Claire Ruckin

January 20, 2010 | International Edition

Herbert Smith is gearing up for a management overhaul of its practice groups, with partners set to vote on new leaders for the corporate, litigation and finance practices. Finance partners Ewen Fergusson and Malcolm Hitching are going head-to-head to lead the finance group after the practice's incumbent head, Jason Fox, decided to stand down after five years in the role and return to full-time fee-earning work.

By Claire Ruckin

2 minute read

January 15, 2010 | International Edition

Eversheds has negotiated a new bank facility enabling the firm to take out a £20m loan, the firm's limited liability partnership (LLP) filings have revealed. The UK top 10 firm has swapped its short-term overdraft facility, which reduced from £12.7m in 2007-08 to £3.4m in 2008-09, in return for a £20m loan. The move saw cash in hand at the bank increase by almost £10m to £28.9m for the financial year.

By Claire Ruckin

2 minute read

January 14, 2010 | International Edition

The use of contingency fees in UK litigation has emerged as one of the key areas for reform in Lord Justice Jackson's review of civil litigation costs, published today (14 January)...

By Claire Ruckin

8 minute read

January 13, 2010 | International Edition

Eversheds is in talks to set up an outsourcing business with its South African ally, positioning it to become the first major law firm to enter the legal outsourcing market. The firm this month launched a six-month pilot which will initially see it approaching clients about outsourcing in-house legal work to its South African ally, which last year rebranded from Routledge Modise to Eversheds. The firm is also planning to send some of Eversheds' own UK legal work to South Africa to cut costs as part of the trial.

By Claire Ruckin

3 minute read

January 13, 2010 | International Edition

Addleshaw Goddard spent £20.9m fitting out its new London office in Milton Gate, the firm's limited liability partnership (LLP) filings have revealed. According to the filings with Companies House, the national firm took out a £5.5m loan in order to help fund the process of setting up the new flagship office.

By Claire Ruckin

2 minute read

January 13, 2010 | International Edition

Hammonds has bulked up its corporate offering with two new partner hires. The national law firm has strengthened its Birmingham office with the hire of corporate partner Geoff Perry from local rival Shoosmiths, while the firm has also added to its Leeds corporate team with the hire of finance regulatory partner Paul Anderson from Addleshaw Goddard, where he was a legal director.

By Claire Ruckin

2 minute read

January 13, 2010 | International Edition

Who says insurance is the slow lane of commercial law? Certainly not Kennedys which, not content with breaking into the UK top 50 last year on the back of 30% revenue growth, in December secured itself an early Christmas present with a deal to take on a 70-strong team in Sheffield from Halliwells.

By Claire Ruckin

3 minute read

January 13, 2010 | International Edition

Bar Council chair champions radical proposals to have chambers' business units manage clients directly

By Claire Ruckin

3 minute read

January 13, 2010 | International Edition

Manches' Oxford office and Mills & Reeve have broken off talks about a potential tie-up. The two firms entered into discussions last year that could have seen Manches' entire 25-partner Oxford office joining the top 50 national firm. The deal would have handed Mills & Reeve its seventh UK office alongside Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London, Manchester and Norwich.

By Claire Ruckin

2 minute read

January 11, 2010 | International Edition

Hammonds saw its net debt more than triple to £15.1m during 2008-09, according to the national firm's first limited liability partnership (LLP) filings. The UK top 30 firm's combined bank loans and overdrafts reached £21.2m for 2008-09, up from £8.8m the previous year. An increase in cash in hand at the bank from £3.9m in 2007-08 to £6m meant that overall net debt grew from £4.9m to £15.1m, according to the filings with Companies House.

By Claire Ruckin

2 minute read