200 employees operating from 26 offices in Europe, Asia and the United States. It is one of the largest international legal business practices in the world.

Merger News from the UK

joshua — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:03:47 +0000

UK firms Halliwells and Manches are confirmed to have begun merger discussions a few months ago. Partners from both firms haveconfirmed the talks, which have now entered the due diligence phase. No formal firm wide announcements have yet been made and no final decisions have yet been made.

The two firms have a combined total of over 500 attorneys. Halliwells is the larger of the two with around 350 lawyers in four UK cities.

Marks & Clerk Closing Liverpool Office and Laying off 60

joshua — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:03:41 +0000

marks &clerk

It’s been a rough week in the UK. First Eversheds, and now Marks & Clerk who confirmed that they are merging their Liverpool office into the Manchester office and reducing the size of their Leicester office. As part of the reduction, Marks & Clerk is letting go of nine fee earners and 51 staff.

Marks & Clerk is a patent and trademark firm with offices around the globe. The closure of the Liverpool office will bring them down to 11 offices in the UK and 8 in other countries.

UK Firm Eversheds to Shed Over 100 Jobs

joshua — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:28:03 +0000

Eversheds, a top UK law firm, is looking for ways to save a little money, or to, dare I say it, shed a few pounds. Its real estate practice is flagging in this tough economy, putting the jobs of 33 fee earners at risk. In addition to layoffs, the firm is considering other options such as furloughs and reduced hours. They have also signed a deal with South Africa based Exigent, an outsourcing company, that will let them cut back on the number of secretaries needed in the firm. Over 90 secretaries firm wide are expected to lose their jobs.

Eversheds has 47 offices in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, but none in North America.

Exigent is a South Africa company providing LPO (Legal Process Outsourcing) to a growing number of British firms. South Africa is rapidly becoming a hub for LPO work.

Linklaters Defers Start Dates

Erik Even — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:15:40 +0000

London’s Linklaters has pushed back its trainee start dates for September 2009 and March 2010, offering future trainees £10,000 to go away for one year.

The firm will select 15 incoming associates for the deferral program.

Associates due to start in September 2009 who take a 12 month deferral will get the 10 grand. Associates due to start in March 2010 can either defer for 12 months and get £10,000, or defer for six months an get £5,000.

Linklaters is believed to have about 125 lawyers across the two intakes. All deferrals will be voluntary.

Linklaters has 26 offices in 19 countries, and is one of the five members of the “Magic Circle” of prominent UK law firms.

UK Lawyers In Trouble

todd — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:37:56 +0000

The troubles affecting the financial sector are beginning to spread to the legal industry in the UK.

Large law firms such as Freshfields, Linklaters, Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy, and Slaughter and May have all managed to steer clear of layoffs in previous recessions; however, the current economic decline is taking a much heavier toll on the law firms.

According to The Lawyer magazine, 2,800 lawyers from the UK’s biggest law companies have been made redundant. It seems that many law firms do not think that the same assortment of legal services will be needed when the recession is over.