Alex Newman

February 21, 2014 | International Edition

Shearman & Sterling and K&L Gates have both posted increased global revenues, becoming the latest US-headquartered law firms to report strong financial performance in 2013. In London, Shearman saw a 20% revenue increase to $134.8m (£80.9m), the office's fourth straight year of revenue growth against a lawyer headcount rise of 7%. The results mean that since 2009, City revenue has increased 36%. The revenue jump means accounts fo

By Alex Newman

2 minute read

February 20, 2014 | International Edition

"So I imagine you'll want to talk about Google, the Manchester team that left for TLT and the firm's corporate profile," suggests the head of Irwin Mitchell's business legal services (BLS) division, Niall Baker, on sitting down with Legal Week recently. "One of the first skills good lawyers learn is how to read upside down," he adds after a brief pause, nodding at the top three lines of my notepad. There's a smile creeping across his face, which is wrapped in a month-old beard, grown – so Baker says – to annoy his boss, the firm's group chief executive, John Pickering. It's a decent ice-breaker but an acknowledgement of a rather sensitive issue for Irwin Mitchell. A week before our conversation last month, the firm was identified as having been de-listed by Google, apparently for falling foul of search engine optimisation rules in its links to personal injury-related stories.

By Alex Newman

5 minute read

February 20, 2014 | International Edition

Partners at Bingham McCutchen have been asked to take an additional pay "haircut" after global revenue at the US firm plummeted by $110m last year. The 12.6% drop, which left total revenue for 2013 at $762m, came in the wake of a decline in US restructuring and securities litigation work.

By Alex Newman

3 minute read

February 19, 2014 | International Edition

Sidley Austin, Latham & Watkins and Vinson & Elkins have become the latest international firms to announce increases in year-on-year revenues. Latham saw revenue climb 2.7% to $2.29bn (£1.38bn), while profits per partner edged up 1.9% to $2.49m (£1.49m) and revenue per lawyer by a smaller margin to $1.11m (£664,000).

By Alex Newman

2 minute read

February 19, 2014 | International Edition

Hill Dickinson will ask its non-equity partners to invest 30% of their salary into the firm, ahead of changes to the tax rules for limited liability partnerships. The move is currently subject to a consultation, which kicked off a fortnight ago. Exact details of the plan will be presented to the partnership at the end of the month, with the firm hoping to raise the capital by 31 March.

By Alex Newman

2 minute read

February 19, 2014 | International Edition

Latham & Watkins and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have taken the lead roles on highly-acquisitive pharmaceutical company Actavis' $25bn (£15bn) purchase of Forest Laboratories. As a result of the deal - the second largest announced corporate acquisition of 2014 so far -Irish-American drugmaker Actavis will expand into higher-margin treatments for Alzheimer's, hypertension and other disorders.

By Alex Newman

2 minute read

February 18, 2014 | International Edition

International arbitration heads at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith Freehills and Berwin Leighton Paisner are among five solicitor advocates to be appointed Queen's Counsel.

By Alex Newman

5 minute read

February 18, 2014 | International Edition

Quinn Emanuel has further grown its European offering with the launch of a competition practice in Brussels, the firm's tenth office outside the US. In a statement, the litigation focused firm's managing partner John Quinn said a presence in the Belgian capital was a necessity to "effectively represent our clients in global disputes".

By Alex Newman

2 minute read

February 18, 2014 | International Edition

Latham & Watkins has hired its third private equity partner from Clifford Chance (CC) in a year, with the appointment of the magic circle's Africa co-head Kem Ihenacho. Ihenacho, who joins Latham's corporate department, advises private equity houses and their portfolio companies on a range of UK and international transactions, with a particular focus on Africa.

By Alex Newman

3 minute read

February 18, 2014 | International Edition

Ofcom and BT's in-house legal teams have won a Court of Appeal battle against Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) client Sky, after it was found that a 2012 decision to block the regulator from forcing a discount of Sky's sports channels was "inadequate"

By Alex Newman

3 minute read